How would you word a graduation party invitation when....the party is at the home of the graduates mom and step dad, the father and the step mother are invited. The mom and the dad have been divorced for 7 years, but thought of putting both of their emails and phone numbers on for rsvp since both will be mailing out invites to individual family members. Where does this leave the step parents, do you include their names? Confused!
WOW That is a good question. I think I would be careful not to hurt anyones feelings. Perhaps you could word it, in a way that implied they were being invited to the Teens home. You know. You are invited to the home of John Smith, for a spatcular graduation party. Come dressed to kill or come as you are, we want to see you there regardless. Give the location and be profesional include the names. Something like that. Remember this is the Young adults Graduation party and the parents should be proud, but make it about his or hers day and not their feelings and such. Good Luck and God Bless. I would not want to be in your shoes. ANG
Couple of things...
If you are doing an open house type of party, you could list it as just that on the invitation. "Open house to be held on May 1, 2008 at 123 Your Street from 1pm until 5pm."
On the other hand, if you are doing something more formal, you could list everyone in the "given by" or "RSVP" section in a mannor as follows:
Mr. & Mrs. (Mom's last name)@ 555-5555 or [email protected]
&
Mr. & Mrs. (Dad's last name)@ 444-4444 or [email protected]
Get it?
Grad's name along with his/her parents:
Mother
Step Parents
invite you to share in celebrating (Grad's name)graduation Open House
(then give details; example: Place, date, time)
The favor of a response is requested by (give date)
I think I would just word it as:
You are invited to the Open House for (childs name)
date, time, address, and the rsvp # or e-mail at the bottom.(to your house, since you will be the one needing to know how many to account for) You dont have to list parents names, this should focus on your child's accomplishments!!
Easy the invite is from ALL parents the response to the TWO parents is appropriate enough. Even if the e-mail wnet to the stepparetn (because the parent does not have an account) what metters??
Nana
Maybe you should ask the graduate how he/she wants it listed - you may get an answer. My husband and I did this for our wedding invites - both of our parents are divorced. Our wedding invitations only had my parents and his parents listed... John Doe and Mary Doe (separate since they are divorced - Mary has not remarried). Then for his side it was Bob Jones and Sally Smith (they have both remarried). We are not the children of the step-parents, so it was not their place to be doing the announcing. That pride belongs to our parents.
The step-parents didn't invite anyone that their spouse didn't know... so the RSVP was just fine going to our parents. Nobody was offended.
On my graduation invites, the parents names weren't listed-just my name.
Watch out someday though... you should have seen the birth announcement for our twins! We almost had to take out a whole page in the newspaper to include everyone : )
Hope this helps - it was from "the kids who also have step-parents" point of view.
This is for the child there is no need to put any parents names on the invite. Just put the two emails as the RSVP and be done with it. Only wedding invitations have parents names on them and that really isn't necessary either. Just put the child's name date, time and place with the RSVP and send them out. And the stepparents should accept whatever is put on the invite.
Barbara,
Make it about the graduate, not the parents. If the only thing that mentions the parents is the rsvp, it shouldn't be a big deal.
Tell your graduate congratulations. I am sure it is a proud moment for everyoone involved.
bjw
Hi Barbara!
Technically the only names on an invite should be the birth mother and father. But now days many poeple feel the need to include the "step" parents. You do have a couple options tho...Is it formal? or just a bbq in the back yard? For something more formal...I would use -
" The Smiths & The Whites" would like to invite you to celebrate the commencement of their son/daughter ____ at place, time and date.
or informal
"The Parents (this way everyone is included) of son/daughter invite you to celebrate his/her graduation. Party will be at----, time and date.
the rsvp # should be only of the people involved in hosting the party. if this includes both sets of parents, then both names and #s should be on the invite. Although both partyies should be in aggreement of this.
Hope this helps, Good luck!
I think that the step-parents should be mentioned. It doesn't take anything away from you or the father since you both decided to get re-married. Have you discussed this with your ex-husband? Obviously you get along well enough to have a combined party for your child. Although only "step" parents they have had a parental role in your child's life so I feel they too should be mentioned.
Good Luck!
If the party is at your house you need only to put your name for rsvp. It would be proper to put both the mother and fathers names on the invitation. As involved as a step-parent may be that is all they are.
Hello Barbara,
While I agree with this is definately all about the graduate. You have two choices.. Use the graduates name on the invite, as he/she is inviting everyone and put yours and your ex's e-mail addresses as the rsvp. Or Use yours and your spouses and your ex's name and his spouse. As another person answered that on wedding ivitations that the step parents shouldn't be listed. I think that is WRONG! Talk about shoving someone to the side and maiing them feel left out! They KNOW they are step parents, but that does not mean they are any less proud of that child! And being thew signifigant other in your household and his, they should be included, if you are going to go that way.
My husband is the step parent in our home, and I would NEVER leave him out of a important situation like this. So if someone had "step" children, would that person leave them out of being in let's say a wedding because they are not REAL siblings. Go with what your heart tells you. If all else fails, use the graduates name as the person who is inviting them to his/her special day with both parents e-mails.
Good luck!
Tami
Coming from a divorced family I understand how hard it was for my parents. Invitations get really wordy when you are trying not to offend anyone. Personally, I think it is fine if you put it "the parents of (child's name here) invite you to (blah, blah, blah)" or you could even say "(graduate's name) invites you..." and rsvp to just the mother's name since she is hosting. The number of guests that respond may get lost in the shuffle if there are separate people to respond to.
Hi Barbara,
I am a product of divorce-
Make it about your daughter. When I start reading all the names of parents on invitations- instantly I am thinking about the divorce and not the guests of honor. Same thing for weddings.
And 1 rsvp should be good. Make it easy If they are coming to your house- they surely can rsvp to you.
Good luck,
Amy
You do it just like a wedding invitation.
"Mr. & Mrs. ??? and Mr. & Mrs. ??? invite you to their daughter's name/son's name graduation party"...etc.
My parents are divorced and that is how we did my wedding invitation. You can also be less formal and put just parents first names.
Debbie
Barbara,
As I have just completed my degree in Bridal Consultanting & Party Planning we were taught that invitations that have divorced parents should read as follows:
The families of Graduates Name
would like to invite you to a party
in honor of Graduates Name celebrating he/she graduation from high school or college name.
And since the party is being held at your home then your email or phone number should be listed on the invitation. Having more than one contact person will make thing complicated. And the family members from your husbands side will understand. Some people will RSVP at the last minute so make sure when you are planning for the food add a couple of extra to your count. If you have any more questions please email me at [email protected].
I think I'd do the RSVP like this: Jane & John <~that would be you & stepdad with your contact info. Then Bob & Mary <~that would be dad and stepmom & their contact info. That would probably be the best way to handle it, that way no one is left out, feelings hurt, etc. The less drama, the better, right? lol
Call a print shop in your area. They handle this all the time.
What my parents did (about 10 years ago!!!) was something along the line of:
Jane and Tom Smith (mom and step dad)
and
John and Beth Jones (dad and step mom)
invite you to celebrate blah blah blah.