What is in the file
An .xlsx workbook with two sheets.
| Sheet | What it does |
|---|---|
| Guest list | One row per household with columns for address, number of guests, side, tier, plus-one, children, invitation sent, RSVP status, meal choice, dietary requirements and table number |
| Summary | Counts pulled from the guest list sheet: invited, attending, declined, awaiting reply, meal choice totals and dietary counts — the figures your caterer will ask for |
Households in, individuals out
The sheet is built on households because that is what invitations go to, and expands to individuals because that is what catering bills. Getting this the wrong way round is the most common guest list mistake: a hundred guests is usually about 55 households, so ordering a hundred invitations over-orders by nearly half.
Keep the RSVP and the meal choice together
Meal choices and dietary requirements live in the same row as the reply, deliberately. The alternative — replies on cards, allergies in texts, meal choices in a separate thread — means somebody reconciles three sources at midnight before the caterer's deadline. The summary sheet only works because everything is in one place.
Before you send final numbers
Check three sums on the summary sheet: starters equal mains, mains equal attending guests, and every dietary note maps to a named guest with a table. Five minutes, and it catches the errors that otherwise appear as a guest with no plate.
Read the planning guide alongside it
How to tier, when to cut and what acceptance rate to plan from.
Common questions
What is in the wedding guest list tracker?
An .xlsx workbook with two sheets: a guest list sheet holding one row per household with RSVP, meal choice, dietary and seating columns, and a summary sheet that counts attending, declined, awaiting reply and meal totals.
Should a guest list be organised by household or by person?
By household, expanded to individuals. Invitations go to households and catering bills individuals, so you need both — a hundred guests is usually about 55 households.
Why keep meal choices in the guest list rather than separately?
Because reconciling replies from cards, allergies from texts and meal choices from a separate thread is how errors reach the caterer. One row per household keeps the summary counts trustworthy.