I love throwing birthday parties for my kids and I try to do something a little outside the norm. For my older son, I am planning a semi-private party at our local zoo's Zoolights. The zoo will not be open to the public, but there will be a couple of larger parties there at the same time. In order to do this, I have to buy wristbands for every person who is attending. There are no sales available at the gate, so I have to buy enough bands to have one in hand for every guest. I also, of course, have to pay for each wrist band. So here are my concerns- How many kids do I invite? I usually like to invite the whole family, including siblings. But with this event, that could get very expensive quickly. I am planning on 50 wristbands minus 10 family members, so do we invite 20 kids and tell people it is just "plus one?" How can I tactfully let people know that I really, really need an exact head count? And finally- if a family wants to add on another person, sibling, etc, I hate to say no. I know I could ask them to pay for any extra wristbands, but that feels like bad hosting to me. I would love your thoughts!
Oh, and I was planning light-up goody bags for the kids plus a holiday cookie/snacks/hot cocoa and coffee bar before we walk through and then cake at the end, letting people know that it is desserts and snacks only. Would you think that was a cop-out in the food department, or would you be OK with that for an evening (6:30-8:30pm) event?
Thank you!!
We've done limited space parties before. We just put in the invites that due to limited space, siblings are not invited and we absolutely need a final head count by XYZ date.
If I see an invitation like that, I'm ok with it.
Sounds like quite a party!
Do you need to do the "plus one" business? That sounds more like an open house, and you can't do that in this case.
Don't beat around the bush. This is a particular event, and you need a particular head count. You can blame it on the place! "By the way, this venue requires exact numbers, so I need to know if your family is coming and how many of you there will be by next Thursday. After that, the list is set, everything's in cement, and I can't change it."
If someone wants to add a person to your list, you'll have to say no: "I hope we can get together another time." If someone shows up without RSVP-ing, you (or your husband?) will have to say, "I'm sorry." Just to be careful and not make any mistakes, have a super-accurate written account of whom you invited and who has definitely responded in the affirmative, and keep it with you.
As far as the food is concerned, the party starts after the dinner hour (right?), so you can assume people have eaten their main meals. All the same, I'd mention it in the invitation.
I would word the invite so as to indicate they should eat dinner before the party because desserts will be served at the end. I would also specify w/ the RSVP request something like "Since tickets must be purchased in adavance an exact head count is needed no later than XXXX".
I had an evening party and so many people LOVED it. Mainly age 7, but a few younger siblings were there. I had to rent out a place that is open to others during the day and closed for private party at night. Some people are now having the same party because it worked so well. It allowed them to do the day activities as usual. I actually wished I did not order the pizza/food. Next time will say snack and cake or similar. I'm so over pizza and most other food options are too difficult to coordinate off site (I was think taco bar, but really expensive to cater and most kids do not eat much of that. Sandwiches are hard too. Will everyone want turkey and leave the ham and will they go bad?) I had 4 whole left over pizza and I ordered less than the place recommended for the head count.
I was annoyed at the number of friends/family who canceled that day. Sure people get sick ,but not sure if they were being honest. I had always had the opposite luck of more people coming that expected. It was still a super fun party and not a big deal about the people who cancelled. I think they did not want to be around a lot of kids (family members who cancelled).
1.Space is limited and location needs exact head count.
I like details on the invite and i'm not offended. It is good to know to eat dinner before.
I only invite my kids closest friends who they play with on a regular basis. I do not invite parents or siblings.
Snacks and cake in the evening is fine.
Sounds like a fabulous party. I would just invite your son's closest friends. I am assuming you know the parents of his close friends so you can call and ask them if do not RSVP.
Every week on this site someone writes a question asking why people do not take 1 minute of their day to RSVP. I don't know why people don't do it but they don't. If you don't feel comfortable calling them you may want to think twice about inviting them.
Otherwise, you could say on the invite that you will be ordering wrist band on x date since bands will not be sold at the door.
If they don't RSVP they are coming don't order a wrist band.
Someone I invited to my wedding RSVPed that they were coming with a guest although I did not invite a guest for them. I then paid for them and their guest and they did not show up nor offer an explanation for their absence. So rude!!!
I have never been to a birthday party where food was served. I truly think that is the oddest thing to do at a party...why would anyone do that? Truly, this is something I just don't understand.
Tell everyone that is invited that you MUST buy the wrist bands in advance so anyone that has not responded by XX-XX-XX will not be able to attend.
I don't think food is necessary either. Just cake for a birthday party. Just tell people that you need an exact head count...everybody understands that....really!
That sounds fun.
I just did something similar for my daughter's Halloween party. I would probably do less that 50. I would do just a few close friends and family.
You also need to take in to account how long it takes to get to the zoo and any costs related to that. For example, to drive to the zoo from my house will take over an hour and cost $20 parking. Taking the metro will cost $10 a person, plus parking and take over 90 mins. Not everyone will want to go through that for a party.
I invited 40 kids to a party where I passed out tickets and asked for RSVP's. I didn't have to pay for the guests until after the party. 16 RSVP'd, and 23 showed up. If I had had to pay for the tickets up front, I would have spent money on 17 tickets that went unused.
I would pick maybe 3 friends and their families to invite. People that you can get a definite yes or no from before you buy the tickets.
Dang 50 people? You must be upper middle class!
As a mama, I would love that my son was invited to such a lovely event. I'd just sit in my car in the parking lot with a burger, coke and a book for 2 hours and not expect to be invited also.
No need for food. It's a short 2 hour event. The kids would rather run and okay than sit and eat. Sounds fun!
