The question seems to be for many business people…What Does RSVP Mean? Or, if not the question has then got to be..Why Do People Bother Putting RSVP on Invitations To Me?
Either way, there differently is some sort of breakdown in society today with so many people not knowing why the RSVP is put on a formal written invitation. More concerning is how many who do not understand the importance of taking action as the RSVP asks. I have written on RSVP a number of times and covered the details behind the history of RSVP. Still there are many who ask why they need to RSVP to an invitation. I just find it so interesting how so many people are not aware, or carrying about an important part of social behavior.
So where did RSVP come from? I found this tidbit you may find beneficial in improving you understanding of what the intentions of RSVP started out to be. Maybe we need to go back and reestablish some of those social etiquette.
R.S.V.P. stands for a French phrase, “répondez, s’il vous plaît,” which means “please reply.” The person sending the invitation would like you to tell him or her whether you accept or decline the invitation. That is, will you be coming to the event or not? Etiquette rules followed in most Western cultures require that if you receive a formal, written invitation, you should reply promptly, perhaps that same day. For hosts who are planning a dinner party, a wedding or a reception, this is important from a practical point of view, because they need to know how many people to count on and how much food and drink to buy. More important, though, is the simple courtesy of responding to someone who was nice enough to invite you, even if it is to say that you regret that you will not be able to attend.
You might wonder why we use the initials of a French phrase in an invitation that is written in English. You could say that the French “invented” etiquette, although that would be a simplification because there have always been rules of courtesy to follow in civilization. In fact, an Italian diplomat, Conte Baldassare Castiglione, wrote the first book about proper behavior among nobility in the 16th century. Many of the practices of Western etiquette, however, came from the French court of King Louis XIV in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. At Versailles, his palace, Louis XIV had the rules for court behavior written on what the French referred to as “tickets,” or “étiquette.” The tickets either were signs posted at Versailles or were the invitations issued to court events with the rules of behavior printed on the back; experts give different versions of the origin. And French was the language of refinement and high society through the 19th century in the United States. Judith Martin, the author of etiquette books and a syndicated newspaper columnist known as “Miss Manners,” thinks that “R.S.V.P.” came about as a polite way of reminding people of something that they should already know: If you receive an invitation, you should reply.
BOTTOMLINE: It is very important to respond to an invitation of any kind. It is also just important if you are having an event and don’t need an response to not put RSVP on the invitation..Responding to the RSVP reflects on your professionalism..not responding reflects poorly on the person the invitation was sent. So, get with it..respond..or you may find you are left out of the social space you are trying to enter.
