If you invite people out to your birthday dinner, you're supposed to pay for everyone right?

Question

If you invite people out to your birthday dinner, you're supposed to pay for everyone right?

Answer 1

If someone accepts your invitation to your birthday party and it's at a restaurant, they are essentially agreeing to pay their own way, and part of yours. I have a friend who likes to have her birthday at an expensive Japanese sushi buffet restaurant every year. I know going in that I'm out $25 for dinner, plus a birthday gift. That's just the way it is.

Answer 2

Yes, and you clearly have excellent manners. If you're in your 20s it's common that everyone pays his/her own way plus enough so that the birthday person's dinner is covered, but your way (the host/ess paying for everyone) is correct (and will win a lot of friends for you).

Answer 3

I think that's the old fashioned attitude, because I'm 18 and I've been to many birthday dinners and had one for mine last year, we either all paid for our own food, or we paid for ours plus pitched in for the birthday girl/boy's meal. I think it's pretty unreasonable to expect one person to pay for all the guests, especially since it's their birthday!

Answer 4

That depends on all sorts of things. If I go out with friends to a birthday dinner, and it is my birthday, they pay for me, I don't pay for them. It doesn't matter who comes up with the idea of the dinner. If, however, I say "I want to take you to such-and-such restaurant to celebrate my birthday," I pay as that is a specific invitation to an event with no ambiguity. Generally, though, if I were to say "It's my birthday coming up, let's all go to dinner to celebrate", everyone would expect to pay their own way and normal procedure would be for my friends to pay for me.

Answer 5

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to go Dutch and everyone pays their own way. Then again, I'm the biggest cheapskate I know...





Simples...

Answer 6

If you invite people, regardless, you should be the one paying. If someone invites you to dinner to celebrate your Birthday then they should pay. What you do is normal..

Answer 7

It depends upon who does the inviting.It can go either way. If they invite you out to celebrate your birthday, they can and probably should pay both for themselves as well as for you. But if YOU are the one inviting them, to celebrate your birthday, then you should be obligated to pick up the tab for everyone.

Answer 8

Only invite all your friends at your expense if you particularly want to be

invited in return by ALL your friends to their birthday dinner party .(Assuming they have one)



Alternatively you could give them a menu from your favourite restaurant naming all your friends who are invited they can choose to eat an few or as many courses and pay the restaurant and you will pay for the first drink to welcome your friends to your party.

Answer 9

Yes. But if you want others to pay for themselves, you have to indicate that in the invitation. Otherwise people will expect you to pay for everyone.

Answer 10

People usually pay for their own food. By coming, they are agreeing to the cost.



I work at a restaurant. The birthday person rarely pays for the table.

Answer 11

This custom has grown up, for either the person whose birthday it is, or a friend, to suggest that a bunch of people get together to celebrate "Kim's" birthday at a nice restaurant. That's generally the signal that everyone will pay his or her own tab, plus contribute to Kim's dinner check, PLUS provide a nice little gift for Kim.



If you don't want to participate in this nonsense, you'll have to think up a very plausible reason for not joining the party. And don't expect anybody to organize a similar birthday celebration for you when your birthday rolls around.



To answer your question: If you invite people to a restaurant to help celebrate your birthday, you really should be prepared to pay for everyone's meals. Some of your guests may go hog-wild with steak dinners and two desserts, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.



Just so your invitations don't get confused with the situation described above, where everyone pays his own tab, contributes to the birthday person's meal, and brings a gift as well, make it clear when you invite people that it's entirely your treat. Don't even mention gifts. They may be nice enough to bring you a gift, but they're not obliged to do so.

Answer 12

You were correct, they were not. The person issuing the invitation is expected to treat his guests, unless the invitation specified otherwise.

Answer 13

You are 100% right. It is very rude to arrange a party for yourself and then attempt to pass the costs off onto your guests. Guests are always free to send a gift along with the letter thanking you for the wonderful party if they feel that you deserve some sort of material show of gratitude.

Answer 14

Yes, unless they just decide to pay for their own food.

Answer 15

I would like to find out more about this too

Answer 16

Whoever does the inviting does the paying.

Answer 17

no

they should pay for themselves

okay its not right

Answer 18

Wow! thankyou! I was wondering the same thing the other day

Answer 19

afraid so