Children’s party invitations

[Pumpkinseason3]

Spot the FTM over here 🤣🙋🏻‍♀️

4th birthday party. How far in advance should I be giving out the invitations for his nursery friends?

We’ve only had one other party so far and the parents gave the invitations out on the friday for the following Saturday (so giving 1 week notice). That seemed pretty tight to me, but is that the norm?

Also, how common is it for people to RSVP or not in your experience? And how close to the event are they RSVPing? It’s in a venue where we pay per child and they cater so knowing numbers would be ideal although I will obviously make sure a few extra are accounted for just incase!

I'd say 2 weeks is probably about the sweet spot (3 if it's around holidays). I agree that a week is a bit tight, but if you send them out too far in advance people will lose them or not reply because they don't know yet and won't prioritise the day for nursery child's party.

Make sure you put an RSVP by date on the invitation. At nursery age you will probably get a few not replying (which IME means "not coming" more than it means "coming").

@redskydarknight Oh, maybe I’ve gone a bit early then 🙈 i planned to hand them out today for last weekend in Oct 🙈 but I figured a lot of families may be making Halloween plans for that weekend or have other things on so it was better to do it a bit earlier 😬

I think today for last weekend in Oct is fine - it’s in the holidays so you need to check who is around and people are more likely to make plans.

Everything to do with parties is easier if you have people’s phone numbers to make a group to nag for rsvps etc - but also if you’re at school gates it can help to chase people up and remind them.

Anything that coincides with school holidays (yours does) should go out earlier. Don't forget to put a rsvp date by and contact no & name. You will still get rsvps beyond the date and some who just don't rsvp unfortunately. Hope it goes well!

If its in half term expect the attendance to be lower ((even if your nursery isn't TTO... older siblings being on holiday affects family plans)

I'd have said 2-3 weeks but since DS started school it's surprised me how early people do it, we had invites on the first day of school for parties that are happening this weekend and next.

I'd say 3-4 weeks out is the norm here, so now for end of October would be perfectly fine. I would make sure to put a deadline for the RSVP so people know and if anyone will reply after that day you can easily say it's too late to edit numbers etc.
Half term weekend might or might not be an issue re: attendance, depending if the nursery is a private one that stays open all year and if the children don't have older siblings in school. Families tend to book a break only if schools/nurseries are closed and they don't have their usual childcare routine.

4 weeks seems good to me. We have alot of weekend activities/plans etc and 1 week notice would usually not be enough to reorganise plans etc

All our Sept parties are handed out in July when they finish for the summer (School aged child tho) This week I got 2 - one for end oct and one for end Nov. I think some of it also depends on where the party is and if they have to confirm numbers etc by a certain date

@Pumpkinseason3 Sounds like perfect timing as it's Halloween weekend.

4 weeks, and be prepared for people to spontaneously turn up on the day uninvited.

Ha I do my DSs about 6-8 weeks in advance!
Only because his bday is so close to Christmas, places and people get booked up!

Give a definite rsvp date and be prepared to chase. Also if not giving them out to the whole class be discreet - better to not give them out at school but to the parents at pick up. Now for end of October is fine but it's also half term so many may be away/busy.

Our twins turned 5 recently and also started school in August and we wanted to invite all their classmates. Their teacher said normally parents send the invitations in about 3 weeks in advance. I think we sent them about 3 and a half weeks before and the teacher handed them out at the end of the day. We only got 1 response within the first couple of days which was a bit concerning and then they gradually trickled in. Eventually we had about 14 by the week before the party and then nothing until we got 2 in the couple of days before it. We had put an RSVP date of a week before. They only have a class of 21 children so there were only a few that didn't respond at all. Everyone showed up who said they would and nobody brought any surprise siblings either 😂

3-4 weeks is fine

One of my kids has a school holiday birthday so I had his parties during term time because many people seem to forget if it’s a school holiday or bank holiday.

Thanks all 😊 Its not actually the holidays here at that time, ours is a bit earlier but it will be when a lot of people have Halloween plans so wanted to give a bit of notice. Hopefully that’s enough time for people. Unfortunately we couldn’t hold it at other time.

It’s quite a large nursery (50+ kids) and the “done thing” is very much just pop invitations at the kids coat pegs. So there’s always just invites on random pegs rather than whole class type invites.

I knew I’d have forgotten something and I have missed an “RSVP by” date off the invitations 🥲 but nevermind. Hopefully I still get a decent number responding and I’ll know better for next time 😅

No more than 2 weeks in advance, in my experience 1-1.5 weeks ahead get more rsvps because people know what they're doing by then.
You will definitely get people who won't rsvp at all, some of these turn up anyway some don't, so make a bit extra food and a few extra party bags!
In the early years of primary book places that don't need final numbers ahead of the party, because it's really stressful trying to get the rsvps!