63 invitations to my Oktoberfest were sent. It asked for a response by today. I have had 20 responses.
Pathetic.
Am I cooking for 50 people or 100 or 150? I have no idea. I could cook for the 50 people I know are coming. And I could run out of food as soon as the brats come off the grill. I could cook for 150 and have sauerbraten in my freezer until April.
What’s the deal? Did 43 people forget to respond? Are 43 people waiting to see if something better than free food and beer comes up in their social calendar? Are 43 people that rude or ignorant or apathetic?
Personally, I don’t care if someone chooses not to come. I don’t care if someone feels that hanging out watching HGTV all day long is a better deal than my little fest. I completely understand if someone just wants a break and doesn’t want to have one more social obligation crowding their weekend. Been there. That’s cool.
So tell me. Email me and say, no thank you. I don’t need to hear your excuse. I just want to know if I should make food for you or not.
And if you show up here without letting me know, I will notice. And I will remember.
Reit This Way 
One of my biggest pet peeves.
I can't stand when people can't even respond and let you know if they can or can't come to a party. I'm the same with not caring if they want to come or not, but I do want to know how many people are attending so I can be sure to have enough food.
Like KC, this is one of my biggest pet peeves. When we got married I ended up calling all the people who didn't respond, so I would know how much food we needed.
I would definitely respond…you can invite me next time. 😉
I hate that – so rude. Were these people not taught by their mamas??
As a young LT's wife and helping to run a family support group meeting, the battalion commander's wife recommended to me to make name tags for everyone who RSVP'd. She said that anyone that showed up without RSVPing would then need us to make a name tag on the spot, while we said, “Oh, I didn't know you were coming, so I didn't have a nametag for you.” Their name tags were different from the others. 😉
I think you hit the nail on the head with the comment “Are 43 people waiting to see if something better than free food and beer comes up in their social calendar?”
I have thrown parties where people wait til the last minute to see if something better comes up. AND they are say that when I contact them about the RSVP.
I think the name tag idea is a good idea.
One of my greatest annoyances. I'm so sorry.
If it helps, I'd RSVP.
This has happened to us as well. Drives me completely crazy. Can't wait to see your menu post complete with recipes. We love Oktoberfest! Good luck.
I hate that!! Got no solutions for you–it happened to me this June with the giant graduation/graduation/First Communion party we had. I hope you find a genius workaround.
Fear of commitment…that's usually my reason. I'm afraid that if I say I'll go, and then something comes up and I can't go, that I'll have caused undue preparations on our behalf…but I can see your point and I suppose I'd never realized how much more inconvenient it is to just not know, and be left wondering how much “just in case” preparations to actually make.
Chuck it up to growing up in a family that never really acted as the host for parties. I'm severely deficent when it comes to these things. Perhaps the other 40 something folks are like me too, scary!
They're all fools though, you have the best Octoberfeasts around! If I ever get an invite again, I'll be all over it!