Party end of August, send invites out or cancel?

[organisedmother]

I know this is not important with what’s going on in the world right now, I just need some guidance, my 30th birthday is end of August and having a large party in central London, I need to send invites out soon so people can organise childcare, hotels etc, so my dilemma do I cancel and be 29 another year and celebrate next year or do I hold off as it could be the party we all need after months of isolation? WWYD?

I think in normal times 4 months early is a bit much but not a massive issue. Right now, things are a bit different.

I would wait until June, which still gives 2 months notice, and if things are sounding more promising re lockdown, then you could send your invites. If I were a guest I would not be booking anything right now - childcare in particular might be impossible if we’re still not allowed to see grandparents. I’d also be worried about losing money on accommodation/travel.

But I don’t think the situation is as clear-cut yet as “you definitely can’t have a party in August”. It might turn out that by August we’re all still locked down, but then again we might not be. Or we could be allowed out but not to hold large gatherings - who knows? What I’m trying to say is that it’s too early to send invites but also too early to cancel completely.

Nice to see that the doom mongers are out in force on this thread, it feels like some people can't wait to tell others how ridiculous they are for daring to want to make future plans. People delighting in telling you that they would throw your invitation in the bin, what is wrong with people?

Having said that, I do think that if you do want it to be really organised and not a last minute cobbled together thing, then I would probably postpone until after August because we just don't know how things are going to go the next few months.

It’s my parents diamond wedding in August and there is a party planned. A lot of the guests are old and vulnerable so we’ll need to see nearer the time whether we can go ahead or not. Given their ages I don’t want to postpone a year to celebrate but clearly we can’t put anyone’s health at risk.

I think the responses on here are very harsh, I got an invite in the middle of March for a wedding in early June. I didn't think "what a selfish bridezilla how dare she think about anything nice" I said we'd love to go and hoped it would go ahead.

It has been cancelled.

End of August is a different story - who knows? I very much doubt everyone who receives an invite will flounce around saying how selfish you are. People on this thread are being silly.

We will NOT be locked down in August! However, mass gatherings may still be restricted.

I very much doubt everyone who receives an invite will flounce around saying how selfish you are. People on this thread are being silly.

The point is that no one has the answers right now and nothing else needs to be done right now

Most people who are invited already know when and pretty much where it is

Nothing further needs to be done at the moment and to do so would seem to many to be oblivious of the current situation

I would be happy to receive a provisional party invite for August

However in these uncertain & unprecedented times, I would feel uncomfortable having to financially commit to that provisional party, in the way of arranging childcare/hotels. It’s the costs that will put people off

Thanks everyone it’s also venue and suppliers I didn’t want to cancel last minute on them but most are very understanding with circumstances, I know that nobody has the answers just nice to hear what others would do in my situation.

Mumsnet is so weird

Personally I’d postpone to make your 31st the special one OP. It sounds like you’re going to have a fab bash so I’d rather do it properly next year than risk having people not attend due to concerns etc.

still impossible to tell. we could be under another set of suppression measures at that time