making a list and checking it thrice

The RSVPs are trickling in. What's nice about having used these stamps on them, is that you get them back with love. Badoy I know, but I'll take what I can get in karmic return.

I've never understood in RSVPs how you can determine which person is getting which meal especially when they pick two different things. But I suppose that's what the phone calls in September will be for.

I keep the record of RSVPs in two different places, on a database on my laptop and online at the website where people can make their online RSVPs. Must have duplicates! I work in IT, I've seen people lose "everything" on their harddrives. I try to record them as soon as I get them before they get lost in the stacks of other papers. The mailed ones get placed back in the box that held them before, the official invitation box, where all invitations must first reside. If I had known this tip before sending them out, I would have numbered the RSVP cards to know which ones I received back. Oh well.

Some people are expert wedding RSVPers, they even use the backside of the card to give me as much info as possible, full official names of each person, return address sticker so I know where they live. Some others write personal notes which I find very sweet and will have to remember to do the next time I get a wedding invite. It's always the personal touch, the small things that make a difference. And how often are we spinning our heads so quickly we miss seeing those things.

In the meantime, I'm building the layout for the placename cards and the larger alphabetized name list to tell people where they sit. Although I'm still trying to figure out where titles and things like Jr and Sr. go.

For example, are these correct? At this point I'm guessing and I haven't been able to find a website that explains how this should go.

a doctor:
last name, Dr. first name
Fabian, Dr. Jose

a married couple whose wife's name I don't know:
last name, Mr. & Mrs. man's first name
Fabian, Mr. & Mrs. Jose

and if I do this for those married couples, should I do that for all married couples with the same last name just to be consistant?

a junior:
last name, first name, Jr
Fabian, Jose, Jr.

In the meantime, I'm practicing doing these Suduko puzzles that are all the rage in Japan and Europe. They are 9 x 9 squares divided into 9 cubes. Each row and each column as one of each number 1-9, plus each of the inner cubes has 1-9 in them. I figure the mental training will do me good when I start doing the seating chart. This person may sit here but not there and only if paired up with this person, yadda yadda yadda. One thing at a time.

73 days to go.