Add or import your guest list

In the Import window, choose Template to download the guest list template as an Excel file. It has drop-downs for the columns that take a fixed set of answers.

You can also download it without an account from the public page at /wedding-guest-list-template, as Excel (.xlsx) or as CSV.

The template has six invented example guests to show the format. Delete them before you import, and give every guest their own row, including plus ones and children.

Only Name is required. You can leave any other column blank.

Name: the guest's full name.

Email: used for sending invitations and RSVPs by email.

Mobile number: used for sending invitations on WhatsApp from your own phone.

Relationship: whose side they're on. The options are Bride's family, Groom's family, Bride's friend, Groom's friend, Colleague, Extended family and Other.

Group: who they'd sit with, in your own words, such as Uni friends or Smith family. AI Seat keeps each group together.

Top table: Yes for anyone sitting at the top table with the two of you.

Age group: Child, Teen, Young adult, Adult or Senior.

Meal preference: Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescatarian, Meat, Gluten-free, Dairy-free or No preference.

Dietary requirements: allergies and anything else the caterer needs to know, in your own words.

RSVP: Yes, No, or leave it blank if they haven't replied. Anyone marked No isn't given a seat.

Is plus one: Yes for a guest who is someone's plus one.

Plus one of: the name of the guest they're coming with, written as it is in the Name column.

You don't have to use the template. Columns are matched by their heading, so a sheet from another planning app usually works as it is. For example, First name and Last name (or Surname) are joined into one name, and headings such as E-mail, Phone, Side, Household, Allergies or Head table are recognised.

An Accessibility column is also read, with headings such as Accessibility needs, Access needs or Mobility. It isn't in the template, but you can add it.

Only the first sheet of an Excel file is read.

In the RSVP column, answers such as Yes, Attending, Accepted or Confirmed count as coming, and No, Declined or Can't come count as declined. Anything else is treated as not replied yet. The Top table column accepts the same yes answers.

If a Dietary column just says a meal type, such as Vegan, it is used as the meal choice. Anything longer is kept word for word as a dietary requirement.

If a Relationship cell isn't one of the options, such as Uni friends, it is used as the guest's seating group instead.

A row with no name is left out. If the file has no name column at all, it is read as a plain list with one guest per line.

If your list is in a note or a message, paste it into Or paste a list, with one guest per line. Bullet points and numbers at the start of a line are ignored.

If a line has an email address or a phone number on it, that is picked out and saved as the guest's email or mobile. The rest of the line is used as the name.

Choose Read the list to go to the review screen.

Before anything is saved, you see a table of every guest found, with a count of guests, plus-ones, seating groups, top table guests, replies and guests with dietary needs.

You can edit Name, Email, Relationship, Group, Top table, Age and Meal for each row, and remove rows you don't want. Mobile numbers, dietary requirements, accessibility needs and RSVP answers from your file are imported as they are.

Choose Back to return to the upload step, or Cancel to close without importing anything.

If you'd already told your planner something about guests by name before they were on your list, such as who to keep apart, PlanHitch matches it to the guests you've just imported and says how many it matched.

Plus-ones are added as separate guests, linked to the guest they're coming with.

When you import, a row marked Is plus one is linked by matching its Plus one of name to a main guest's name. The order of the rows doesn't matter.

On the review screen, tick +1 on a row to make it a plus one, then choose who they're with from Linked to. A main guest shows how many plus-ones are linked to them.

If you delete a main guest later, their plus-one stays on the guest list as a separate guest.

On the guest list, open the actions menu on a guest's row and choose Seating preferences.

Here you can set a Seating group, tick Top table, and choose guests they Must sit with or should be kept apart from (Keep apart from). Choose Save.

Editing seating preferences is part of Premium or Unlimited. On the Free plan the panel shows Upgrade to edit seating preferences. A seating group and top table set in your imported file are saved on every plan.

You can also set these by telling AI Seat in your own words on the table plan. The seating plan article explains how.

Open the actions menu on a guest's row and choose Dietary info.

You can set a Meal preference, tick Has dietary restrictions, list Allergies separated by commas, and choose how serious they are in How serious is it?: Not recorded, Mild, or an intolerance, or Severe (anaphylaxis). Severe allergies are flagged for the caterer on your venue pack.

There are also boxes for Dietary requirements, Meal notes and Accessibility needs. Choose Save.

When guests reply to an invitation that asks for meal choices, the meal, allergies and dietary notes they give are saved to their guest record.

Choose Edit in a guest's actions menu to change their name, contact details, address, relationship, age group, RSVP Status and notes.

To change a reply quickly, use Mark attending, Mark declined or Mark not replied in the same menu. To change several at once, tick the guests and use Set reply.

Choose Delete to remove a guest. This also removes their seat and invitation. An Undo option appears straight after.