Does anyone RSVP anymore?

RSVP

Those four little letters that appear on most invitations.

RSVP  short for the French:  Répondez, s'il vous plaît.

In other words, "Are you coming to the event or not?  Let us know."

Responding to invitations has been around a long time.  I won't go into all the background on why we use RSVP, how it started, etc.  Let's just say that responding to an invitations is not a new thing.  Someone invites you over for dinner, you respond:  "Yes, I will be there." or "No.  I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it on Friday."

I have sent invitations out for various occasions over the years.  Some people respond promptly.   Some wait until the day before the event.  And, then there are those that don't respond at all. 

When you are planning a party, you need to know how many people will be attending.  If you are going out and buying food and drinks, you want to make sure that you have enough for everyone.  And, such is the case here, when you are planning goody bags for children at a birthday party, you want to make sure that every guest receives one.  No one wants to send one child home without a goody bag while all of the others are leaving with one in their hands.

If you receive an invitation, you should reply.  I also have read that you should reply promptly.  As in, as soon as you get the invitation.  Look over your schedule right away and find out if you can attend the event then call the host or hostess.  This person was so kind to invite you to their event.  They are trying to make plans to make it extra special for everyone.  Pick up the phone and call them.

I guess you can call this my public service announcement for the day.

Thanks for listening.