do Americans ever RSVP? (Miami: house, weddings, living in)

[SARAHSELLAR]

had a housewarming party last nite, and sent out invites and had to email people to find out if they were coming or not beforehand, i found that embarrassing... is this an american etiquette?

[WINTERFRONT]

Originally Posted by SARAHSELLAR

had a housewarming party last nite, and sent out invites and had to email people to find out if they were coming or not beforehand, i found that embarrassing... is this an american etiquette?

Everyone does that, nothing embarrassing about it. There are some people though who won't stop sending you invites everyday to parties you just don't want to go, even if you decline every invitation they don't seem to understand how annoying they get. But I suppose you won't be doing things to that extreme.

[Coconut1]

It is unfortunately very common. People are rude.

I always let people know one way or another!

[boxus]

Maybe it is just an individual thing or cultural thing not to rsvp, not something that could be applied to all of the US.

As for me, rsvp is for professional events or an organized occasion like a wedding, seems to be a bit much for a house party, especially when I am someone who could care less who shows up and when, drink and eat all the same!

But of course, if someone asks me specifically to rsvp for something like a simple get together, i would respond though it would be out of my usual ways of doing things. I have actually never known anyone to rsvp for anything except a wedding once.

[roadtrip75]

Originally Posted by SARAHSELLAR

is this an american etiquette?

No, it isn't, but after all you are living in Dade.

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by boxus

As for me, rsvp is for professional events or an organized occasion like a wedding, seems to be a bit much for a house party, especially when I am someone who could care less who shows up and when, drink and eat all the same!

But of course, if someone asks me specifically to rsvp for something like a simple get together, i would respond though it would be out of my usual ways of doing things. I have actually never known anyone to rsvp for anything except a wedding once.

See, this mentality is the problem and what drives me nuts!

Unless the party is being held by some schlep that makes you BYOB and BYOF (that would be food, and yes, I know people that do that ) there needs to be a count of how many are coming so food, drinks, seating, etc. can be planned.

You don't want to have 30 people show up and only have food and drinks for 10, nor do you want 10 to show up and have food and drink for 30! If you're also having quite a few people over you're going to need to provide some additional seating. Most people don't want to stand the entire night!

[boxus]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

See, this mentality is the problem and what drives me nuts!

Unless the party is being held by some schlep that makes you BYOB and BYOF (that would be food, and yes, I know people that do that ) there needs to be a count of how many are coming so food, drinks, seating, etc. can be planned.

You don't want to have 30 people show up and only have food and drinks for 10, nor do you want 10 to show up and have food and drink for 30! If you're also having quite a few people over you're going to need to provide some additional seating. Most people don't want to stand the entire night!

That is a different take than what I was envisioning on my post, so when someone says "housewarming party", exactly how many people?

Because I do not even know 30 people who would ever show up all at once, so it is not ever in my mind that I would need to create some formal invite for people, and I always have plenty of food and liquor on hand to meet any occasion, with Publix being right by, so I have a different perspective on it.

I also come from a culture where there is always plenty of somewhat food and drink available during an occasion, whether it is five or 30 people. Having an influx of unexpected guests is really no big deal to me.

But I guess my limit would be if I was going to have around 20 or more people, anything else I would not care, but that has not ever occurred to me. With 20 or more, some panning would be needed and I would like to see how many were coming.

[rnc2mbfl]

Judging America by Miami is not a wise idea.

[NCtoMiami]

Not rude at all. The reason some people don't RSVP they are lazy some not sure if they will attend

[doggiebus]

I wouldn't judge America by Miami ... True friends will RSVP. Miami is a very superficially place, people like to keep their options open for the best thing to do that evening. A housewarming party isn't on the highest of things to do on a weekend. When I have planned an event I'll put an evite out two weeks in advice knowing I won't start hearing from people till the Wednesday before depending on what type of event I'm having.

Don't feel bad its just the way Miami is. To give you another example, I have been to weddings that say they start at 7pm on the invitation, but in reality they didn't start till 8pm. They invitations said 7pm because people in Miami are always late. Welcome to Miami.