Hey party people!
Monday’s are usually the days that we tackle party/entertaining questions. Today’s question, “What do you do when people invite themselves to your party?” is a tough one for me.
This is a tough question because I always want everyone to come to my parties! I’d send out an invite across the world-wide web, if my husband would let me (he won’t…I’ve asked). I HATE even the thought of hurting someone’s feelings…especially if that hurt comes from feeling excluded.
However, I’ve learned inviting the right people to your party contributes to the success of the party. Whether it’s a kid’s birthday party or big New Years Eve bash, you want people to leave your party feeling like they had a wonderful time and made great connections. This means you may not want to invite your boss to your big New Years Eve bash if other co-workers are going to be there. It wouldn’t be a fun party for your co-workers if they’re stressed out over saying something stupid in front of their boss outside of work. Likewise, you may not want to invite your neighbor down the street to your child’s birthday party due to the age of their children (maybe they’re a lot older & like to rough-house).
There are all sorts of reasons that you may not invite someone to your party. And I’ve finally come to realize that’s okay (it’s still hard for me).
BUT…what should you do when that person invites themself to your party?
Here are two options:
If it’s really not a big deal that they come, just tell them you’d love to have them.
However, if the party was a word-of-mouth invite, then you may not have a choice but to include them. It’s harder to set parameters on a word of mouth invite. If they heard about it from their friends and they’re all going, you can’t exclude one person from a friend group.
If you want specific people to come to your party, make sure that you either send out an official invitation or at least a selective email invitation.
Even facebook invitations and evites can get tricky when anyone on your invite list can invite others.
If you did send a selective invitation out and someone still invites themself: First, pull them aside privately and second, focus on them.
What I mean by focusing on them is devise a response tailored to benefit them. Maybe that person really wants to come to your child’s birthday party & bring their son but the theme is a princess theme and there will only be girls there. Tell your friend that you would love for him to attend but you’d hate for him to feel left out since there will only be girls there. Maybe even suggest a future playdate with the two of them.
Your purpose in the response should be to let the other person know you are thinking of their feelings and to still make them feel included in some way.
My #1 Party Tip has always been: If you are able to make your guest of honor and your party guests feel special, then you’ve pulled off a successful party. Keep that in mind whenever you deal with issues like this & you’ll be the hostess with the mostest.
I’ve got a really fun, “explosive” party project for you this Wednesday!
And I’m so excited to be going to BlogHer this year with Mohawk Flooring. If you’ll be there, let me know so I can meet you face to face!
p.s. This is YOUR official invite to the party… join in on the Parties for Pennies Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest!
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