For his birthday, my son, who is turning 6, wants to go to Legoland with 4 friends. We are only inviting kids whose parents we know (rather than classmates whose parents we've never met, for example).
Tickets are $16/per person and we are happy to pay for all the kids. The parents are welcome to come, but don't need to if they are busy. So, how do I word an invitation to say that we are paying for the kids, but not for parents. We are also not inviting siblings...my son tends to get a little overwhelmed when in a herd of kids, so we want to keep it small. Or...does it seem rude not to pay for the parents tickets, too? It could triple the cost if both parents come with their kid.
Opinons? Suggestions?
Since you know the parents, just mention it's a drop off. Parents will understand and if they have an issue, you can tell them that the price doesn't include parents. They will get the hint.
If the party is at 12:00 say
Drop off at 12:00 PM
Pick up at 1:30 PM
Have fun!
That age is old enough to drop off. Personally, I think the little ages where people aren't going to drop off, the party should be paid in full. At this age, no you don't have to pay for the parents. Just specify the drop off time.
Can you transport all the kids yourself? I would just have parents drop their kids off at your house and YOU take them to legoland yourself. Bypass the parents and family members completely. Just give a firm drop off and pick up time so that you have time to include travel and it will be clear to the parents that it's ONLY the kids who are invited.
That way IF you have a mom who wants to go to supervise her own kid, she will just contact you. Then you can have the discussion one on one.
You do not have to pay for the parents provided you are ensuring proper supervision of the kids (at least 2 adults). Address the invitation to the invited child (not to the family and not left blank).
Are you planning to drive them all there or have them meet you in the parking lot? I suggest if you are driving them it is easier to not have the others "tagalong". Word the invitation something like "departure from our home @ 123 Main Street, City will be at xx:xx please have your child and their carseat there at least 15 minutes prior"
You could also say "Parental admission is $xx.xx which you can pay at the gate".
Can't imagine a parent assuming you would pay for them. The invite goes to child. You can say drop off is at say 12 noon, pick up 5pm. This basically says, no siblings, no one else.
When you do the invitation, just say
"Drop off your child at our home at 8am"
or "We'll pick up your child at your home at 8am"
and "We plan to return at 8pm" - then they'll get the idea.
If you really DON'T want parents/siblings to come, then leave it at that.
If you don't mind if they come, or if you think there are people who may be uncomfortable sending their 6 year old to a theme park without their parent, you could add "Parents are welcome, but not required to attend. Adult tickets are $20". Then they know they CAN come if they want, but have to pay their own way.
And, I think it's okay to add "No siblings please"
So, the parents are friends of yours....you don't know them well enough to say "Hey, we're paying for your little Johnny at the party but if you want to stay you'll have to pay for yourself"?
If I wanted to do this I'd just tell my friends out loud and be done with it.
Since you know the parents in the invatation put we will pay for ....... And then put the price of admission for parents. Even just having four some parents will want to got along. I didn't drop my kids off at partys at that age. And my youngest I still don't. So I would not say they can't bring siblings but maybe that they would have to pay for siblings.
I think you just send an invitation, inviting the kids. Don't mention the parents.
The assumption usually is that you will pay for anything you invite the kids to. Then, if the parents want to come along, they will ask you if you mind them coming, and the unspoken presumption is that they will pay for themselves.
Most adults should know that you aren't paying for them, if they choose to come along. The invitation only went out to "Little Johnny." Buy tickets for yourselves and the kids, and if the parents had the misconception that you were going to pay for them, they will figure it out.
You are not obligated to pay for the adults.
If you know the parents, can't you just mention it to them in passing?
I wouldn't word it at all. Invite the child. Work something out with Legoland ahead of time where they have a "guest list" and you pay for those children. If mom wants to stay with little sister, the person at the entrance will let them know that the guest is covered, but they will need to pay separately to come in.
We did this last year for my son's birthday and it worked out really well. Parent admission was included (place specialized in parties for kids under 5) but siblings were not. The girl at the desk was great about it and a few parents had to shell-out the $10 for the sibling to attend, but the kid wasn't invited in the first place!
With only four (school age) kids you certainly won't need any parents to tag along and help supervise. Just word it as "drop off" and "pick up". If the parents aren't invited then you don't need to pay for them to attend.
Can you buy tickets in advance and include them with the invitation? One ticket indicates one guest is being covered at your expense. Or put on the invitation "Tommy would like to invite Billy to be his guest at Legoland", like any invitation if a +1 isn't indicated that means they aren't being covered, expense wise.
"drop off at XX and pick up at YY"
This makes it clear it's a drop and leave party and not a stay and parent chat party
I would avoid pre-purchasing tickets to include them in the invitation. If you include tix already paid for, the child may end up not going for whatever reason & that's money wasted as the parent may not return the ticket & just use it another time for themselves later.
I do think it's unfair to not invite siblings. I know that if I were a child & my sister was invited to Legoland & I wasn't I would be extremely disappointed and hurt that I was dis-included.
If you're insistent on that, and I do understand the reason behind that but again, consider the feelings of the siblings and either, as a suggestion, try to invite those without siblings or I would say somewhere in the invitation which child is invited and that you're only purchasing tickets for the children but also state that parents are welcome to attend with their children but please note that parents are asked to purchase their tickets and any for siblings that would like to come along as well.
So I guess you could say something like "Tommy is invited to son's birthday party at legoland...Tommy's ticket will be comped by us but we do ask that any parent and/or sibling that wishes to attend to please note that their ticket will not be included and will need to be purchased separately."
Hope this helps, good luck & have a great time!
I had this dilemma when I had a party at a children's play. In the invitation I said "Your child is our guest; if you'd like to stay you're welcome to, and tickets are $12." But since I had to reserve seats, I needed to know who was coming, and the required payment up front...so be prepared for a couple to not reimburse you. If I could do it differently, I'd tell them to call the theatre themselves, and request tickets with our party.
