Which guest count should you use?
- Confirmed: people who have said yes. This is your current minimum, not a guarantee against cancellations.
- Working estimate: confirmed people plus your chosen share of those still pending. Use this for an initial shopping or budget plan, keeping the assumption visible.
- Maximum: confirmed people plus everyone still pending. Check this against your available seats and room or venue limit before promising more places.
A working estimate is not a confirmed RSVP. Update the calculator when replies change. Count accompanying adults and children, not just households, and leave people who have declined out of both groups.
Why the tool does not ask for names
This tool needs counts, not identities. It does not create or save a guest list, and the result does not need contact details, dietary information or notes about individuals. The ICO explains the data-minimisation principle as collecting only personal data that is adequate, relevant and necessary for the specified purpose.
Keep any real invitation list in a system appropriate to that purpose. Record dietary requirements separately with the relevant guest and expose only the minimum information needed for a safe handover.
Count children as people, not fractions of a seat
For seating, access, exits, water, invitations and venue capacity, every person remains one person. Never use an adjusted-food number as the headcount.
The optional food display below the results uses the same visible site convention as the budget tool: adults + (children × 0.6). It is not an official standard, nutrition recommendation or prediction of a child’s appetite. Replace it with dish-specific selector counts in the exact menu plan.
Worked example: 15 confirmed, 6 still pending
Suppose 12 adults and 3 children have confirmed, while 4 adults and 2 children have not replied. If you choose to include 50% of the pending guests in your working plan:
- Confirmed: 15 people — 12 adults + 3 children.
- Working estimate: 18 people — 14 adults + 4 children.
- Maximum: 21 people — 16 adults + 5 children.
The calculator rounds pending adults and pending children up separately. With one pending adult and one pending child at 50%, it includes one of each, not one person overall. Choose 0% to match confirmed attendance or 100% to match the maximum. The default 50% is an example, not a recommended attendance rate.
Next, use the free party planning checklist to connect the count to seats, budget and your menu. Calculation rules are unchanged from version 0.1; this explanation and result layout were updated on 7 October 2026.
Questions people ask
Should I plan a party from confirmed guests or everyone invited?
Use confirmed attendance as the current minimum, a clearly labelled working scenario for reversible shopping decisions, and the maximum confirmed-plus-pending count for hard room or seating limits.
What percentage of pending guests will attend?
The site does not claim a universal response rate. Enter a percentage based on your own invitation status, deadline and knowledge, keep it visible, and replace the assumption with confirmed replies as soon as possible.
Why are children shown as 0.6 adjusted food guests?
It is only a disclosed display convention shared with the budget tool. It is not an official serving rule. Calculate exact dishes using likely selectors, real units and guest requirements.
Does the tool store my guest list?
The tool asks only for aggregate counts and does not create a named guest list or store its result in a cookie. Keep any invitation and dietary records in an appropriate private system.
Sources and assumptions
- Information Commissioner’s Office — data minimisation — collecting only personal data adequate, relevant and necessary for a specified purpose
- GOV.UK — organising a voluntary event: a can do guide — capacity and proportionate organised-event planning context; not presented as private-party law