Whether you’re choosing Pink Cupcake Die Cut Invitations, Monkey Invitations, or any other type of birthday invitations for your child’s party, picking the cards is only the first step of preparing the invitations. You also need to worry about etiquette and wording.

Let’s look at some of the most common etiquette issues and how you can address them in the wording of your invitation.

Parents: Should They Stay or Should They Go?

When you’re having a birthday party for a child, other parents are always going to be an issue. Depending on you and your party, you may want the parents to either attend with their children or to just drop them off. The question is how do you pass on that information politely and what limits should you expect to set on those parents.

Although you can suggest on your invitation for parents to attend, including wording such as “This is a drop off party” or “Please pick your child up at (time)” can come across as rude to some parents. Plus, parents should feel comfortable to stay if they choose. Remember, they don’t know you.

However, it’s fine to include wording that encourages parents to stay, such as “Parents welcome to attend,” “Separate Refreshments Available for Parents,” or something along those lines. Be careful about addressing the invitation to the mom and the child, however. Many mothers and their children don’t have the same last name, plus many fathers are just as likely to attend as the mothers. You should also encourage guests to RSVP so you can find out if parents (and or extra siblings) will be attending.

Siblings: Are They Automatically Invited?

As parents, we hate to see any of our children feeling left out of something fun, such as a birthday party. However, we have to realize that birthday invitations are meant for the invitee only (unless otherwise specified on the invitation) and possibly a parent. Imagine what would happen if every invited person to a party showed up with all of their siblings – the poor party host would run out of refreshments and sanity pretty fast!

With that said, many parents will bring younger siblings to parties if they are planning to stay at the party, too. This is why I strongly suggest sending out the invitations early enough so you can request an RSVP, preferably by email or phone so you can contact the person directly to make sure you know how many people will be attending. It’s a little more work for you now, but you won’t have any surprises on the day of the party.

While there’s no polite way to exclude siblings on the invitation, if you’re throwing a party and have to pay a per guest fee then you could specify “We are only allowed 15 guests so please let us know as soon as possible if (Name) will be able to attend.” In this way, you are letting the parents know that there is a limit on the number of guests you can have without specifically saying leave your other kids at home.