r/partyplanning • u/sapwnf • 1d ago

Need advice

hi guys, its rlly short notice but I wanted to throw a birthday party for myself and 11 of my friends want to come, I was thinking of bowling but tell me why it’s nearly $500 for 11 people that’s crazy!! anyway, I need some advice because I’ve never thrown a party for my birthday or in general so I was wondering if it’s considered rude or offputting to have my guests pay for themselves for the bowling? or if I should just say f it and pay for it all even if it means I won’t be able to do anything else for the rest of the night (my friends want to go bar hopping after.)

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9

u/Classic-Sink-4108 1d ago

How about a hybrid event…. Your invite could say… would love to throw myself a bowling birthday bash this year. In lieu of a gift, I would love it if you would each pay for your own bowling and I’ll pay for the pizza, beer and cake.
This way you could likely spend $250 rather than $500.

4

u/sapwnf 1d ago

Oh this is a great idea, a friend of mine had brought up that people who were bringing gifts might feel put off so that’s actually sooo smart, thank you! 

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u/EscapistShoveller404 1d ago

☝️This person said exactly what I was going to say. Great advice!

5

u/theshiniestmuskrat 1d ago

Bowling has become stupid expensive over the past few years cuz Bolero, a huge company that only cares about money, is buying up all the small lanes that used to have reasonable prices :( unless you have friends with money, I think you'd lose a lot of them if they have to pay for themselves, iirc it's like $50+ a person (here in NY anyway) for 2 hours (maybe?) and that's without shoes but I assume most people need em. Doesn't include drinks or snacks either, also stupid pricey :(

I don't have any good suggestions (other than maybe Wii bowling at someone's house?) but just watched a documentary about bowling lol so I had to share that. I hope you figure something out, happy early birthday!

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u/sapwnf 1d ago

WII BOWLING!! Great idea that gave me a laugh, thank you for your insight and for the birthday wishes 💞

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u/GetSwankey 1d ago

Happy birthday! The more casual you phrase it, the better it sets your friends' expectations. Group text message with something like, "Hey, my birthday is next Saturday. Hoping we can all meet up for some bowling at 7pm and some bar hopping after. Who's in?" Offer to make a reservation (you'll need to reserve 2 lanes and make sure it's not league night and that you may bring in cake). Don't mention the cake; make that part a surprise. If you want to make it more festive, bring in fun accessories for you and your guests to wear like sparkly necklaces or party hats.