Managing your guest list

Adding & editing

• An empty list shows two ways to start. The recommended one is Start from our template: download it, fill in names and tags, and import it — tagging in a spreadsheet is much faster than tagging guest by guest afterward, and tags are what AI seating works from. You can also import a list you already have, or Type them in (its button puts your cursor in the add row).
• The tinted add row at the top of the table is always there: type a title (optional), first and last name, then press Enter or click Add. The cursor jumps back to First name, so you can type a whole list without touching the mouse.
• Edit inline: click any cell — name, notes, RSVP — and type. Changes save as you go.
• The columns are Title, First, Last, Tags, RSVP, Dietary, Notes, plus a constraints button and a delete button on each row. Dietary / food preferences is free text per guest — anything you write here flows into the caterer print, grouped by table.

Filtering & grouping

The filter bar above the table lets you focus the list:

• Search by name.
• RSVP filter — show or hide each status.
• Tag filter — show only one tag.
• Hide declined — on by default.
• Group by None, Tag, RSVP, or Alphabetical. When grouping by tag, a guest with several tags appears under each of them.

Bulk actions

Tick the checkboxes on several rows (or the header box for all) to reveal bulk tools: set an RSVP, add a tag, or delete. This is the fastest way to clean up right after an import.

Seating constraints

The link icon on each row opens that guest’s constraints. Tick other guests as must sit with (a partner, a child) or must not sit with. The two are mutually exclusive per guest, and a badge on the row shows how many are set. Both manual placement and the AI honor these.

What tags are for

A tag can be any label that helps you seat people. It does three jobs:

• Who sits together. With the default Keep tags together rule, AI seating puts guests who share a tag at the same table. Tag everyone with who they’re with — Bride’s family, College friends, Groom’s work, Book club. (Prefer mixing? The Mix tags across tables rule spreads each tag out instead.)
• Where they sit. Tags don’t have to be social groups. Tag Kids, VIP, or Needs step-free access, then name a zone after the tag and AI seats those guests inside it. You can also name tags in your note to the AI (“seat the Kids near the dance floor”).
• At a glance. A guest’s first tag colors their seat, and you can filter, group, highlight, and print by tag.

Working with tags

• Create a tag two ways: type a new name in a guest’s Tags cell and press Enter, or add it in the Tags panel on the right of the Guests tab.
• In the Tags panel you can rename, recolor (click the dot for the palette), and see a per-tag guest count.
• Deleting a tag removes it from every guest who had it.
• A guest can carry multiple tags. On a seat, the first tag sets the seat’s color — the room legend is the way to untangle the rest.

RSVP statuses

Six statuses, each with its own color and meaning:

1. 1Click Download template for a correctly-shaped file (recommended) — or use your own. The template comes with example rows showing how to fill in tags. Its columns are First Name, Last Name, Title, Tag 1–3, RSVP Status, Must Sit With, Must Not Sit With, Dietary / Food Preferences, Notes, plus a “How to use” sheet.
2. 2Click Import .xlsx / .csv and pick your file. A preview of the first rows appears.
3. 3Map the columns. The app auto-detects them by header name; adjust any dropdown if needed. First and Last name are required — everything else is optional. Use the Tag columns picker to mark which columns hold tags (each cell becomes a tag; comma-separate for several). Columns named like Tag, Group, Side, Relationship, Household, Party, or Invited by are picked for you, and a line underneath previews the tags you’ll get (“6 tags found: Bride’s family (42)…”). If no tag column is picked, you’ll see a reminder that AI seating works best with tags.
4. 4Click Import. A summary reports how many guests landed, how many new tags were created, and how many constraints were resolved — then points you to the next step: Seat everyone with AI if your room has tables, or Set up your room if it doesn’t yet.

Logging a gift

The form across the top picks a guest, a description, an optional dollar value, and the date you received it. The four common occasions are surfaced as suggestion chips — Engagement, Shower, Wedding, Charity in lieu — but you can type anything in the Custom field. Submitting clears the description / value / date so you can log several in a row for the same guest.

One row per gift

• Each row is editable inline — change the occasion, description, value, received date, or notes by clicking the cell.
• The Thank-you column is a click-to-toggle button. “Not yet” flips to “Sent” with one click.
• A guest can have any number of gifts — engagement plus shower plus wedding plus a donation, all under the same name.

Filtering & exports

• Search matches guest name, description, occasion, or notes.
• Occasion chips show only gifts of one type.
• “Needs thank-you only” hides the gifts you’ve already crossed off — the to-do list view.
• Export CSV downloads every gift as a spreadsheet for tax-time, registry reconciliation, or just an offline backup.
• Thank-you list opens a printable PDF (also in the Print menu) grouped by guest with a checkbox per gift — see the Printing section.