Birthday party invite problems

[Marvin6418]

It is my ds 5th birthday party in a couple of weeks and we have gone all out. We have hired a bouncy castle and also have a friend doing face painting. My ds and his friends however do not know this as it is a surprise. We have created a pirate and princess party theme and have themed everything for this. I have put a lot of effort into everything including the invites which went out 2 weeks ago. My ds and I made all the invites and had great fun doing it. They were messages in a bottle filled with sand and shells, we made enough for his whole class as he wanted to invite everyone and at this age plays with everyone so couldn't cut anyone out.

We have sent out 29 invites and I know that a lot of these won't come as is always the way but I have only have 5 responces be it a yes or a no. So that leaves 24 people that haven't replied. The RSVP date is the end of this week and I am unsure I will get these in by then. I was speaking to a friend whos dd is in my ds class and she said that they had a few responces and most of the people just turned up without replying. This makes me nervous as I don't want to buy that many party boxes and only have the 5 children turn up (preparing for the worst).

I was thinking about writing a not to go out next week to the children that hadn't replied to ask the parents to let me know, a kind of reminder but I am unsure about this as I don't want to be seen as pushy or rude by doing this.

Has any one else had this problem? I am after some advice as what do do so any andswers would be gread. Thanks.

[BlueSkiesAndNoClouds]

I have forgotten to RSVP before and am always extremely grateful for a reminder. I wouldn't think you were pushy or rude at all. In fact, I'd be very apologetic that I hadn't replied.

[HairyPotter]

Do you see any of the parents at the school gate? A breezy 'hello, is X coming to ds's party next week?' should get a few replies. Even if you don't know them very well, its a good way to get to know them.

[Marvin6418]

I tend to only see the ones that I know when I am dropping him off as there is a 20 minute window to drop them off in the mornings so it is always the same faces. There are a couple but I am not sure of what their childs name is

[iwantavuvezela]

From my experience you can count on almost 80 to 90 per cent of the children you invited Turning up, unless it is on a bank holiday! I would just do the party bags and avoid the stress of people RsVPing on the day and night before to let you know they are coming (bitter experience!!!!)
It sounds like a fab party though , have fun.
If you have party bag stuff over you can always give to siblings, or save for presents later on.

[iwantavuvezela]

I meant siblings of party guests ....

[HorryIsUpduffed]

I reckon on greater than 90% coming unless you need minimum numbers in which case two fewer than that

That's a pretty shocking response rate. That said, nearly all the responses I've had (four weeks to go) have been face to face, so I think that's your problem.

Are you friendly with any of the SAHM/schoolgate parents who could subtly nudge others when they see them, or might have mobile numbers so you could text?

[YoniOneWayOfLife]

And next time leave off the location or time and say RSVP for more details. That way you don't get the worry of not knowing if the 20 people you haven't heard from are going to show up.

[stealthsquiggle]

It sounds great. If DS were a little older I would advocate getting him to tell his friends that no reply means no party bag, but maybe not at 5 .

Do you do pick ups at all? If so, you could get DS to point DC out and then grab their parents - if you do it loudly enough others will get the message