need help estimating positive RSVP numbers for kids party

[jeepgirl30]

My DS will be celebrating his 7th bday soon. We are having it at an indoor pool. We can only have 15 kids as there is another party of 20 and they will not allow more than 35 kids in total in the pool.

In order to pass invites out at school he needs to invite the entire class. I was thinking we would invite all the boys but teacher said ALL kids. There are a total of 21 in his class. I have no idea what to think in terms of numbers.

His party will be on a friday night so I'm thinking that is probably not easy for everyone. My daughter has always had very low responses but my son's are usually fairly high.

DH always insists I invite his brother's two daughters but for this one i'm going to tell him no. The younger one (4) never goes in the pool anyway and they lady told me the other party is 9 year old boys. The neices are very girly and will most likely be afraid of the older boys. yes, really!

Think I'm safe inviting 21 kids hoping for no more than 15 to come?

 

[Darcy03231]

My DS will be celebrating his 7th bday soon. We are having it at an indoor pool. We can only have 15 kids as there is another party of 20 and they will not allow more than 35 kids in total in the pool.

In order to pass invites out at school he needs to invite the entire class. I was thinking we would invite all the boys but teacher said ALL kids. There are a total of 21 in his class. I have no idea what to think in terms of numbers.

His party will be on a friday night so I'm thinking that is probably not easy for everyone. My daughter has always had very low responses but my son's are usually fairly high.

DH always insists I invite his brother's two daughters but for this one i'm going to tell him no. The younger one (4) never goes in the pool anyway and they lady told me the other party is 9 year old boys. The neices are very girly and will most likely be afraid of the older boys. yes, really!

Think I'm safe inviting 21 kids hoping for no more than 15 to come?

I'd get the addresses of the kids you want to invite and mail the invitations. I've had really good turnout on all my kids parties and either everyone has come or only 1 or 2 decline.

 

[MizTink]

my dd and dn were in the same kindergarten class. dd invited the girls and dn invited the boys. this was a pool party at the grandparent's house. we NEVER expected the WHOLE class to come. well, they did. every last 1 of them!!! plus a couple neighborhood friends talk about a disaster!!!!! since then i always plan as if every person invited will show up!

 

[Kimberle]

We have had parties when every kid comes. If you can't handle 21, then don't invite 21. We always mail the invites anyhow.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

I agree. Mail the invites. And take into consideration that some parents may show up with siblings. What happens at the pool if more show up? We had my daughter's birthday at a bounce house joint last year, invited her class and actually went over the allotted number of kids because parents brought older brothers and sisters, which I ended up having to pay for!! AHHH!!

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Murphy's Law would have it that if you plan on having no-shows, there won't be a single one. I wouldn't risk it, and planning for 6 no-shows out of 21 is pretty optimistic (or would that be pessimistic?!) I also think that MORE kids would show up on a Friday night than on any other day, since they are less likely to have scheduled after school activities, homework, etc. on that night.

Add me to the list of people that recommends mailing the invites...or switching to another day if your child really want to invite the whole class.

 

[luvpooh]

I agree. Mail the invites. And take into consideration that some parents may show up with siblings. What happens at the pool if more show up? We had my daughter's birthday at a bounce house joint last year, invited her class and actually went over the allotted number of kids because parents brought older brothers and sisters, which I ended up having to pay for!! AHHH!!

the exact same thing just happened to my friend a couple a weeks ago at her son's 5th b'day party. Parents brought their (invited) kids, and their siblings too. My friend didn't realize until after the parents had left. The bounce house lady said she would definitely confront the parents and make them pay for the uninvited kids! My friend didn't want this kind of confrontation, but she did make sure that the invited kids were the only ones that received goody bags!

 

[mjkacmom]

I agree with everyone - I've had parties where everyone has attended, and once did something like you're thinking of, and it was close! I could only have 25, invited 28, and there ended up being 25 kids at the party (the reason there were so many is that ds wanted to invite his 9 closest friends, plus his entire soccer team, since it was held in an indoor soccer place).

 

[ontariomonkey]

I personally wouldn't risk inviting any more than I could accomodate.

Even if you mail the invites, kids that don't get invited will find out and be hurt. You could argue that this is life.

I don't know what your answer is if you are set on that pool at that time and don't wish to disreguard the teacher's rule.

 

[clh2]

I personally wouldn't risk inviting any more than I could accomodate.

Even if you mail the invites, kids that don't get invited will find out and be hurt. You could argue that this is life.

I don't know what your answer is if you are set on that pool at that time and don't wish to disreguard the teacher's rule.

I think the advantage of mailing the invites is then the OP could just invite the boys, which would be far easier to manage the number of guests, compared to the whole class of 21. It would be worth the postage - IMHO.

Personally, in my world with rose-colored glasses, if all the boys get invited, and none of the girls - that is perfectly acceptable, and there will not be hard feelings.

 

[Scurvy]

Personally, in my world with rose-colored glasses, if all the boys get invited, and none of the girls - that is perfectly acceptable, and there will not be hard feelings.

According to the etiquette experts you are right that this is completely acceptable. There wouldn't be anything wrong with only inviting the boys and not inviting any of the girls.

OP, I agree with the others that you shouldn't invite any more people than you can actually accomodate just in case they all decide to show up.

 

[jeepgirl30]

We switched it to another day(the followign weekend) so we can invite everyone.

 

[FinallyBoughtDVC]

I think the advantage of mailing the invites is then the OP could just invite the boys, which would be far easier to manage the number of guests, compared to the whole class of 21. It would be worth the postage - IMHO.

Personally, in my world with rose-colored glasses, if all the boys get invited, and none of the girls - that is perfectly acceptable, and there will not be hard feelings.

Exactly - this is the rule at my children's school: The whole class or all the boys or all the girls...it's perfectly logical.

I would only invite the number you can handle - otherwise, you're just tempting fate...lol.

 

[Becky2005]

Just read your update that you switched dates. I think that was a good call on your part for wanting to invite the entire class.