If guess it depends if you need a head count. I think the only time I really followed up with phone calls was for our daughters wedding. We had to pay per person for the dinner, so I needed a rough idea of the amount attending. Even with the calling I did, we still had about 16 no shows. I understand people do have emergencies, but its doubtful that 16 of them did. Its really too bad, because we still had to pay for those who did not attend after telling us they would be present.