Chuck E Cheese B-Day Invitation Wording: Siblings & Food

[JamesMom]

I know this has been discussed before but I am hosting a party for my son's 7th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese on Thursday night during dinner hours. We are going a-la-carte and not purchasing the package. I have coupons for large pizza, 4 drinks and 100 tokens for $30. I figure that is enough for 2 kid guests & 2 parents and cheaper than the party package. I know some have siblings and i want to welcome them, but NOT pay for them.

- should I simply say the 1 guest name & 1 adult only
or
- Invite everyone and state that I'm feeding select people, i.e.,:

Come help James celebrate his 7th birthday.
This is an informal party - we'll be at regular tables. Siblings are welcome, however food will be provided for named guest and one adult so please plan accordingly.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, Jan 13.

- Or simply invite everyone and be prepared to pay out the nose for everyone - ie, family of 4 will cost me $30 .

I'm using e-vite and they have a drop down that lists: 1) food will not be provided, 2) food will be provided for kids, 3) food will be provided for kids and adults.

Only plan on inviting about 13 boys and if past years are any indication, only about 5-7 actually show. But if those turn out to be 5-7 'families' I could be in trouble!

I ask this because this is first 'food' provided party we have hosted - others were simply cake & punch [Little Gym, home parties] and didn't have to worry about feeding people expensive food. My optimistic plan is to pay for 4 pizzas/16 drinks/400 tokens for $120 plus $25 for an additional 200 tokens and be done. This would be enough for 6 guest kids and their adult and our family. Am I too optomistic?

Thanks in advance

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Almost all of the above wording sounds rude. (Sorry!)

Simply invite the people you want to invite...and be prepared to pay for whoever shows up.

My 2 cents...

 

[Perditamarie]

Well, I think it would be a bit rude to invite siblings and not invite them to eat---after you have a pile of kids there, are you really going to want to pick and choose who gets a slice? Select the option that says you will feed the kids, and plan on providing tokens for them too. If there is enough food at the party, invite the adults to eat at that time.

 

[Mom2JPL]

I've had 2 b'day parties at CEC and I paid for everyone that showed up. I bought the package for the kids that were attending the party (sign up online and it's cheaper for the party, especially during the week as I recall) and I used coupons that I also got online to help pay for the food for everyone else.

I always provide food for everyone that comes to our parties...parents and siblings alike.

 

[mistee]

that is hard because i know it would be hard on me paying for everyone,, parents, siblings and tokens!

if you were having a party at your house they prob would just drop them off,, no siblings and pick up after the party..

Maybe you can state that each friend invited will get $50 or so tokens and a large pizza per family!! the rest is their get!! Maybe by saying per friend they will understand that siblings are their responsibilty!!! Personally i don't think you should have to pay for siblings!!! Siblings are not your sons friends!!

All should get b-day cake though,,, everyone needs b-day cake!!!!

 

[tommya60]

I'd either invite the siblings and pay for their meals, or just invite the guest. Either way, be prepared to spend a little more than planned.

 

[ibela]

Of all the parties I've been to, I haven't seen many uinvited siblings attend. For my dd's party I had 1 because there was no one to stay home with him. We always order extra pizza but have noticed people don't really go with the intent to eat. In fact, at dd's party I ordered pizza assuming 2 slices per adult and 1 slice per child (age 3). We had 18 kids and I ended up taking 3 pizza pies home (Little Gym, we had to preorder the pizza)!

At CEC you can order the pizza as you need it so order a few and if you really see people scarfing the pizza down order more. I think it's rude to invite people and then tell them to buy their own food.

 

[mjkacmom]

We seem to attend a party each week (with 2 first graders and 1 third grader), and they all provide pizza. If I brought siblings to a CEC party, I would not expect them to be fed, however, every party we've ever attended has had pizza for parents and siblings. We have only had parties out (much easier on me), and I always bring home leftover pizza, because I am alway afraid of not having enough. Dd8's last party was at CEC, and I did the party package, and ordered extra pizza and drinks for everyone (and it was a 2 pm party).

 

[fakereadhed]

It really won't cost as much as you think. If you have more kids you might qualify for group rate(forgot the exact number) which gives the kids pizza drinks and tkens. Then we bought a couple of pizzas for the adults to share. The drinks are what adds up since they don't have pitchers. I would just ask on the invites for RSVP and tell them that you need an exact head count. My DS party last year turned out cheaper than I thought since they offered the group rate when I got there. We had 16 kids and 14 adults and it was under $100 including balloons, table decorations, and cake supplies.

 

[3boymthr]

It's rude to invite the siblings and not pay for their food.

 

[couponclary]

Inviting the siblings/parents but stating that they can't eat/have to pay for their own is rude. Since they are 7, have the parents drop off & pick up at CEC so you only have to pay for the friends, or if this isn't possible and you need the parents there to supervise, just do the right thing and pay for everyone (and the parents probably won't want to touch the pizza anyways!)...or cut the guest list or change the location. It is not worth offending people or making them pay over the cost of a few pizzas/tokens.

 

[summerrluvv]

Well, if they are rude enough to bring siblings that aren't invited, I think you can be "rude enough" to not feed them. Sorry but that grates on my nerves when people just bring along people that aren't invited, and expect the host to pay for them.

With that said, I have had two CEC parties and the parents that brought siblings sat in another area and bought the siblings their own food and tokens.

I would address the invitation to the child that is invited. Then maybe put a blurb in that drop off and pick up time are xxx, and if the parent plans on staying, please let me know so I can plan accordingly for food. That way you know if they are bringing tom dick and harry along with them.

 

[summerrluvv]

It's rude to invite the siblings and not pay for their food.

I think she is worried about UNINVITED siblings, unless I missed something.

 

[Poohbear5]

I vote with just addressing the invitation to the child and recruit a friend to two or yours to help chaperone (possibly one of the young guests parents?).

When my kids were young, if they received such an invitation and the venue was not close enough to come back home before pick-up time, I'd stay and treat my other kids to pizza and tokens but not expect to be financed by the hostess.

 

[fakereadhed]

I would rather have my eyeballs plucked out than have the parents drop their kids off at CEC party.

 

[descovy]

Maybe some things are regional, but as a mom with 3 girls close in age, I would never-ever bring un-invited siblings to any party. Nor do I (as a parent) expect to eat.

If I don't have outside arrangements for the other children or can't stay (but am expected to), I decline the invitation. If I do stay, other parents and myself, always wait until the kids are served, and then only eat if there are leftovers... trust me CEC pizza is not that tasty... easy to pass.

As host, just invite who you can afford to invite... I agree it sounds a little off to list your restrictions and such in the invite... If uninvited guests come, they are the rude ones. You are not obligated to serve/entertain them. Make sure the party guests are seated and get their pizza, if there are leftovers, fine, otherwise parent can/will buy food tokens for the sibling.

I just wonder, are there that many rude people around you? who would expect food/tokens for uninvited children? (that's rude) A random clueless family maybe, but if I were surrounded by that many rude clods that it is a problem before the invites are sent out, I'd be hard pressed to have the party in the first place. Just take your kid and a friend to one super-exciting event for the same money!

 

[Avonlady1001]

DD is only turning 5, so we haven't hosted a party yet, but we've been to a few this year. The invitations have always been addressed just to Katie. The parents stick around b/c 5 is too young for a drop off party. I would never assume that I was going to be fed...although at some of the parties there has been food provided for the adults. This was not the case at the CEC parties. If the parents brought siblings, they provided their kid(s) with food tokens at their own discretion. It was not provided, nor was it expected.

I would think that if you invite the children, the parents would come & bring siblings but not expect to be fed or tokens to be provided for them. If you want to purchase an extra pie or two and say, help yourselves, that would be more than enough, I think. Tokens are up to them! If you include the parents/siblings on the invite, be prepared to pay, though.

Don't go crazy about wording. I would simply invite the child. At 7, some parents may stay, some may drop off, I guess. At food time, call the kids over to the table, maybe have name cards? That will show that the kids will be sitting to eat...without having to say an uncomfortable word. That's what I would do, I think.


ETA: I would have no problem bringing my other kids to a CEC party, or an establishment like that. It's a public place & there are other children running around anyway. I wouldn't expect they be provided for...that is rude, like PP said. I wouldn't bring my other kids to a backyard party, or something private like a My Gym where it's party guests only, KWIM?

 

[Skatermom23]

Having two kids that are close in age, I have been through this many times. If I was planning on staying with the "other sibling" then I would be prepared to buy our own food. However, in all the years of parties I don't think we ever had to. The host always included siblings that were close in age, as did I when I was the host. As for the invitation, you would address it to the child. Just be prepared to buy extra.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My dd6 has been invited to a CEC party in 2 weeks. Myself, my older dd and ds8 will be going as well but not attending the party. We will order our own food and provide ds8's tokens (and probably additional for dd6 as well). I would not expect the party host to feed all of us or provide us with tokens.

 

[rantnnravin]

iirc, The minimum for a CEC party package was 8 kids - and the price was fairly reasonable. Plus each invited kid gets his own goodie bag and tokens directly from the CEC party host/hostess - so no pressure there to give tokens to the extras. We DID have parents bring other kids and just plop them right down at the party table with the others. We also had parents calling and RSVPing with messages like: "Thank you for inviting Nathaniel and Garrett. We'll be there."
We wound up ordering extra pies and munchie platters for the parents, but that was OUR CHOICE and we were happy to do it (because we wanted to and we could). I think they went and got their own beverages.

I think the best idea thus far is the place cards for the invited children. The only difficulties I could see arising if you did your own "package" with the coupons is having to split the party kids up between two tables - some may feel left out if not sitting with your son. I don't think any invitation wording designed to be exclusionary would go over very well.
Hope all goes well with whatever you decide.