Do people not reply to party invites these days??

joess

I did my DS a 5th Birthday party - invited the whole class (22 kids) put a RSVP date on as entertainer needed to know how many kids there would be due to insurance, the rsvp date came...... and went and I'd had about 10 replies!

The days leading up to the party I had a few more replies then the night before 3 people text me to say x would love to come! I text back and said thanks but unfortunately due to insurance I'd already given number and we couldn't accept anyone else - real reason was I'd not done party bags!

Day of party 1 child didn't turn up - no phone call/text nothing, saw their mum in the playground and asked where they were, she replied oh we forgot..... Charming!!

hot.chick

it must be very tricky......

cost is of course an issue - I'm sure I don't have the answer... lol...

maybe put things in party bags that would keep as treats for ur own little ones should you have extras???

fannyadams

I particularly like that you are SUPPOSED to know that invited children have older/younger siblings AND that YOUR party budget is supposed to cater for said siblings who will turn up and be dumped on you without even a backwards glance.
HWTHMBO managed to catch one parent as she abandoned her children, and she told him "well, one more won't make a difference surely"as she skipped out the door to go shopping. needless to say when the invite came for her child's birthday I asked if other DS could come and was told that she coouldn't possibly accommodate more children as the place was full. Grrr.

We did the whole class thing for reception year and year 1 at school for both DS's at local play barn (=O how much!! but saved up so wasn't that bad), but having been stung by parents (see above), nowadays it's just birthday boy + 3 friends at the cinema with other DS + best mate (usually orange wednesday or with MOC/special offer - lolz), and FilmFeast (Odeon) and no tea afterwards (we'll ahve tea waiting for us when we get home).
I was in the playground recently and overheard another parent spouting off about how she'd dropped her child off at the party and her child had been turned away ("even though they'd got a present in their hand and everything") just because she hadn't replied to the invite. She was so adamant that she was in the right and that it's implied that you'll come and that RSVP meant "let me know if you can't come" ("it's some olden days language innit").
I agree with OP, I think it IS incredibly rude - I also think it's incredibly rude not to say thank you for the present that you received, but maybe I'm just old fashioned.
FAx

thriftymanc

People don't even bother replying to flipping Facebook event invites, which takes a second when they're online anyway, so it doesn't surprise me that people don't reply to physical invites! It's not just kids or parents who do this either.

I organised a meal at a restaurant for a colleague's leaving do a few months ago. I don't always see all of my colleagues face to face for a while due to the way our shifts work, so the easiest way to do these things is by Facebook. I made an event, sent the invite, told everyone that I needed a definite confirmation by a specific time and date so I could phone up and book a table. The day before I was meant to book, I only had 5 people out of 30 respond which made me feel terrible for the person I was organising the meal for! So I spent ages trying to chase the other invites up, sending messages and asking people face to face where I could, and ended up with a bunch of "maybes" (gee thanks, really useful) and some people still not replying full stop. I ended up with 10 people at the time I specified, so I went ahead and made the booking, and posted on the event wall that I had booked for 10 (i.e. if you're a "maybe", don't bother coming!). Then on the night, 6 extra people turned up - and these weren't even the people who had said maybe! The restaurant couldn't seat us all together so we had the original 10 sat at one big table and the other 6 sat in pairs in completely different sections of the restaurant so they may as well not have been there. And of course I got the blame! I asked these 6 people why the hell they didn't respond to the invite when they're the sort of people who are active on Facebook every two seconds anyway, and they all said "oh I didn't think I needed to". Why? I'm not psychic. I don't bother organising these things anymore as it's too much hassle.

gratefulforhelp_2

Its very rude and inconvenient, I can never bring myself to disadvantage the child if they DO turn up...sometimes I wonder if the invitation got home from the child's drawer/lunchbox whatever, but sometimes they did get it and just CBA.

Also annoying is when the parents randomly bring an older sibling without mentioning it. Rude rude rude.

snugglepet20

I agree it is really rude and I have been there with non replies and paid out money at play centres for kids that haven't turned up. I always reply within a couple of days of getting an invite and keep it on my mantelpiece so we don't forget. I did once forget one I had said DS would go to until an hour before and had to rush out and buy an emergency present and wrap it in the car!

pinkshoes

Bumpmakesfour wrote: »

I actually got...PLEASE REPLY ON 01234 TO CONFIRM NUMBERS THANKYOU ...printed on the bloomin invitations.You know a gentle nudge!:p Maybe those without manners can't read either:rotfl:

Ahhh, but did you put an email address they can reply to?!

People just don't PHONE each other nowadays. For something like this, people would want to email their reply, or even a Facebook event thing. People just don't seem to phone, and if it's someone you don't know that well, then they don't seem to like texting either.

If you want them to RSVP, you need an email address, and perhaps put something like "I'll be making up party bags, so please make sure you email me to let me know you're coming, as I wouldn't want any child to have to go without!!"

gratefulforhelp_2

pinkshoes wrote: »

If you want them to RSVP, you need an email address, and perhaps put something like "I'll be making up party bags, so please make sure you email me to let me know you're coming, as I wouldn't want any child to have to go without!!"

I am nicking this for next time, thanks:T:T:T

Saturnalia

thriftymanc wrote: »

People don't even bother replying to flipping Facebook event invites, which takes a second when they're online anyway, so it doesn't surprise me that people don't reply to physical invites! It's not just kids or parents who do this either.

That happened on my birthday last year. I invited 40 people and within a couple of days I had a couple of nos, and everyone else clicked maybe or didn't reply. The day before the party I had myself and my flatmate as yesses, so I cancelled it.

Later I bumped into a few of the ones I'd invited and they asked me how my birthday went so I told them. They said they'd been waiting to see who else was coming before replying. Since then I've heard of several other Facebook-invite events going belly-up in the same way.

Real happy birthday that was.

Bumpmakesfour

pinkshoes wrote: »

Ahhh, but did you put an email address they can reply to?!

People just don't PHONE each other nowadays. For something like this, people would want to email their reply, or even a Facebook event thing. People just don't seem to phone, and if it's someone you don't know that well, then they don't seem to like texting either.

If you want them to RSVP, you need an email address, and perhaps put something like "I'll be making up party bags, so please make sure you email me to let me know you're coming, as I wouldn't want any child to have to go without!!"

Oh blimey..hadn't thought of that!!Tbh I thought a landline AND a mobile number was covering all bases plus I'm bloomin well at school every day to grab.
If it comes down to having to literally provide 4 forms of contact,put on a fake smile when they turn up with three siblings in tow without asking,wasting money on party bags just incase they really ARE just plain ignorant and turn up without contacting me..then STUFF IT!! I give up.It's common courtesy surely to let someone know either way if you're going to be at a party??This WILL be the last time that we do this which is such a shame because all me and hubby wanted to do is give DS1 and her friends a fun afternooon but obviously for some a simple text or yes called across the playground is too much effort