Any party planners here? Desperately need help

[lolc]

You don't have to be a party planner by profession, lol. Anyone who has pulled off a few successful parties can help

We want to combine an 'open house' party with our daughter's 2nd birthday. Since the only people we would invite to her birthday are also people we would invite to our housewarming, to us it makes sense to combine the two in some way - it saves a number of people the hassle of having to come to us twice (about 45 mins. - 1 hr. away).

The thing is: A LOT of people we would invite to the 'open house' would not be people we would invite to DD's 2nd birthday (DH's coworkers, friends that don't have kids, etc) mostly because I don't want anyone to feel obligated to bring gifts! Offhand, I'd say we want to send out about 40 invites, but only 10 of those would be for DD's birthday.

We are planning this party for a Sunday since that's DD's actual birthday. Thinking her party from 11-1, then housewarming from 1-whenever?

I am NOT a good party planner. So of course, this is quite a task for me and I need ALL the help I can get!

First: HOW can I pull this off?? Are those good times? I don't even know what time housewarming parties usually are or how long they typically run for? We want the housewarming to be very casual. DH will have a steady supply of bbq food going, the pool will be open to anyone who wants to go in. (We moved at the end of June... and we're in FL so it's still very much summer weather around here)


And as far as invites:
2 separate invites? Or just 1 invite for everyone?


Please, any and all help is appreciated!

[carfar]

I'd do one invite, but just say it's for both, let them know you plan to do the birthday part earlier, and let them
make up their own mind about what time to come. You could also send just a house warming invite and spread by word of mouth that you'll be doing b day festivities earlier that day since its only 10 people.

[Pom]

One invite, with a notation of both events and start times. If it is written down, people will be less confused.

[dexteroni]

Sept 8, 2012 12:33:56 GMT -5 littlespitfire said:

Sept 8, 2012 12:24:43 GMT -5 carfar said:

You could also send just a house warming invite and spread by word of mouth that you'll be doing b day festivities earlier that day since its only 10 people.

This is what I'd do- since it's only 10 people, call or send an email asking if they'd come early for birthday cake, etc.

Ditto this. I wouldn't mention the birthday party on the invitation or everyone will feel like they should bring gifts, and it will probably come off sounding a little gift grabby. Just call the 10 people - I'm guessing this is your immediate family - and say you want to do DD's party beforehand.

But if I'm being perfectly honest, I don't think combining the two parties is the way to go. The 10 people you would invite to DD's party will still see your house. They really don't need to attend both. It will be more fun for you if you can focus on each event. You can decorate DD's party with little girl decorations like balloons and streamers, and the meal can be simpler. Then for the housewarming you can have more fall decor and focus on your house and the housewarming spread.

[Deleted]

11-1 on Sunday is not good if any of those people will go to church and you'll need to serve lunch.

I also think you'll get more guests to come if you do Saturday. I would probably do 2-4 for DD party and 4-whenever for the adult party.

Send out separate invites--some folks will get both.

[steph96]

I would do it 2 separate days. Both groups are still getting to see your house.

Little kid birthdays wear me out. There is no way I could stick around from 11-1 for that and then stay who knows how long for a housewarming.

It also is sorta crappy schedule wise for eating. Nobody wants lunch before 11. If you serve actual food during the bday, nobody will want to eat BBQ until after 4. If you don't serve food until the housewarming (factor in cooking/grilling time), those people will have to wait until after 1:30-2 to eat lunch.

Also, do you really want to have to clean up decorations and cake mess from one party to get another one started immediately after?

[cricketwife]

To pull this off successfully, you need these to be two separate events.

[Roc A Bee]

I think the only way for this to be successful would be to include only people who you want to attend both. I'd do it later in the day and celebrate your daughter, then after kids go to bed have a more adult party, but this doesn't sound like it would work for you.

[lolc]

This would be why I am having such a hard time planning (because it really should be on different days).

Thanks for the advice ladies. I think I will do them on separate days.

When does it become too late to have a housewarming party? I feel like we're teetering on the edge of being "too late" as it is. We moved at the end of June. And I don't even know if I'm using the term correctly - we don't expect any gifts at all.... we just want a party so we can invite everyone at once to see the house. Most of our friends are now 45-60 minutes away and haven't been up to see our house yet.


I guess we'll just host a barbecue party sometime in October and invite everyone then (it's still hot in October in FL). That should work..... (right?)

[GailGoldie]

i would never do them on the same day - and not the same invite either.

both = asking people to bring gifts (if you want them or not people will feel they need to)... and if you don't mention the birthday to the open house guests and they see the b-day part going on they will feel like shit that they didn't bring the kid a present.

I don't think a housewarming party is needed, personally... maybe b/c i look at them as gift grabs --- i prefer when people find a reason to have a party in their new house (holiday, etc). We did that when we moved into our house- we had a 4th of july party - so everyone got to see our house, but didn't feel the need to bring a gift.

[dexteroni]

Sept 8, 2012 15:42:01 GMT -5 lolc said:

And I don't even know if I'm using the term correctly - we don't expect any gifts at all.... we just want a party so we can invite everyone at once to see the house. Most of our friends are now 45-60 minutes away and haven't been up to see our house yet.


I guess we'll just host a barbecue party sometime in October and invite everyone then (it's still hot in October in FL). That should work..... (right?)

That sounds like the best plan. And I like the idea of calling it a cookout instead of a housewarming party. People know they'll be seeing your house for the first time, they don't need the name of the party to tell them that. And name-wise, "cookout" or "barbecue" sounds way more fun than "housewarming party."