Will Anyone Come to a Party at This Time?

It wouldn't be a problem for me. My husband wouldn't show up until more like 6:00, but I could go at 5:30 with the kids. Many of my friends are in the same situation.

I think you can just flat out ask people if it would work for them. Tell them what you have in mind and say you want to get a general feel for whether people are interested before you send out a formal invitation. I regularly ask a few people - the ones I care about most - if they are free on a certain date before I book my children's birthday parties.

I see nothing wrong with a party at 5:30. I would go and if I couldn't stay late, I would leave when I felt it was necessary.

As a working mom, that sounds perfect to me. Some families won't make it until after 6 depending on their commute but I think you'll get plenty of people who will go and enjoy. FWIW my kids have never gone to bed before 9 no matter how old they were and I know lots of working parents whose kids stayed up until 8 or 9 as pre-schoolers as well. Have fun!

I do special events and one of my clients actually had a Halloween party exactly as you described years ago. . I had a teenager who was in the back yard doing face painting and running some simple games. I went out there every once in a while to start up different activities also.

The adults were in and out of the house visiting and participating (checking on their children) on and off throughout the party.

One of the funny things was the food situation.. For the adults, I had made a fancy vegetable platter. It included asparagus, artichokes, hearts of palm.. etc.. .. and the kids platter was typical carrots, celery, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.. with ranch dressing. .Then the adults I had some spicy skewers.. and for the kids, pigs in a blanket.

The kids LOVED the spicy skewers and the hearts of palm, artichokes.. blue cheese dressing, the cheese ball.. .. And I am not kidding the adults devoured the pigs in the blankets.. I ended up making 6 dozen that night and pulling out all sorts of fancy mustard's from the hostesses pantry.

The adults drank very responsibly (this was a work related party) .. There was beer and wine. I had a fruit punch for the kids.

We laughed and laughed at the way the party was great, but how the young kids liked the adult food and the adults went ga ga over old fashioned pigs in a blanket.

I think a Friday night is a good night for a party. People are usually able to sleep in on Saturdays, so getting to bed early isn't an issue. (I don't know anyone who goes to bed before 9:00pm anyway, even pre-schoolers). 5:30 might be a little early to start as many people are still commuting from work at that time. 6:00pm might be more reasonable. Anyway, if you are friendly with these people it is fair enough just to ask "If I threw a party on a Friday night would you be able to come?"

I would definitely go. Make sure you give people plenty of notice though so they have time to get their costumes.

We do an outdoor movie watching party every Halloween, around the middle of the month. On Friday we show kid movies and on Sat we do an adult party. Because it needs to be dark, the kid party starts around 6:30. We ALWAYS have a packed house. Parents that work later, may just show up a bit later, no big deal. I think you are good.

Yes, we would come! Sounds perfect to me. We often have dinner parties or dinner potlucks at that time. Our working parent and stay at home parent friends always come and we all hang out, eat dinner, and talk while the kids play.

I'd have loved that! I work ft but get home pretty early and my kids never went to bed before 8:30 or so. In our crowd, there were plenty of evening parties even when we had toddlers. We actually threw a similar party when my youngest was one and everyone had a great time. But I'd ask two or three of the moms you're closest to and see what they say. Most people will keep their kids up a bit late once in a while on a weekend night anyway and some people may just come more like 6:30 if they can't get home earlier. People can kind of come in and out if you word it as starts at 5:30 but its kind of an open house. That way early to bed people come early and leave early and late people do the opposite.

That sounds fine, my daughter's bedtime has been 7:30 since pre-school, so a party then might be a scramble to get to after work, and we'd probably just stay until 7, but it's doable, especially if there's food.

i think it's a perfect time, especially since you're being a dynamite hostess and providing plenty of food AND entertainment for the kids.
sounds like a great party! i'd come (and my kids are grown.)
:) khairete
S.

We would totally go to this if we were actually friends with you, but probably not if we didn't know you.
Our weekend time is pretty precious, and even though I tend to be more social than my husband I wouldn't expect him to come hang out with me at a preschool party with a bunch of people we don't know on a Friday night, and I wouldn't really want to go alone if it was mostly couples.
I say throw it out there, do it at a time that works for YOU, because people will either make the effort or not, regardless of the day/time.

Sure I would have come to a Friday evening party. As a M-F working parent, I'd have appreciated that you didn't book up part of my weekend.

What is the worst thing that happens ... no one shows up. We would show up because it works into our schedule. I also would be aware that some may not be there until closer to 6 ... big whoop! Sounds like a good time, send out the invites and gauge based on feedback/RSVP's. I also tend to account for double the RSVP number.

I might start the party at 5:30 for the kiddos (probably with one parent), but i probably wouldn't expect all the parents to show up that early so you might want to delay the adult food out later. I hope you are still planning a special birthday celebration with your son on his real birthday-you can't count a Halloween party as his birthday celebration.

Yes. It's a Halloween party.
Me? I'd move start time to 6 to allow 1 hour commute for a prompt 5:00 Friday quit time. Just to be safe.
They might need commute time, time to get dressed, etc.

When my kids were little I would have loved the party you have planned! Family friendly, early for the littles, entertainment, adult refreshments! What's not to like?

The only thing I would check (maybe) is whether there are soccer schedules or some other sport that many of the kids do on Friday afternoons.

Otherwise I love it!

I used to have parties like that every year at Halloween when my kids were young. I asked all the parents to come and for the kids to come dressed in their costumes. I would definitely go! You could somehow word the invitation to 5:30 or whenever you can get here, or say 5:30 ish. If you can get away with that. Or you could say please RSVP if you are able to come I know lots of people work and may need to come at a later time. That just lets people know even if they cant come till after 5:30 that you would still like for them to attend. Good luck!!

Great! 5:30-7 if possible.

Since it's on a Friday, I wouldn't think bedtime would be an issue for the parents. I think I would go especially since your food could work for dinner. Have fun!

We generally didn't accept invitations for evening hours when my kids were little (preschool aged) because it was too close to bedtime. 5:30 on a Friday IS tough for working parents... and that coupled with the closeness to bedtime makes me think that you'd get fewer people than you want. Also, depending on the age of the kids, some parents won't be comfortable allowing unknown babysitters to watch them.

Personally, I'd either make this an adults-only event later in the evening, or do a family friendly event in the afternoon one weekend, even if it means having a party without your BIL as the entertainment.

Last thought - you could certainly ask a few of the more outspoken/honest parents at the school whether they attend parties on Friday evenings. If one of the other moms at my kids' preschool had approached me with that question, I would have politely said that we would not make it at that time due to work schedules and bedtime (my kids generally went to bed by 6:30 or 7 during preschool).

Sure it will work. And what parent would not love to wear that Halloween costume more than once.

You need to:
1)... give plenty of notice, as some make their own costumes.
2)... give a party time frame 5:30 till? Some will come at 5:30 and working parents may trickle in with their little humans a bit later.

You'll get a better turn out if you:
1. Send an actual invitation, not just email or verbal
2. Ask for an RSVP - give your phone and email address
3. Remind those who did not RSVP (get email addresses)

Send a Reminder 1-2 days before the party to EVERYONE....this can be done via email or text

As long as your not calling it his B-day party it sounds perfect. We do weekend night stuff with families all the time. You might put 5:30 or later on the invite so people understand they're welcome to show up late if it's more convenient.

One more thought is to be sure the parents know the child doesn't have to be in their full, actual halloween costume. Sometimes ours aren't ready two weeks prior. In the past the kids have worn sports uniforms, funny hats or just a bunch of stuff from our halloween box. Have fun!

This party sounds great.

My one question: What do you mean when you say this will also be a party for your son's December birthday? Think about that a bit more before you do anything crazy, lol. Do you expect people to bring him birthday presents? Are you planning to tell your son "happy birthday" and have birthday cake? I think I like this idea better as *just* a Halloween season party.

Friday evenings at 5:30 may be very hard for some parents to come. Some of them are getting off work or wanting to feed the kids before they attend something (kids are notoriously poor eaters at parties); plus you are asking people to have costumes ready maybe two weeks before Halloween. These are just things to consider.

I'm personally very introverted, so I'm not a good one to ask about parties.;) I'd likely send my husband with the kid.

Another idea to consider: when we had 'awkward' birthdays at our preschool, (say a child's birthday happened during the summer when we were not in session) then we celebrated those on their half-birthdays. You might consider that for next summer, just so your son doesn't get confused. This way, it would still be exclusively focused on his birthday and would be more convenient for you and his friends. My son was invited to a classmate's half-birthday party this summer and the kids loved it.

You need to actually serve dinner.

Absolutely, sounds very nice. I'd make sure you have a couple of good friends you KNOW will come. Check with them on the date and time, and plan it and then invite others.

BTW, you're not making it a birthday party right??

We frequently have get togethers with friends and their kids on Friday nights, either their house or mine, and it works great. But this is not a "party", it's just a few other couples and their kids. Although it is a house of 25 people LOL

I would do it as a potluck. At 5:30 most families will expect a dinner of some sort. Or serve pizza and ask everyone else to bring either a salad or desert. They can make it the day before or pick it up at a local deli or bakery.
If you are asking guests to wear costumes I would start at 6. It's kinda hard for parents to get out of work, pick-up kids, and get into a costume by 5:30.