What's the done thing when people want to bring siblings to parties?

[Eesha]

Just wondering, paying for 10 to do an activity plus food but in the past, people have brought their other kids along and I've had to pay. How can I manage this?

I think it’s a bit cheeky of anyone to bring siblings if they’re not invited. I have 3 dc and I’ve never sent them all to a party when only one was invited!
I think if anyone turns up with extra dc you’ll just have to say “sorry, I only booked 10 places” or something like that. I’m a bit rubbish with confrontation so cheeky fuckers take advantage of me too!

It does depend on the venue and age if the children. You could put something on the invitation about numbers being limited or ask the venue to say something on arrival. When I have had to take my other children the venue have only admitted the party child and has asked for money for the others. However I always checked that this was ok with the host first.

I think you’d be better saying ‘I’m only paying for xx places’ rather than ‘booked’ - if the venue/activity still had space they couldn’t expect you to pay for any extra children.

If I can afford it, I state on the invitation "siblings are welcome, just let me know so I can confirm numbers". If I can't afford it, I state on the invitation "Unfortunately we were only able to reserve a limited number of spaces, so we won't be able to welcome siblings this time". No one has ever shown up with extra people after the latter message, but I get the impression on MN that this may have happened to others.

I said something along the lines of ‘unfortunately due to the entertainer’s limits we’re unable to accommodate siblings’. One mum said her daughter couldn’t come if her brother didn’t, and I said it was fine for him to come but not join in, and he turned up in a superhero costume (it was a superhero party). We had a few other older ones too but they just stayed out of the way and didn’t expect food etc.

It’s super cheeky to just rock up with all your kids and expect someone else to pay for them! If you don’t mind siblings (but aren’t paying for them), just put on the invite that siblings are welcome but will be x £ extra per head. If the venue can’t accommodate that due to space, then you just say so. If people bring them anyway, I would just turn them away at the door honestly. It’s very rude. It’s understandable that people don’t have childcare but they may just not be able to attend and that’s unfortunate. Once in school, I find most dump and run anyway, so it’s less of an issue (unless they’re really cheeky and want free babysitting for all their kids!).