Bridal Shower Lunch

Jen1051

Hi ladies. My MOH has booked a restaurant for my bridal shower next month and she will be covering lunch for everyone. Where we live, most showers are at someone's home with finger foods so a shower at a restaurant isn't the norm and our guests probably would assume they would have to pay.

She's looking at invites and she's wondering how best to word it so that everyone knows lunch is covered. She doesn't want people thinking they are coming and having to pay for themselves. Any suggestions on how to word it, other than 'Please join us for lunch' because we don't think that really makes it clear.

Thanks in advance!

AprilH81

"Please join us for a bridal shower honoring Jen1051 hosted by MOH."

That might work to clue in that the lunch tab is being picked up by the hostess, but if all else fails just make sure the bill is given to your MOH and not the guests and you should be fine.

JMalettas

 I wouldn't be too worried about guests assuming they'd have to pay for their lunch, even if it's not the norm. If I was invited to an event like this, I'd obviously have cash 'just incase', but I would assume it's covered. 

 As the PP mentioned, if you state that it's hosted by your MOH, I think guests will get the point. If you really want to make sure, you could also put something like what AprilH81 wrote, then add, in a smaller font somewhere on it, that lunch will be provided. I think it would go without saying though.

 *J

pinkshorts27

JMalettas said:

 I wouldn't be too worried about guests assuming they'd have to pay for their lunch, even if it's not the norm. If I was invited to an event like this, I'd obviously have cash 'just incase', but I would assume it's covered. 

 As the PP mentioned, if you state that it's hosted by your MOH, I think guests will get the point. If you really want to make sure, you could also put something like what AprilH81 wrote, then add, in a smaller font somewhere on it, that lunch will be provided. I think it would go without saying though.

 *J

That is funny. Until I came to these boards I would have assumed that I would have to pay, because that is what everyone has done to me in the past. Now I realize that they were rude, but I didn't know it then. 

JMalettas

blueeyes90 said:

JMalettas said:

 I wouldn't be too worried about guests assuming they'd have to pay for their lunch, even if it's not the norm. If I was invited to an event like this, I'd obviously have cash 'just incase', but I would assume it's covered. 

 As the PP mentioned, if you state that it's hosted by your MOH, I think guests will get the point. If you really want to make sure, you could also put something like what AprilH81 wrote, then add, in a smaller font somewhere on it, that lunch will be provided. I think it would go without saying though.

 *J

That is funny. Until I came to these boards I would have assumed that I would have to pay, because that is what everyone has done to me in the past. Now I realize that they were rude, but I didn't know it then. 

 Definitely rude. I think if you're inviting anyone to a hosted event, or even to your house, during a meal hour, you need to provide some sort of food. The only experience I've ever heard of, (that happened to one of my girlfriends) was, she was in a wedding party, and the bride & groom invited everyone to an upscale restaurant in town for their rehearsal dinner. The bill came, and they asked for it separate! This happened almost two years ago, and it 'still' manages to get brought up! *Embarrassing!* 

 *J

LondonLisa

I agree, just say who is hosting. I would assume the meal was being paid for.

Similar to PP, I was always taught that if someone invites you to a meal honouring someone, they pay. A senior VP at my previous company was leaving and he invited a large group of people to his leaving dinner at a really fancy restaurant- like royalty regularly eat there fancy. My PA and a lot of the other lower level staff were really excited to get invites as they could never afford to eat at this restaurant normally. This senior VP drives a Bently and has a £25,000 watch, and always flashes his cash. He was ordering caviar for everyone, champagne, really expensive bottles of wine, the full luxury treatment. 

Needless to say, the bill comes and everyone is told "their share". My PA and some of the secretaries were in near tears because I could tell that was WAY out of their budget. I ended up paying for my PA bc I found her in the bathroom crying that she couldn't pay her rent because of it and would have to put it on a credit card and pay off little bits over the next year. Others chipped in for the other secretaries. 

Everyone at the company was LIVID that he did this. I later found out that a colleague was having a bake sale for charity at her desk (in the sense that she baked cookies and cakes as she was running a marathon for Cancer Research and left out a little honesty box for people to pay what they thought a cake was worth). THis same VP came by and took 3 cupcakes and raved how lovely it was and loudly bragged how he would be giving her a big cheque for her Marathon. You know where this is going.... he never paid her a penny. Jerk!

Jen1051

@LondonLisa omg that is insane! I would probably cry too if that happened to me. What a big jerk is is/was!

theartistformerlyknownas

Ho-Lee-CRAP @LondonLisa I'm surprised he didn't get run over in the street for that one. What an ass!

FWIW, I've thankfully never been to a shower (bridal or baby) where I was expected or asked to pay. I would assume that lunch was covered.

huskypuppy14

LondonLisa said:

I agree, just say who is hosting. I would assume the meal was being paid for.

Similar to PP, I was always taught that if someone invites you to a meal honouring someone, they pay. A senior VP at my previous company was leaving and he invited a large group of people to his leaving dinner at a really fancy restaurant- like royalty regularly eat there fancy. My PA and a lot of the other lower level staff were really excited to get invites as they could never afford to eat at this restaurant normally. This senior VP drives a Bently and has a £25,000 watch, and always flashes his cash. He was ordering caviar for everyone, champagne, really expensive bottles of wine, the full luxury treatment. 

Needless to say, the bill comes and everyone is told "their share". My PA and some of the secretaries were in near tears because I could tell that was WAY out of their budget. I ended up paying for my PA bc I found her in the bathroom crying that she couldn't pay her rent because of it and would have to put it on a credit card and pay off little bits over the next year. Others chipped in for the other secretaries. 

Everyone at the company was LIVID that he did this. I later found out that a colleague was having a bake sale for charity at her desk (in the sense that she baked cookies and cakes as she was running a marathon for Cancer Research and left out a little honesty box for people to pay what they thought a cake was worth). THis same VP came by and took 3 cupcakes and raved how lovely it was and loudly bragged how he would be giving her a big cheque for her Marathon. You know where this is going.... he never paid her a penny. Jerk!

First he hosted his own party, then he expected people to pay for it. I wouldn't have paid for all the extra stuff. I would have paid for the entre I ordered and the drink I ordered, but none of the other stuff. He was leaving anyway, who cares if he's pissed.

ETA: Oh and I would have said: "you ordered all this extra stuff, not us, so you pay for it."