How to Import a Guest List into Vesavo

Upload any CSV or Excel guest list into Vesavo — Intelligent Import maps the columns so you don’t have to reformat your spreadsheet first.

Most couples and planners already have a guest list somewhere — a spreadsheet from family, a Google Sheet, an export from another tool. Vesavo’s Intelligent Import is built for that mess. You don’t need a perfect template; you need a file with names and whatever else you’ve collected.

This walkthrough covers importing guests into a Vesavo event from CSV or Excel.

Create or open your event

Sign in to Vesavo and open the event you’re seating. If you’re just starting, create an event with a name and date — you can refine venue and timezone later. Imports always attach guests to the current event, so pick the right one before you upload.

Open Guests and choose Upload

Go to the Guests area and start an upload. Vesavo accepts CSV (`.csv`) and Excel (`.xlsx`, `.xls`). You don’t need to rename columns to match a fixed template first.

Let Intelligent Import map your columns

After the file is read, Vesavo analyses headers and sample rows. It proposes which column is name, group or family, dietary notes, email, VIP flags, and other fields it recognises. Review the mapping carefully — this is where a “Notes” column sometimes belongs in dietary requirements, or a “Table preference” column can stay as free-text notes.

Confirm or adjust anything that doesn’t look right, then start the import.

Wait for the background import (and review the list)

Large lists import as a background job so you can keep working. When it finishes, open Guests and scan for missing names, split couples, or odd group labels. Fix a few rows by hand if needed — that’s normal after a first pass from a messy spreadsheet.

Add relationships and groups after the import

Once names are in, tighten the data that seating will use: family groups, VIP flags, dietary requirements, and any known conflicts. Groups that arrived from the spreadsheet can be refined so Smart Seating keeps the right people together.

Move on to tables and seating

With a clean guest list, create tables (or import your floor plan layout) and run Smart Seating or place people manually. A good import is the foundation — everything else goes faster when names and groups are already solid.