Birthday Party Cancellations- Do you invite more people?

[Anonymous]

We have had a few cancellations for our daughter's birthday party this Saturday. Since we have space for more kids, and we already paid for it, is there a way to politely invite someone last minute, or should we just let it go?

[Anonymous]

I'd invite the friends. I wouldn't be offended to join in last minute.

[Anonymous]

When this happened to us I offered a few siblings to come and made it clear they wouldn't have to pay for them.

[Anonymous]

My DD has gotten the last minute invites and we were not offended.

[Anonymous]

Yes, invite more kids. Or siblings. Or neighbors that you'll drive too

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When this happened to us I offered a few siblings to come and made it clear they wouldn't have to pay for them.

You otherwise charge guests' siblings?

[Anonymous]

Yes, DS just got one of these recently and he attended and it was fine. He knew he was invited late and I knew (I saw the RSVP dates and he knew from the kids at school talking about it earlier) but he was happy to be there on his friend's birthday and his friend seemed happy to have him there.

[Anonymous]

We've gotten last-minute invitations from a couple acquaintances and it does seem rude to be on the 'b list'. We said 'no' both times because they were parties . I'd go with adding siblings of everyone or no one. Hard to invite some and exclude others without offending families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've gotten last-minute invitations from a couple acquaintances and it does seem rude to be on the 'b list'. We said 'no' both times because they were parties . I'd go with adding siblings of everyone or no one. Hard to invite some and exclude others without offending families.

Meant to say... being on the b-list felt rude because they were parent + kid parties, not kid-only parties. And, my young son didn't know about the parties to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When this happened to us I offered a few siblings to come and made it clear they wouldn't have to pay for them.

You otherwise charge guests' siblings?

Not the PP, but the siblings weren't invited in the first place, so I would expect that any parent who brought a sibling anyway would pay for that sibling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've gotten last-minute invitations from a couple acquaintances and it does seem rude to be on the 'b list'. We said 'no' both times because they were parties . I'd go with adding siblings of everyone or no one. Hard to invite some and exclude others without offending families.

I'm curious, why do you think its rude? You mentioned they were just acquaintances, so they're not that close to you or your DC but they extended you an invite, so perhaps it'd be a nice opportunity to socialize with them and get to know them better. I've been okay with these b-list invites because I know these parties have # limits, and we don't expect to be on everyone's A-list, just like everyone's not a part of our A-list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've gotten last-minute invitations from a couple acquaintances and it does seem rude to be on the 'b list'. We said 'no' both times because they were parties . I'd go with adding siblings of everyone or no one. Hard to invite some and exclude others without offending families.

Sorry, but taking being on a b list for a kids bday party is your problem. I do not mind at all. Anyone who has hosted a reasonable sized party knows it can be hard to make the guest list and it could vary depending on who your kid saw last. If we are free, my son would still attend.

[Anonymous]

I think its okay and have said yes to my kids being late invitees when they have been free. I've only ever said no when there was something that clashed.

There really is no point being offended unless you have been working under the assumption that you are best friends with the people and then realize you're last on their list! And honestly, how often is that going to happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've gotten last-minute invitations from a couple acquaintances and it does seem rude to be on the 'b list'. We said 'no' both times because they were parties . I'd go with adding siblings of everyone or no one. Hard to invite some and exclude others without offending families.

Sorry, but taking being on a b list for a kids bday party is your problem. I do not mind at all. Anyone who has hosted a reasonable sized party knows it can be hard to make the guest list and it could vary depending on who your kid saw last. If we are free, my son would still attend.

I've invited people at the last minute but in a subtle way. I Still think its rude when you invite someone last minute and they know they are essentially an after thought.