Instead of bringing presents is it alright to ask people to pay for a ticket to a night out for an 18th party?

Question

My daughter is turning 18 and has a lot of friends about 80 she would like to come to her party. We cannot afford to pay a lot of money, but have found a night out at a woolshed dance for $52 per head, dance and dinner. Looks like a great night, but i cannot afford to pay for it. Is it rude to ask people to pay for their ticke t instead of bringng a present. They are all mostly young people, single, and have indicated they wouldn't mind. But I worry I might offend their parents and I dont feel right about it. Any other suggestions for an inexpensive 18th would be appreciated. We dont really have room at home to hold one.

Answer 1

I do not think it is good to ask people to pay to attend a birthday party. Why not pare down the list of guests to her close friends and have a smaller party at your house. If you have an mp3 player, the kids have a night of dancing to their favorite tunes for free.

Answer 2

It would be ok to ask them to buy a ticket if the price were cheaper, $52 is a lot to pay for someone who is 18.

Your daughter wanting to have 80 friends at a party is unacceptable as well, I don't even know 80 people. Have a small party for her in your home. My parents rule was one person for every year you are, you could be nice and round it up to 20 though.

Answer 3

I remember a friend having a party kind of like that. She had flyers and invited a lot of people and it was basically like $20 to get in and there was a DJ, food & cake. They also had someone as security at the door collecting money because sometimes things get out of hand. I don't know what a woolshed dance is exactly but her parents had rented a place. For teenagers $52 a head is ALOT especially right after prom season. Not everyone would plan on spending that much on a present.

Answer 4

sounds like a great idea.  insist that there be no physical presents, rather the present of their presence....you might offend some people, but that happens.

Answer 5

having a day out on a 18 birthday with best friends that will be cool, but as the parent you have to ask the child if its okay with her and her friends

Answer 6

i would rent a small place to have her party with some food and cake ect.  and let her have all her friends come that way they can have the hall to play games dance of whatever they want to do . check around your town for diff. places to rent in my area i called   the parks and rec. i rented a place for 7 hours for $180 thats cheap. that way she has fun and gets gifts.

Answer 7

Maybe you could pay a fraction of the price for people.

Answer 8

Go with what your daughter thinks about it. She may have friends that cant afford it. Otherwise just go to a hotel with a function room have a dj and everyone buys their own drinks, you could supply some platters of nibbles .

Answer 9

All that's going to matter at an 18th birthday party is whether or not she is drunk. Ask the guests to bring a bottle of gin, meths or lighter fluid and rent an inexpensive and preferably wipe-clean room, ie. the hall at the local YMCA.

Answer 10

I think it would be fine to ask for half of it. However, $52.00 is too much to ask of an 18 year old. They might would  not even spend that much on a gift.

Answer 11

$52 apiece is ALOT of money for an 18-yr-old, and their parents would end up paying for most of that!  So, of course, THEY wouldn't mind!!  ... you said it's instead of a gift, but how many of them were going to spend $50 on a gift?  ...Not knowing what's in your area, it's hard to recommend an alternative, but you should probably just get a room that's large enough for everyone to dance - forget about dinner, and just do cake & dessert - if you can't afford a band, see if one of your daughter's friends will act as a d.j. with cds.....