Thanksgiving Guest List & Dietary Needs Template

A host needs more than a headcount. One guest may avoid an ingredient, another may be bringing a partner, and a family may not yet know whether they can attend. This private guest worksheet gives those unanswered questions their own space, so a tentative invitation does not silently become a confirmed place at the table.

Confirm details with the people coming

Enter a guest or household in the first column. Mark whether they are coming, note the foods they ask you to avoid, and record whether you confirmed that information directly. Use the guest’s own description instead of guessing from a previous visit. The last column helps you distinguish a confirmed request from something a relative mentioned in passing.

Before choosing dishes, review any open confirmations. Share only the information the person preparing food needs. Keep names and dietary notes in your private organizer copy rather than putting this sheet on the dinner table. The blank rows contain no invented example guests and can be printed for handwritten planning.

Make the conversation easier

Ask what the guest can comfortably eat and whether they prefer to bring a dish. This worksheet records the answer; it cannot assess an allergy, judge a recipe or guarantee safe preparation. For an allergy or serious dietary restriction, agree on the actual arrangements with the guest and check ingredients with the cook.

Turn a confirmed list into a meal plan

Once the attendance answers are settled, count the people eating each planned dish. The free file does not total portions or infer a serving size from dietary notes. Use that confirmed count as an input to the paid Host Planner, then adjust its editable portions to match your menu. Its shopping calculations and dinner-day schedule help with quantities and timing while this sheet keeps the original guest conversations easy to find.