Thank you so much for all your suggestions regarding a 1 yr old birthday party. You have all helped me decide what to do!
My next question(s):
My husband's family live out-of-town (about 3.5 hours away). I was already planning on inviting his parents, but would like to include his aunts and uncles as well, since we'll be inviting mine. Is it wrong to include hotel locations in the invitation? I simply don't have the room to have them stay at my home but would like to make them feel like we want them to be apart of the celebration (his extended family is extremely close).
Also, since his family rarely sees our daughter, they buy clothes that aren't the right size for the season. Is it OK to request that they ask me for correct sizes, should they want to buy her clothes? I just really hate to have anything not used.
Ugh! I never could have imagined the things I think about now that I'm a mom!
Thank you all again for your advice. This website has been a God-send.
I think it should be ok for you to put information about hotels in the invitation and for you to put sizes along with it .... if it was me getting the invitation i don't think i would be offended at all.
Hi H.,
I was all prepared to write my own response, but then I saw what Dawn wrote, and all I have to say is " What she said." I agree with her completely.
My response may be skewed since my mom's side of the family is so HUGE (26 aunt and uncles). Whenever we have family functions (drives can be up to 5 hours) we don't worry about accomodation, nor is it expected that people will put us up for the night. There are just too many.
I would invite people. Atleast in our family, it's not assumed we're staying the night unless we ask. If people ask, then maybe refer to the hotels.
As for the clothing, maybe include in her invites that her current sizing is xx-xx. Most people call and ask us, except MIL. She gets it wrong (she live 10 hours away and see DD a few times a year).
I think they will know you do not have enough room. To send hotel locations could be very insulting. If they live so far away you can give them the option to come but it is only a birthday party not a wedding. Also if you want to let them know the sizes list them on the invitation. You could always donate items to charity if you cannot use them. Just try to remember what the day is really about, a baby turning one.
Hope this helped
I would put on the invitations to please give gift cards instead of clothing so you can buy for her as she grows. Then I would also put her size and what she needs. Gift cards can make things much easier on many to prevent duplicate gifts. When the gift card is used send a picture of it to the person that gave the card. Enclude with the invitations for out of town guest the name and phone number of near by motels/hotels and the mileage from your home. Good luck!
My suggestion for the sizes would be to simply put her sizes on the invitation. That way everyone, regardless of where they live and how often they see her, knows what size she wears. For my daughter's b-day, we didn't do that and had everyone calling to find out what size to buy. As to the hotel arrangements, I would put on their invitations that you would love to be able to have everyone at your home, but you don't have the room, so if they feel they will need to stay the night, you've included a listing of area hotels and if they have any questions, to call you.
You and your family could go back to were they live, stay with your in-laws get some rest why they tend to the grand child. Then have a birthday party for his family,your daughter will LOVE having two party and it will be much easier than making others feel unwelcomed in your home. I did it for many year it works
My parents live 2.5 hours away and my family rarely gets to see my son either. We went to visit my parents right around his birthday and had a small party at their house. Then my family could all attend. Otherwise they wouldn't have. We had a small party for my husband's family at our house as well.
I would also tell your husband's mom what size she wears so they can pass that info on. Otherwise return/exchange or save to regift....
Hello there,
I am going thru a bit of the same thing, other than it's for my son's baptism, all our families are out of towners, my sister is driving all the way from Kansas w/ her 3 kids, four yr old twins and a 2 yr old, plus my parents, I feel that since they are paying for hotels for a 2 day trip all the way up here and back down to KS, and it's more expensive with kids, I don't expect them to pay for a hotel once they get here to MI.
My In-laws and sister in law's family live in the east coast and will be flying...so...basically what I have said is this, I have clean towels and sheets an air bed to offer but I can't offer comfort and privacy, I explained how I was arranging the entire family (on both sides) and where they would be sleeeping as a heads up,( that way they can have a visual as to where they would be sleeping)and there are no surprises, I let them know if this was not okay it would not hurt my feelings, and that I could recommend some hotels, It lets them make a decision on what to do if they are not happy with my arrangements, I love my in-laws and am happy I can be honest with them, they are very understanding, Thank Goodness!!.. they decided on the hotel and were okay with that.
I felt that it was important to explain and let everyone know what to expect and then leave it up to them. I have several family members and friends that will be staying in hotels, what I'll be doing for that weekend is making sure that I offer a family brunch and dinner for everybody, so that we can all get together and spend some quality time with each other, if you have an extra car maybe you can offer that to them so that they can come and go easier, for us we offered this to our friends who are also flying in but have a 1 year old, so they need to put him in a car seat, they have offered to transport extra's as well...good luck
Toys R Us has a gift regestry for kids birthdays!! It's the best!! You go and regester (just like you would for a shower) and then they give you cards to put in the invataions. That way everyone knows what your child wants and size!! My oldest is 7 and she loves doing it every year, it's great fun!!
before for my daughter I have added the size that she would need for that season right on the invation. People have been very happy that I did this because the it is not a waste of money and she will actually be able to wear the outfit.
As for the hotel information. I would add it and I am sure that family will understand that you can't possiblely have the room for everyone to stay. Then maybe everyone could get together in the morning for a breakfast before everyone went home. It makes is so much nicer.
Hey H.,
First off, you could always have two birthday parties, one here and another one where your parents and family are, it could just be a samll get together with dinner and birthday cake, my entire family live in Minnesota so I had to have two parties and it worked out fine, and the one with dinner wasn't expensive, I made spaghetti at my parents house, a big batch of that goes a long way. On teh Invite for both parties you can awlasy include a list of what she needs, and her size.
Hope this helps, S.
