Author Topic: Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot  (Read 2342 times)

ReadySetMillionaire

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Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot
« on: March 09, 2020, 06:33:49 AM »
I’ve seen this theme come up on here a bunch, so I just wanted to share our positive experience.

My son just turned one and we had about 30-35 people over. We included an insert on the invitation that said, “Please no gifts, but [son] would love a card with your favorite memory of his first year and/or your well wishes for his big second year. Thanks!”

I was worried this wouldn’t work, but it mostly did. Out of 35 people, only three people brought gifts. One was a small pair of shoes, another was a couple little books, and someone else got him a custom little cup. Two other people got us money inside their cards.

And these cards were so nice. There were so many great cards people wrote that included memories that may have faded with time. Now we have a great souvenir of them.

The party went really well. Not structured at all. Everyone just hung out and ate pizza, and then sang happy birthday to our son. We got lots of texts afterwards saying how nice of a party it was.

Just wanted to share my experience. Post if you’re trying your own or have any questions.

acepedro45

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Re: Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2020, 01:14:29 PM »
Maybe I'm just the emotional, sleep-deprived parent of two little ones, but I am moved by this touching idea. Will be copying.

ReadySetMillionaire

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Re: Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2020, 06:56:01 AM »
Maybe I'm just the emotional, sleep-deprived parent of two little ones, but I am moved by this touching idea. Will be copying.

Highly recommend it.  My hope is we've established the precedent within our own family and this will be the norm for our kids.

An even better hope is that other friends who were there saw it and liked it and may copy it; but I'm not holding my breath.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2020, 05:06:13 AM »
Great to hear.

Did this with our housewarming. Specifically said, "please no gifts, but do bring a favorite side dish, dessert or drink."

We had 5 different Mac n Cheeses.

Anticipating a successful potluck, I only made baked chicken legs, dusted off my grandmother's liquor cabinet (apparently, she hasn't had a drink since the Clinton Administration), and might have bought dessert, too, but don't entirely remember.

woopwoop

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Re: Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2020, 03:08:18 PM »
I love that idea for the card with a memory written in it!

With my 3 year old, we have been doing "used book swap" parties - I ask all the fellow parents to bring in a used book, and then we have a pile of hers that they can take in return.

Did this with our housewarming. Specifically said, "please no gifts, but do bring a favorite side dish, dessert or drink."

We had 5 different Mac n Cheeses.
Not sure if it's that my friends are all young or non-religious (potlucks were the only good part of church for me), but it seems like lots of them have a hard time with figuring out potlucks. So many people in my friend group just end up bringing a bag of chips or a bottle of wine, ha!

Chris Pascale

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Re: Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2020, 07:18:17 PM »
Very nice. We did that with our housewarming in 2014 and it was nice.

CupcakeGuru

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Re: Had a Successful “No Gifts” Party Woot Woot
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2020, 05:11:55 AM »
That is fantastic!  We did a twist on this for my 40th birthday. I asked for food donations for the local food bank and even included a link to the food bank in the evite so people could see what they were asking for (no green beans). People were actually excited to donate. We had to take two cars to get all the stuff to the food bank.

My daughter one year asked for shoes for a shoe drive and that also worked out great.

 

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