How to reject invitations?

@mhethess (379)
Philippines
May 22, 2009 9:56pm CST
If you are that friendly I am afraid that you might end up attending to many invitations and have a hard time rejecting them. I am also had a hard time on rejecting friends. My dear old friend invited me to attend to her granddaughter's baptismal since we have different faith she told me to go directly to the reception but that day falls on a Sunday that's for my family in Christ. But since it was from dear old friend invitation and she invites our other friends to have a simple reunion I don't know how to reject her in a nice way that will not hurt her feelings. Can you give me suggestions she just texted and I was not able to text her back for I don't know what to say. Please give me the right words that will not hurt her feelings it was her first grandaughter and I know that she is too proud to present her to us.
11 responses
@lampar (7584)
• United States
23 May 09
Just tell her honestly the reason you can not attend to her invitation , if she is an understanding person, then there is no reason she will feel hurt in her feeling, it is better to be honest to a friend than otherwise. At least there is my way of dealing with my friend invitation that i had no intention of attending, just tell it as it is!, so far it work out well for me .
@mhethess (379)
• Philippines
23 May 09
hi lampar, thanks I hope my friend will understand same with my other friends but I am sure they will not feel happy about it for we will miss each other but I have no choice but to reject the invitaion. Can you be my friend don't reject my invitation, ha ha ha happy mylotting.
1 person likes this
@lampar (7584)
• United States
23 May 09
I will accept your friendship, you can bet on it. Don't be afraid she is not going to be happy, so long as you are truthful to her, i am sure she will come to the understanding later and appreciate your true friendship of honesty rather than lying. i am sure everyone will not prefer a friend that make up excuses for rejection than telling straight, at least that is how i treat my friend- be honest to them.
• China
24 May 09
hi, mhethess. we chinese, encounting this, will reject the invitation in a euphemized way, we maybe text them we have another date, even you dont have definitely, just to be a liar for a moment, that is ok. and a nice day, you can get the right way to deal with the condition.
@sanuanu (11235)
• India
23 May 09
Is it that you don't want to go? or you can't go? There is a difference in both the questions. If you don't want to go, then it is bad because she has an occassion and I will not suggest you anything but if you have a reason why you ca'nt attend the ceremony, then you have an option of telling her the truth that these are the reasons whey I can't attend your Grand daughter's baptismal. I think she would understand your poing. All the best.
• United States
23 May 09
I think a freind loves at all times. A true friend will understand when you tell them the truth. IF they do not, they will either forgive even if they lack understanding or they were never really your friend. Honesty is a strong, and good quality which has to be in every relationship for it to stand. If you are honest with your friend and she is truly your friend, she'll understand.
• United States
23 May 09
Hello, I will have to give the advice of, telling her the truth, and kindly turn down the invitation, you have to do what is best for you, and if you already have something planned, that shouuld give you a legitimate excuse for not going, I hope everything works out for you. Happy My Lotting!
@happy6162 (3001)
• United States
23 May 09
You should just tell her the truth. Tell her you would like to be there but you have other plans for that day and you can not change the plans. She is a close friend of yours and will understand why you can not be there.
@berrys (864)
• Singapore
23 May 09
just tell her. hey old friend, it would really be nice to see you and the others again, i really want to catch up with you guys but i just can't. you see Sunday's my family day and as much as i would like to see you my family just means the world to me. im really sorry that im not able to make it maybe we can catch up some other time. tell the friends i said hi and i miss them so much. hope you guys are doing well. bye. well something along those lines would do i guess. hope i helped. good luck :)
• India
23 May 09
well you can do one thing and that is just tell your friend the truth. this will be the best way you can make your friend understand your problem. if your friend is your real friend then he/she will definitely understand your problem and will forgive you. but you should meet your friend after wards so there are no misunderstanding and your friendship will be as it is. i hope this works since it works with me many a times.happy friendship .
@jellymonty (2352)
23 May 09
Just tell her that you have other commitments. If she is a dear friend then she will understand. Just be honest with her and explain to her that you can't attend. I'm usually very straight forward when it comes to issues like this. If I can't make it to attend I will say so and stand my ground. So you need to stand your ground and tell her that you have your family commitment and you can't miss it. If she gets hurt, too bad. But you need to put your priorities straight. You must never be afraid to hurt someone's feelings. If you have no choice then there's nothing you can about it.. just be truthful and honest, period!
@vivianchen (2646)
• China
23 May 09
Hi Mhethess, I think i understand your feeling very well. One side is your old good friend and they are having are having a reunion party. If i were you, i am sure i will love to see my old friends gathering together. But the other hand is to be with the family. Why don't you do this? You go with your family and join them at the friends reunion party. How's that? If you really can't make it both side, told your friend that you missed your old friends so much, but you are not able to make it, for you have to be with your family that day, told her that you will try to catch up with her later. That is the only words i can think of. Hope this can help.
@phyrre (2317)
• United States
23 May 09
Just explain to her what you just explained to us. If she's really a good friend she'll understand. First, congratulate her for the occasion and everything, but tell her that you're sorry to say you won't be able to make it. Just explain that your religion is very important to you and that Sunday is an important day for you and your family. I'm sure she'll understand. :) It might surprise you how understanding people can be. My fiance and I were supposed to be in one of our good friend's weddings and he was supposed to be in ours, but he called us to tell us he couldn't be in our wedding. So we sat down and discussed it and we realized that we'd have to spend about $500-$600 to be in their wedding, which is only two weeks before ours (our date was picked 9 months in advance and theirs was picked about 4 months ago). Taking everything into consideration, we didn't think we could afford to be paying that much money for their wedding, especially with ours so close and the imminent health insurance bills. I was afraid they'd be upset, but my fiance talked to them and they were very understanding and said that it's life and these things happen and if you can't afford it then there's nothing you can really do about it. So I'd suggest just talking to her and being honest. Honesty is a virtue for a reason. ;)