R.S.V.P.

The four letters that bring a joy and a dread to any host throwing a party, bridal shower or better yet – wedding reception. The word, French for “Respondez s’il vous plait” also means in simple English “please reply”, a task that has proven difficult for some.

All the guest has to do is let the host know if their showing up or not so they can indeed plan better. Every host wants to ensure they have enough food, spirits and favors for their guest. Sounds easy enough right?

I am amazed by the people who forget to do this. The letters are not a secret code that you have to take time to figure out. It’s a simple “yes” or “no” and does not require a long, elaborate and sometimes boring story of why you can not attend. A simple, “I am unable to attend to prior commitments” will suffice and not a “Well…see…I have this Wii game that I need to improve on and so I simply can not make the party.” The last line is an attempt at a joke but I was reminded again over the last few weeks at how silly people can sound on the other end of the phone.

And you know that they’re praying to go to voicemail. “Dear cell phone gods, please let the phone go to voicemail so I can leave my message and not tell the host some white lie that I’ve been making up for the last hour.”

But alas, my favorite so far of the wedding season happened Sunday at 11:45 a.m. It was from a girl who was invited to the bridal shower who could not (shocker) make the event because she had things to do. It would not be a big deal if not for the fact that the party started at 1 p.m. and she lived over an hour away. Had she left at that moment she would have still missed the shower but she felt the need to call and make up an excuse for her slackness. To be frank, I probably would not have noticed her missing except when I counted people for games but now…her story has become a blog entry due to her tackiness.

Rule of thumb people – R.S.V.P. at least one or two days after receiving the invitation. You will look like a star to your friends and save yourself from many jokes in the future.