I’d just like to garner some thoughts and experiences regarding party RSVP ettiquette.
I have a lad with an upcoming 10th Birthday, and we will be taking the kids to a nearby location for a paid event. Softplay kind of thing.
Most years of late we haven’t hosted parties, but with it being 10 we said ok.
I suspect for most it’s usual that friendship circles change, and invites come and go over the years, that’s to be expected I think.
My question is more about the response from the parents, or lack thereof.
When we receive an invite, we say thanks, and yes he will attend, and after previous parties we’ve hosted, thanking the individuals for the gifts.
This time we’ve had hardly any confirmations. Is this normal as they get older? We sort of feel like we should chase (we have to book numbers) or it’s a case of, if you hear nothing it’s assumed that they will come?
I know that’s kind of hands off usual Swiss thinking, but it only takes a second to drop a text, if only to confirm.
We get on in person with the parents. It just feels a bit weird.
Yes, after a few days we asked my son and all of them (6) said they’d be coming. I just wondered with the obvious use of a car and visiting a location that it’s a bit more than a child confirmation that’s required.
I’ll be driving a la Driving Miss Daisy style given the level of care I’ll be taking…
But yeah, the lack of thanks from the parents too on receipt of a gift for their kid. I just don’t sometimes know which way is up over here…
We always (mostly) got an ‘ok’ from parents for party invites.
From personal experience, though, the child doesn’t always pass the invitation on to the parents so there have been parties in the past where the first I heard of it was from a mum (after the fact) saying ‘I’m sorry he couldn’t come to the party” and my startled response was “What party?”
I create an image with an invitation card and send it to the parents via WhatsApp. On the card I always write “An/abmelden [telefon number]”. Then I create a WhatsApp chat where I add all the parents that have confirmed and then share actual information: remind about meeting place and time, send photos during and after the event, inform parents if we are being late on the way back etc.
