I learned this lesson in high school. You need two way communication with your friends. “Are you coming over tonight?” You can’t just blast out an invite and then act like you don’t care if people are noncommittal. People have chats about your party without you, and they will all know if nobody is going to be there. It’s good to have a friend who will let you know, “Hey, everybody decided to go bowling instead.”
Invite fucking everyone, too. Don’t try to keep the guest list under control. The herd will naturally thin itself. Of course there’s planning and effort that goes into a party, but it’s better to just always be prepared for an impromptu gathering of friends. Those are far more fun. Keep the solo cups in a cupboard and bust them out when you have enough people to make beer pong fun.
If everyone bails, put the beer and snacks in the fridge and go to a bar. Keep everything on hand for another night. Don’t wallow in the empty room where all your friends would be if you had them. Go do something social and meet new friends.
If your friends say they are coming and then bail, they aren’t your friends. Invite different people to the next one.
Yeah I’ve literally never had anyone bail on a party. If they are they just aren’t your friends (if they’re doing it consistently, things do happen of course).
I don’t agree with the invite everyone thing, but my brother-in-law does that and it seems to work for him. My wife and I hate it though because he always invites the worst people just because he’s trying to make sure people actually show up. So we get terrible ex girlfriends at things like a family camping weekend.
Requesting one small caveat to your thinking: your friends with chronic health issues (physical and/or mental) may bail more often than others but still love you.
My partner has lost friends over them thinking he uses his migraines as an excuse to not show up to things. They feel hurt because he bailed one too many times for them, and he feels hurt because they diminished his disability and didn’t believe him. It’s hard to see the additional toll it takes on him.
(I also have my own chronic issues but thankfully have been able to suck it up often enough to not have it come in the way of friendships. Sometimes he and I are intentional about making sure at least one of us attends something even if we both feel like shit in order to not alienate people we care about.)
I learned this lesson in high school. You need two way communication with your friends. “Are you coming over tonight?” You can’t just blast out an invite and then act like you don’t care if people are noncommittal. People have chats about your party without you, and they will all know if nobody is going to be there. It’s good to have a friend who will let you know, “Hey, everybody decided to go bowling instead.”
Invite fucking everyone, too. Don’t try to keep the guest list under control. The herd will naturally thin itself. Of course there’s planning and effort that goes into a party, but it’s better to just always be prepared for an impromptu gathering of friends. Those are far more fun. Keep the solo cups in a cupboard and bust them out when you have enough people to make beer pong fun.
If everyone bails, put the beer and snacks in the fridge and go to a bar. Keep everything on hand for another night. Don’t wallow in the empty room where all your friends would be if you had them. Go do something social and meet new friends.
If your friends say they are coming and then bail, they aren’t your friends. Invite different people to the next one.
Yeah I’ve literally never had anyone bail on a party. If they are they just aren’t your friends (if they’re doing it consistently, things do happen of course).
I don’t agree with the invite everyone thing, but my brother-in-law does that and it seems to work for him. My wife and I hate it though because he always invites the worst people just because he’s trying to make sure people actually show up. So we get terrible ex girlfriends at things like a family camping weekend.
Requesting one small caveat to your thinking: your friends with chronic health issues (physical and/or mental) may bail more often than others but still love you.
My partner has lost friends over them thinking he uses his migraines as an excuse to not show up to things. They feel hurt because he bailed one too many times for them, and he feels hurt because they diminished his disability and didn’t believe him. It’s hard to see the additional toll it takes on him.
(I also have my own chronic issues but thankfully have been able to suck it up often enough to not have it come in the way of friendships. Sometimes he and I are intentional about making sure at least one of us attends something even if we both feel like shit in order to not alienate people we care about.)
Yeah, as someone who is known for bailing on things for mental health reasons, it doesn’t mean they don’t care about you…
This guy parties