Small wedding - do we need official RSVP cards?

[MafaldaGregorovitch]

Did you bother with them if having a small wedding? We're inviting less than 30 people. No formal sit down meal but still need to know numbers. Would / did you bother with RSVP cards or do we just say let us know? I'm unsure how to do it really. If going for official RSVP cards included with the invite, did you include a stamp addressed envelope?

I would think an informal type of invite as in a short note hoping they could join you on your special day but need to know numbers for the catering. Ask them to let you know either by email or text as this would be helpful. You could compose one with an added wedding type illustration to make it look special and then run it off. Congratulations, hope you have a wonderful day.

We had a large wedding (120 guests) and did proper invites with rsvp cards. We didn't stamp them, and only had 3 not received back.

Our friends had a smaller wedding of around 30-40 people, and just did a Facebook event to invite people with a link to their wedding website. The website included all info people needed for travel (wedding was in Wales, most guests were travelling from the north east and various other English cities) and the menu options.

We didn't have RSVP cards and we had about 80 people. I was quite happy with e-mails, phone calls and word of mouth.

If you don't mind that you might have to chase some people up then just and email address to RSVP to might work. We did this instead of cards and there were a few people who just assumed we would assume they were coming as they hadn't read all the information we included.

Have you considered something like Paperless Post?

You don't need RSVP cards - regardless of numbers.
You just need to say 'RSVP to {insert address / phone number / e-mail / any method you are happy to receive replies by} by X date', and make sure you give them a date a month before you actually need to know, so you have time to chase anyone up. It is also better if they have a shorter time to reply in, as people are more likely to get on with it straight away.