Party guest list question - is is fair to leave any of the boys in DS's class out?

[Flyonthewindscreen]

Last year my DS had a diy village hall party for his birthday so numbers weren't much of an issue and I invited all the boys in his class, a few of the girls and quite a few out of school friends. For his 7th in January I have booked a laserquest party which is quite £££ for us but something DS really wants.

So I am trying to keep numbers down, have pared the out of school friends down to 4, am not inviting any of the girls but am wondering if it would be mean/excluding not to invite all the boys in DS's class (he is one of 12 boys). There are only 3 boys that DS never really mentions in either a good or a bad way and another boy he positively doesn't like.

Would you invite 8 out of 12 boys in the class, or is this nasty to the remaining 4 and would you just invite the lot?

Any opinions welcomed

id invite his friends.simple.

Have you asked ds or do you want to decide on the numbers first?

I think it depends a bit on the 'custom and practice' of the class, although of course there is nothing to stop you doing something a bit different from teh majority!

For ds1's 7th he was adamant he wanted a small party at home. I decided I could only cope with 8 participants max so he was able to invite 4 boys from his class (of about 15 I think). i have no idea whether this has been a monumental faux pas - the main thing was that ds1 had a lovely time!
Personally, I'd be a bit uncomfortable with a plan that involves leaving out a few class members - but if it was more obviously a 'selected few close friends' that seems more acceptable.

My DS has just had his 7th birthday at a local (v £££) play centre. I told him before hand that if this is what he wanted rather than the previous years diy's in church halls, he would have to reduce numbers. We ended up asking 9 boys form his class (out of about 13) and none of the girls. we are still being spoken to, so I don't think anyone has been greatly offended! I think by this age, it is accepted that gatherings will be smaller, as the cost seems to escalate.

My dd invites 12 kids from the 2 yr classes. They were all she wanted. It's a mix of the sexes though.

Thanks for your comments - i think I am leaning towards inviting the lot as not comfortable with leaving out a few. For his 8th DS can have a really cheap birthday option