When should I send birthday party invitations to school?

[iaam]

Trying to figure out timing and would love your input! My goal is to maximize the number of attendees at DS' birthday party.

The party will be at 4pm on Saturday, January 14 at a bounce house party place. Ideally, I would like RSVPs no later than Sunday, January 9 so that I can confirm the number of kids with the party place. We are inviting his pre-school class and need to pass out invitations at school. We will be out of town from Dec 2 through Jan 2 - his first day back at school will be Jan 3.

Is Jan 3 too late to send invitations? I would like to give people enough notice so that we get as many kids as possible. On the other hand, I am sure (?) that Dec 2 is too early!

WWYD? TIA!

[bigsis]

So does that mean you can't send between Dec 2-Jan 3? You can't address and stamp and give to a neighbor/friend to put in the mail for you? I would ideally send 3 weeks before the party.

But if you can't send at that time frame, I would send a "save the date" email before Dec 2nd and mail the actual invites on Jan 3rd.

[iaam]

So does that mean you can't send between Dec 2-Jan 3? You can't address and stamp and give to a neighbor/friend to put in the mail for you? I would ideally send 3 weeks before the party.

But if you can't send at that time frame, I would send a "save the date" email before Dec 2nd and mail the actual invites on Jan 3rd.

Can't mail or email at all since the school won't give out the information. The only thing I can do is give the physical invitations to the teachers to send home with the kids.

I could ask our nanny to drop them off at the school, but that seems awkward. Maybe I'll do the save the date thing... Need to think about it some more. Thanks!