Decide who can see your event and respond, turn the Maybe option on or off, set plus-one limits, and shape the RSVP flow your guests walk through.
Decide how guests respond
Start with Guests → Invite. Choose personal invitations or a shared request link, and check the access summary. New events created with either method stay private.
For more control, open Event page → Details & access. Expand Advanced access & responses for visibility, requests, plus-ones and response choices. Capacity and waitlist settings have their own expandable section. Save your changes before leaving.
Private vs. public events
This is the most important choice for your RSVP setup. In Details & access, set your event's Visibility.
Private events
Choose Private when you want to control exactly who attends, like weddings, private parties, and corporate events. Only invited guests and your co-planners can view the page.
Your guests get in one of two ways — the full walkthrough is in How guests get in:
Their personal link. One tap on the link in their invitation signs them in as that guest, with no code to type.
Your event's address. They open your page and type the email or phone number you have for them, then enter the one-time code we send. (Continuing with Google or Facebook works too, when that account uses the email on your list.) We match them to their place on your guest list and they go straight to their name and the RSVP form. No password to remember either way.
Not on your list? They're told they're not on the list yet and can try the other email or phone you may have for them. If Allow requests to join is on, they can also send their name and an optional note for you to review. Otherwise, they can contact you.
Allow requests to join
For a private event, turn on Allow requests to join under and press . It is enabled when you create an event with , and disabled for . Visitors outside your guest list can then ask for an invitation, and you approve or decline each request from . The form does not reveal private event details.
Choose Public when you want maximum reach, like community meetups and open social gatherings. Anyone with the link can view the page. Guests still sign in (with an email one-time code, or Continue with Google or Facebook) so you know who is coming, but they don't need to be on a list first. They simply add their name and RSVP, and a guest entry is created for them.
Restrict RSVPs to invited guests
On a public event, you can let anyone view the page but still keep the guest list closed. Turn on Only invited guests can RSVP in Details & access. People can browse the page, but only those you have added can respond.
The Maybe option
By default, guests can respond Going, Maybe, or Can't Make It. If you need firmer numbers, you can turn Maybe off so guests choose only Going or Can't Make It.
Keep Maybe on when:
You want to gauge interest before finalizing plans
Your event has flexible capacity
You plan to follow up with "Maybe" guests later
Turn Maybe off when:
You need firm headcounts, like seated dinners or catered events
You want to keep the response choice as simple as possible
You will find the Allow 'Maybe' response toggle in Details & access, alongside your other RSVP options.
Plus-one limits
Plus-ones let your guests bring additional people. You set them at two levels.
Event-wide default
Set a default number of plus-ones each guest can bring. Use this to match the tone of your event, from solo invites to family-friendly gatherings. Any guest without a number of their own follows this default — new guests you add or import, and guests already on your list — so changing it changes how many plus-ones those guests are offered when they RSVP. With no default and no number on a guest, that guest can't bring plus-ones at all — they aren't offered any, and none can be saved for them (you can still add plus-ones for a guest yourself). You can set it here, or change it on the spot from the Plus-ones for everyone control on the Guest List toolbar — see Managing guests.
Per-guest override
Need to make an exception? Override the event-wide default for an individual guest. For example, you might allow one plus-one as the default but let a close friend bring three. Set per-guest limits right on the guest's card on the Guest List page.
Shape the RSVP flow
The RSVP flow is the short sequence each guest walks through when they respond. By default it includes:
Response — Going, Maybe, or Can't Make It
Plus-ones — if you allow them, guests add their companions' names
The surest way to get an answer from everyone is to ask while they're responding. You can attach questions to the RSVP flow to collect meal choices, dietary needs and allergies, a mailing address, song requests, accommodation, and more.
The quickest way is the Collect at RSVP shelf on the Polls page: one-click cards that spin up a ready-worded question, already attached to your RSVP. Each question can be:
Free-text, multiple-choice, or both — an open box for an address or a song, a set of meal options, or options plus an "anything else?" note.
Required to finish RSVP — so a must-have answer like a meal choice can't be skipped.
Ask only if attending — so logistics questions (shuttle, accommodation, sessions) skip anyone who declines.
The shelf includes cards built for corporate and multi-part events:
Company and Job title — free-text fields for badges and the attendee list.
Which events will you join? — a multi-select for a multi-part event, so per-sub-event attendance ("Welcome dinner / Ceremony / Reception") is just a headcount you collect at RSVP.
See Questions & polls for the full setup, the preset catalog, and per-plus-one answers.
The confirmation page
When a guest finishes, they see a confirmation page summarizing their response, with a link back to the event page. Nothing is left ambiguous. For a guest who's Going or Maybe, the page also offers an Add to calendar row with Google, Apple, and Outlook links, and the matching confirmation email — styled with your event's cover image and accent color, with the date shown in your event's timezone — carries the same calendar links plus a button to manage their RSVP later.
Capacity, waitlist & approval
For limited-seat and corporate events, you can cap attendance, open a waitlist, and review each RSVP before it's confirmed. You'll find these under Capacity & approval in Details & access.
Cap attendance
Set an Attendance cap to limit how many guests can confirm. The cap counts confirmed attendees (Going or Maybe), and each plus-one takes a spot too. Leave it blank for no limit.
As guests respond, your event page shows a live capacity meter — "32 of 50 spots", with a "spots left" note as it fills. When the cap is reached, the meter reads "This event is full."
Open a waitlist
Turn on Waitlist when full and, once the cap is reached, new "yes" responses join a waitlist instead of being turned away. On the event page, the Going button reframes to Join the waitlist, and waitlisted guests see "You're on the waitlist — we'll let you know the moment a spot opens up." Their details, party, and answers are all saved. They get the same message by email and in the app — never a "You're going!" for a reply that is waiting. Your own RSVP notice says it the same way: "Dana joined the waitlist for your event", not "Dana is going". On your Guest List, in your Reports and in your Response Log they read Waitlist too.
Waitlisted guests are promoted automatically — oldest first — the moment a seat frees, whether someone cancels or you raise the cap. A promoted guest is told they're in, once, by email and in the app.
Review each RSVP before it counts
Turn on Review each RSVP and every "yes" arrives as awaiting approval rather than confirmed. The guest sees "Your spot is pending — the host reviews each response and you'll hear once it's confirmed." A pending RSVP doesn't hold a seat until you approve it, and the guest's email says the same — the "you're going" confirmation is sent when you approve. Your own RSVP notice reads Awaiting approval, so you can tell a reply that needs you from one that is already settled.
You approve or decline each one from the Awaiting approval list on the Guest List page:
Approve holds a spot. If the event is already full and the waitlist is on, an approved guest joins the waitlist instead; if it's full with no waitlist, you'll be told the event is full.
Decline frees nothing the guest was holding, and automatically promotes the next person off the waitlist.
RSVP deadline
Need responses in by a certain date? Set an RSVP deadline. It's optional, and you can add, move, or remove it whenever you like.
Open Event page → Details & access and find the Date & Time card.
Under RSVP Deadline Date, pick a day. The time fills in as 23:59, so a deadline of "the 1st" runs through the end of the 1st. Change RSVP Deadline Time if you want it earlier.
Press Save.
The deadline is in your event's time zone — the Timezone field in the same card — so every guest is cut off at the same moment, wherever they are.
Guests see it before it passes. The RSVP section on your event page prints it as a "Please respond by …" line above the reply buttons, and the same line appears at the top of the reply step. It is written in your event's time zone and language, so a guest in another country reads the day and time you set, not the one on their phone; the time is added only when it isn't the default end of the day. This replaces the section's free-text Respond by date field while a deadline is set — the field still works for events with no deadline. Once the deadline has passed, the line gives way to the "RSVPs are closed" message.
It has to be before the event starts. Replies are there to help you plan, and your automatic RSVP reminder is timed off the deadline, so a deadline after the start would be too late to be useful. If you pick one that late, the form says why under the field and won't save it until you change it. (Picking the day of the event? Choose a time earlier than the start, since the time fills in as 23:59.)
To take the deadline away, press Clear deadline and Save. Guests can reply again straight away. If you set one that has already passed, the form tells you that replies are closed right now.
Until it passes, everything works as usual. Once the deadline is behind you, the RSVP form closes itself:
Guests visiting to respond see "RSVPs are closed" with the date responses closed, and can no longer choose Going or Maybe.
A guest who already replied can still withdraw — choosing "Can't make it" / letting the host know stays open even past the deadline, so a plan that changes never traps them on a yes.
You're never blocked. As the host (or a co-planner), you can still add, edit, and update any guest's response from the dashboard after the deadline.
If you've turned on the RSVP reminder under Messages → Automatic messages, it is timed off the deadline: it goes out three days before it. With no deadline, it goes out a week before the event. If you move the deadline afterwards, a reminder you already scheduled keeps its time — turn it off and on again to re-time it. See Messages & reminders.
What guests see
The exact experience depends on your settings:
Setting
What the guest does
Any event
Tap an answer on the page first — Going, Maybe, or Can't Make It
Public event
Confirm by email (one-time code) or Continue with Google/Facebook, add their name; the answer is then recorded
Private event
Confirm the email or phone you have for them (one-time code), add their name; matched to your guest list
Private event + not matched
Told they're not on the list yet; try the other email or phone you have for them, or request to join
Personal-link guest
Lands already responded; can change the answer in one tap
Maybe enabled
Can choose Going, Maybe, or Can't Make It
Maybe disabled
Can choose Going or Can't Make It
Plus-ones allowed
Add companion names after choosing a response, each with their own status
Questions in RSVP
Answer your attached questions before confirming — in the same save
Private event + phone on list
Type that phone number and enter the code we text them — they're matched to their place on your list
Capacity set
See a live capacity meter ("32 of 50 spots") as the event fills
Event full + waitlist on
"Going" becomes "Join the waitlist"; the response is saved and held in line
Approval required
The RSVP arrives as "pending the host's approval" until you approve or decline it
Changing responses
Guests can update their RSVP any time by returning to the event page. Their previous answer is pre-filled, so changing from Maybe to Going takes seconds. You can also update a guest's response yourself from the dashboard by editing their guest card.