How to Handle Unanticipated “Plus 1” Requests for Your Party

When getting a party together, you have to be aware that anything can pop up and not go the way that you planned it. You need to be prepared for these things and know how to deal with them in a proper way. When it comes to your guests sending in requests to bring along a friend with them to your event, you might feel a little blindsided especially if it was made at the last minute. Here are a few tips on how to deal with this issue if it ever pops up.

When you’re sending out the invitations to your invited guests, a good thing to do is add another line stating whether or not a “Plus 1” is going to be accepted. You have to keep in mind the number of people you want to be at the party, and if you want to keep the event exclusively to those that were invited then let your guests know in your invitation as well to avoid unnecessary requests in the long run.  If you're sending baby shower invites, you want to make sure you have enough baby-bottle cake ordered!

Chances are that not everyone you send an invitation to will be able to make it to your party, which means there are some vacancies opened up. If you had decided to not allow “Plus 1” requests when you first sent the invites out, this is a good time to consider notifying your invited guests that haven’t cancelled that they can bring an extra guest if they want to. You want to have a full party, so it’s best to let them know if any openings are available.

If you decide to allow as many guests as possible to your party, it’s probably a good idea to know how many of your guests want to bring along a friend or a family member. Set up a suitable deadline to give your guests a chance to decide who they want to bring to your party or event as well as to eliminate the problem of getting any unexpected requests on this matter.

“Plus 1” requests can be difficult to handle if you don’t know how to deal with it. Planning ahead in this regard could help make your life easier by preparing for these kinds of requests. Keeping your guests in the know about “Plus 1” requests is important in avoiding anything unexpected down the road.