How to Collect Guest Names During RSVP

Collect Guest Names lets you capture the individual name of every person each invitee is bringing — not just the count. It's perfect when you need a full attendee list (place cards, catering head counts, badges, guest-list check-in) but don't need a full seating chart.

If you later decide you do want to seat people, just open the Seating page — every name you've already collected becomes an unassigned guest ready to be dragged onto a table. No re-collection, no data loss.

Enabling Guest Name Capture

Collect Guest Names is ON by default for new invitations. To check or change it:

1. Go to your event dashboard at dashboard.fotify.app
2. Select your event and click "Invitation" in the sidebar
3. Open the "Details" tab
4. Find "Collect Guest Names" in the Event Settings section
5. Toggle it ON or OFF

While it's on, every guest who RSVPs (through their invitation link or the public registration form) is asked to enter the first and last name of every person in their party.

What Guests See

Once enabled, the RSVP form adjusts based on how many people the guest is bringing:

• Accepting solo — they fill in their own name, as usual
• Bringing plus-ones — a new section appears with a name row for each additional attendee
• Declining — no name fields are shown

First and last name are required for each entry, so you always end up with a complete attendee list.

If you already entered names for the party (from the Guests page or the Seating page), the form shows them pre-filled. The names the guest keeps are the people who are coming; anyone they remove — or leave off by lowering their party size — stays in your guest list marked as not coming, so a seat you assigned is never silently reassigned and nothing you typed is lost. Raising the party size again brings those people back by name.

Where the Collected Names Appear

All captured names are available throughout the dashboard:

• Guests page — expandable sub-rows — every party of 2 or more gets a chevron next to the main name. Click it to expand the row and see each plus-one listed beneath, with a "+1" badge per person, and a "Not coming" badge for anyone the guest left out of their confirmation. A small pencil on each sub-row jumps straight to editing that name
• Guests page — search — the search bar matches plus-one names too, so typing "Jane" finds the invitation she's attached to even if the main guest is "Sarah Smith". Matching rows auto-expand and the matched name is highlighted
• Guest list Excel/CSV export — when name capture is on, both spreadsheet exports gain a Plus Ones column with each non-main guest pipe-separated (e.g. John Doe | Jane Doe | Kid Smith). Round-trips cleanly into spreadsheets
• Guest list PDF export — each plus-one appears as an indented sub-row beneath the main invitation
• Attendance verification page — when a party is scanned at the door, security staff tap each person individually as they arrive, with per-person timestamps
• Seating page — every named person shows up as an unassigned chip, ready to seat

You can also pre-fill names yourself from the Guests page if you already know who's coming with each invitee.

Relationship with Seating

Collect Guest Names and the Seating page work with the same underlying data — they're just two different ways to use it.

Setting	Names ON (default)	Names OFF
Guests enter names during RSVP	Yes	No — only their party size
Seating chart / drag-and-drop	Every person appears by name	Plus-ones appear as numbered placeholders (e.g. "Maria G. x2")
Renaming people on the Seating page	Anytime	Anytime — you can fill names in yourself

Key behaviour:

• Collect Guest Names is independent of seating — it's a free choice, on by default, and we simply recommend keeping it on if you plan to use tables (the dashboard shows a small reminder when it's off).
• You can start simple with just Collect Guest Names, then start seating later — every existing name is preserved and appears as an unassigned chip.
• Whether guests see their table on the invitation is a separate switch — Table Assignments in the Invitation section's Details tab.

When to Use Each Option

Use Collect Guest Names only if you want:

• A full attendee list for catering, badges, or check-in
• Personalized place cards without a formal seating chart
• To plan seating informally (e.g., on paper) using the exported guest list

Use the Seating page (ideally together with Guest Names) if you want:

• A visual seating chart with drag-and-drop
• Per-table capacities and color-coded RSVP status
• Guests to see their assigned table inside the invitation

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I turned on Collect Guest Names after some guests had already RSVPed. Will I get their plus-ones' names? A: Existing RSVPs keep the names they submitted (the main guest's name is always there). New RSVPs and RSVP edits from existing guests will include the plus-one names going forward. You can also pre-fill any missing names yourself from the Guests page.

Q: Can I disable Collect Guest Names after turning it on? A: Yes, anytime — even while you're using seating. Names already collected are kept; new RSVPs just stop asking for them. With names off, plus-ones show up on the seating chart as numbered placeholders that you can rename yourself.

Q: Will hiding table assignments from guests erase the collected names? A: No. Your guest names and seating charts are always preserved. The Table Assignments switch only controls what guests see on the invitation — the names stay attached to the RSVP.

Q: Are guest names shown to other guests? A: No. Individual names are only visible in your organizer dashboard and in the guest's own invitation (where they can edit their own party).

Q: Does Collect Guest Names replace the plus-one counter? A: No, they work together. Guests still pick how many people they're bringing, and then they're asked to name each one.

Q: Does this work with the public registration form? A: Yes. Whenever Collect Guest Names is on, the public registration form asks for each plus-one's name.