Birthday Party Help - Independence,MO

NO, you can NOT tell people what to buy for your child.

It's rude, unkind, & who says she's going to get gifts??

Birthdays are all about giving, sharing, & honoring the recipient. Not about Mom trying to be helpful & in control of everything. Should anyone ask for ideas, then you can offer suggestions....& that's all it is.....suggestions, not absolutely a guarantee that your child will receive "what" gifts are discussed!

Relax & let the party be fun!

3 moms found this helpful

I also agree not to put requests on the invitation. If people need ideas, they will ask! Have fun.

1 mom found this helpful

my son is turning 2 and i have done it for each of his birthdays. it is more common than you think. stores even have special registries for situations like this. i make a registry at a couple stores so people have ideas what they like or dont like, what size clothes they wear, and that way they dont buy something baby already has. i have gotten complements for doing so because alot of people are not used to buying for baby so they have no idea how to shop. GO FOR IT!!! you will thank yourself when the party is over.

1 mom found this helpful

I think the general rule is that it's NOT okay to put present requests/size etc on the invitation. The good news is, almost everyone who rsvps will ask while on the phone with you what your daughter would like. And if they don't, hopefully they will bring gift receipts! :)

1 mom found this helpful

a birthday party is a celebration. any gifts your daughter gets are a bonus. To place on the invitation a size or a certain kind of gift, to me is very greedy. It doesn't matter what she gets. If the size is wrong, return the item for a correct size. a one year old isn't picky about what she wears or what type of toy she gets. Most all people can figure out what to buy a one year old. I would say to enjoy the day and ANY gifts that she gets should be treasured. Enjoy this wonderful occasion with your daughter and all your friends. Don't worry about the small stuff! :)

1 mom found this helpful

I see absolutely no problem with that. My son will be 2 on friday and I still have my baby registry with babiesrus. I just modify it for birthdays and Christmas. I do home daycare so as you can imagine we have tons of toys and don't always need 5 of each thing(sometimes you do.) I also have family out of town who doesn't know what an almost 2 yr old plays with, already has, or needs. I'm requesting leapfrog, puzzels and misc learning toys because we already have like 6 ride on toys, barns and animals out the wazoo, and the child has more clothes then I know what to do with(and there are still some in the attic)

1 mom found this helpful

I think it's in bad taste to include that info in the invites. However, if people ask, go ahead and tell them.

1 mom found this helpful

That would be poor etiquette to add it to the invitation. If you receive gifts that cannot be used like a wrong size you can try and return it or exchange it, esp. if they include a gift receipt. If not try anyway, or explain to the gift giver and they might offer the receipt. Happy birthday to your little one!

1 mom found this helpful

Please do not put a request list on the invitation - it is in very poor taste. Send the invites and if you get a gift, it is a bonus. If someone calls and asks, then you can give them a suggestion.

Enjoy your day with your little lady. You are right, it does go so fast, doesn't it?!

I really see no reason to not put things she is into and her clothing size on the invites. It will save you time and your friends and family time instead of calling you or emailing you for that information. My son went a girl in his daycare birthday party and she was turning 4 and they put the suggestions on the invite. I loved it, because until this last year I had only bought for boys and I would have never been able to figure out what she wanted.

I just send the invite if they call me and ask what size or what toy then great i'll give them a suggestion other than that don't write in what you need size or what you would like her to have.

My friend started a wish list for her son at Target. Its like the registry, but its just called a wish list. On the invitation she wrote that her son had a wish list at Target. I thought it was a good idea, especially for the gift buyer! It took the guess work out of what to get him. Just a thought!

Although it would be nice and wholeheartedly practical to be able to include a list it is utterly rude and distasteful to do so. If someone asks specifically what your child wants or needs for their birthday than give them some different price options...certainly, with family it is a bit easier to do...but the fact of the matter is, be happy with what you get. If it's something you don't want or need, try to return or exchange it and if you can't, set it aside for a needy family at Christmas.

If people ask you for gift advice then they are genuinely interested in getting something for your child they will want/need (make sure you give them ideas in the price range they are willing to spend) or ask them to just give a gift card to a store where you can combine them to get a larger present...but MAKE SURE you take a picture of said present and send it to the giver with a thank you letting them know what their money bought! You may not always get what you want and you undoubtably will not always have what you need but be grateful and gracious for what you are given (even if it is hidious). If you teach your daughter this now, you won't have problems as she grows older and gets things she doesn't want/need and pitches fits in front of the family...no one likes to see those. You are setting the moral fiber early so set the bar high for her. ;)

Although it would be nice, I would refrain from any reference to gift suggestions. If she receives anything that doesn't fit, etc., you can usually return the items if they provide gift receipts (as many people do). If an invitee contacts you directly with size, toy preference, etc. questions, that would be the time to address that topic (again, only if they ask). Our daughter is nearly 4, and we have found this to be the case with all the parties we've thrown for her as well as the ones we've attended for her/our friends.

Hope this helps, and enjoy the day!

Good Morning D.,
Your invitations could say something like. My little Angel is a blessing to me and your company at her 1st Birthday celebration would be wonderful. Or a donation in her name to your favorite charity.

Then if they ask it's fine to give them a list. If you would like her to like DVD's list some good children ones, or books. There are books at Wal-Mart that uses a reader pen and it can read the books to the children with a download on PC. Our grandsons have 4 of them and love them.

Have a great 1st Birthday for your little Princess
K. Nana of 5

I would say it is probably not the best of etiquette manners to include a list of suggestions in with the invitation itself. It could come across as rude. However, I see no problem in passing along suggestions if guests inquire about ideas themselves. I would either do so when they RSVP or send along the ideas in a seperate mailing to those who asked for them. And I would just say upfront that your daughter has more than enough clothes already. Hope this special occasion is very memorable for the both of you! Enjoy each moment!

I would not put suggestions in the invitations. It is already hard to get people to RSVP so that is one way you will know they are coming because they may call you and ask what your child likes or the size she wears. The less you put on the invitation the more info they will need to call you for, then you get an idea of how many are coming. I was amazed at the gifts my kids got for their first birthday. They got some really nice expensive stuff that I would have never thought of buying and sure wouldn't have mentioned items that expensive if they had asked. I have taken several items back without receipts. If I am not sure which store the item came from I will look in the stores and see if they have that item. Some stores may give you a gift card instead of cash because you don't have the receipt but you can still get the items returned and get something else.

I have taught my kids to say thank you for everything even if they already have those items. It is embarrasing when they open a gift and say I already have that and sometimes they will even get the same toy while opening up the gifts and they politely say thank you and cool I got 2 of them, then we will take one of them back later or sometimes one of the gift givers will offer the receipt and say it's ok to take theirs back since they got more than one.

Now that my kids are getting older and so many kids have everything already, I just send money with a card. That way they can compile all their money gifts together and get something they may have been saving up for.

Just enjoy her birthday and you will be surprised at how well everything turns out. You may also be surprised at the cool gifts she will get.

congrats on the first birthday! I am a believer in not putting birthday wishes on cards. I would wait for people to ask, and then give them ideas, just like you have been doing. I hope your daughter has a fantastic first birthday!