Hey Moms! I need your advice. I am having my son's 3rd birthday party at a pizza place--Gatti Land. The package that I bought includes buffets for the kids that I invited but not the parents. If you were a parent of the child that I invited....would you expect your dinner(buffet) to be paid for? The party is from 4-6pm on a Sat afternoon. All the kids get a $5.00 gift card to play games in the fun area/arcade. Should I say something on the invitation or would that be understood? Thanks for all your help!! I appreciate it!!
I don't but I have seen some who do.
I would just specify on the invitation "Invited children will receive a buffet dinner" or "Child's buffet dinner included".
I never expect anything, but that's me.....I would def. put it on the invite that the childrens' lunches are included and adults cost $ X.XX......
I would assume that a 3 year old birthday party that most of the parents will stay because of the age of the kids, and I would also assume that at least one of the parents meals would be paid for. If you do not plan on paying for a parent I would put it on the invitation.
Just an FYI, we have Chuck E Cheese in my neck of the woods, and we have a similar situation, the good news is that there is not a lot of choices for food at the place and though the kids come with meals in the package, I just ordered enough pizzas to go around for the adults to in case they wanted it. Since it is just a 2 hour thing, I figure that if they want to eat they can order themselves something or wait it out. Most parents are pretty good about not worrying too much about what they eat, even if there is lots of food present when it is such a short amount of time. Good luck, to ya.
Kids that young usually still need a parent with them so I think you should pay for one parent. I think there was another similar question like this on here and someone suggested that the invitation say dinner provided for name of child and one parent, others may attend at their own cost of $X.
On the invite I would include the phrase "Child's buffet provided." When it comes to the day of the party I feel the parent's can eat off of what they "help" their children to get. It is a buffet after all. :)
As a parent, I would not expect for my buffet to be paid for. I have been to many Chuck E. Cheese type parties and the parents are not included in getting a piece of pizza. If you think a parent may have that expectation, just state on the invitation that each child will have lunch and receive a $5.00 GC for games.
I think its far enough with what your doing i mean it is your sons birthday. Birthday partys are for kids. I would write on the invitation what your included for the kids etc. Unless you got that kind of money to pay for adults. Put the price of how much it costes to eat there to give them an idea. Hope your son has a wonderful birthday :)
Since it is dinner time, you need to say something or plan on buying dinner for the parents.
Maybe you could buy a few large pizzas for the parents.
If the average age of the children still needs a parent to stay with them (say, ages 3-4) then it would be expected to provide some food for the parent as well. What I have seen done is a pizza and pitcher of soda ordered for the parents who remain or the hostess ask the parents once they arrived if they need something to eat.
Now, if you weren't ordering buffets at all, then it wouldn't be expected to feed the parents too.
I have four kiddos and have given/gone to a lot of parties and parents are always included in the food or refreshments.
Usually pizza parties include pizza for adults but not everyone can swing that. I would definitely mention it on your invitation. If you can afford it, I'd buy some pizzas for the adult and maybe a salad.
Most of the places that do kids parties have such awful food that I almost never see parents eating it - even when they are invited to. Plus it's not a meal time so I don't expect parents would expect to be fed. I do appreciate if there is a pitcher of ice water available.
I had the same problem when I was trying to plan my son's 5th birthday party. I thought it was rude and outlandish that all these fun kiddie places did not think about the parents at all. Who is bringing the kids? Who is watching their kids and making sure they don't tear the place down? Who is comforting them when they cry because the place is so overwhelmingly crowded, loud and confusing sometimes? Who is taking them home when they are exhausted? The parents, that's who! Do they not deserve a little refreshment??
If I had the money, I would start a fun kiddie place and make sure the price of the parents and the kids meal was included in the birthday package price. Surely, someone out there thinks like me and has an overwhelming nest egg to use on this? :)
I'm in agreement with several other moms. I don't expect to be fed. Have a wonderful day.
