Organizing Surprise Bday Dinner

Hmmmm- any chance you can find a restaurant that will let each person pay for their own meal?
If you know these other women well, and this is something that you all came up with, then I think stating the price at the bottom of the invite would be okay. "$17 per person- cash or check only".
BUT, if you don't know these people very well AND this was something YOU thought of, it may come off tacky no matter how you state it. If you are truly the HOST, people may be expecting you to pay for their meal.

Just my two cents. Any other thoughts out there?
R.

PS Bucca di Beppo in Southlake lets everyone pay separately. :)

I don't know how you would word something like that without coming across tacky.

On a personal note, if I invite people and I am the host then I pay the tab, no questions asked. I just think that is the right thing to do if I am the host and I did the inviting.

You might want to find another restaurant that would cater to your needs.

Keep in mind that some or all of the women you have invited may assume you are picking up the tab since you are the host and you set this up.

Good luck.

I think April's suggestion of emailing everyone about the payment arrangements is a great idea. Eeveryone who comes must already know that they will have to pay for their food. I think it is a great idea to let people know about the $17 min too.

You are a great friend to go through the trouble of arranging all of this for your friend I hope they appreciate you.

By the way if you need any entertainment for your party, my husband and I are professional clowns living in Anna. We offer facepainting, balloon sculptures, comedy magic shows,friendship bracelets, along with fun interaction and games. We've entertained at birthday parties and large events like the Plano Balloon Festival.

Our prices are very reasonable (we have four great kids of our own so we know how expensive things can get)and we do our best to work within a person's budget.

Please feel free to take a look at our website at www.freewebs.com/bubblesandwowza for samples of our work.

Give us a call at ###-###-#### if you have any questions at all.

Hope you have a great party whatever you decide to do.

Hope to hear from you,

K. Schmidt
Bubbles the Clown
Bubbles and Wowza, LLC

HI P.,

That is really nice that you are all going to get together for her birthday. One other thing to consider... does the $17 per person already include a tip or is that expected on top of the bill?? also are you getting a private room that has a minimum charge of $200 (12 x 17) or how did they come up with this amount. I would make sure the the people attending understand that it is a minimum, because the costs can add up quickly with an extra glass of wine or a shared appetizer. Are they going to give you a breakdown of each person's expenses or are you just planning to divide it evenly. Last week, I had dinner with friends (4 people) and it was hard to break out the totals for each person and there were only four of us.