Woo hoo! Time to invite your party guests! This is probably the part of the party planning that irks me the most. You’ve planned out how many people you want to come and then you have to wait and wait and wait for the R.S.V.P.s to come in. Some people (probably those who host a lot of parties) will respond right away, others will wait a bit and send theirs in late, then there are some people who will never respond and when you call to confirm they’ll still answer, “I don’t know.”
I’m sure you can think of a friend like that. I know I can.
So just leave them off the list! Seriously… when you need to cut down your guest list or if you’re trying to figure out who to invite, leave out those people who give you a party planning headache. The friend that always gets drunk and passes out, leave them out too. And the friend who always causes drama during parties.
Make sure you keep your list to people who will REALLY enjoy the theme and the party you’re planning. That means, if you know you have a group of friends who would just be dying to attend a costume party, those are the friends to invite because they’ll be the ones to dress up, play games, and have the best time ever, thus making your party worthwhile.
Friends who shudder at the thought of dressing up are probably ones you want to invite to your next party which will be sans costume.
Don’t feel bad if you can’t invite everyone. A good friend will understand why they may not have been invited, just tell them it was because of budget reasons or because you didn’t think they’d enjoy your party.. which is probably true!
Make an "A" guest list and a "B" guest list...
If 5 people say they can’t come and you have some space open, send out invites to your B list.
And remember, always keep in mind your party theme and your budget. If you can’t afford to have 20 people at your event, then don’t invite 20 people! And think about what your friends enjoy. If you have friends who you love going to dinner with, but just aren’t the life of the party or feel uncomfortable in larger crowds, then they probably would be better off not being invited – it will probably make them feel more comfortable anyway.
And never, ever invite two friends who just don’t get along! If you do that, you’re just asking for trouble (trust me)!!!!
If you have friends you know you can think of off the top of your head who are great at telling stories, keeping the conversation and fun going… make sure they ARE on your list!
Planning for guests can be stressful, especially if you don’t want to leave out any friends for fear they’ll get angry or upset. Just make sure that if you leave anyone out you don’t do these three things:
1. Don’t hide the fact that you’re having a party in front of these people. If you happen to mention it or someone else does, it’s okay. If you make it seem like you’re hiding your party, then it will only look worse when they find out you’re having one from someone else.
2. Don’t make excuses. Tell your friends the truth on why they weren’t invited (in a nice way). Say things like, “I know you really don’t like costume parties so I figured you would rather come to the next party I’m hosting.” Or say something like, “I wanted to keep this small and intimate, it’s nothing against you I just really didn’t have the budget or space to be able to have a bunch of people over, but I definitely want you at my next party!”
3. Don’t spend hours talking about how awesome the party is going to be or was to a friend who wasn’t invited. That’s just rude, even if you know they wouldn’t have had a good time.
Write down your list, check it, check it again, and then send out your invites and cross your fingers everyone R.S.V.P.’s in a timely manner (don’t forget to put an R.S.V.P. deadline on the invite)!
