We're just starting to think about our leaving do and wondering if anyone who's done it has any suggestions.

We know we need a venue that will take kids but we're worried about how emotional the whole thing will be.

We're also thinking that doing it literally 2 days before might be better than a couple of weeks before - saying goodbye but not going anywhere.

Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks,

Emily

You could always throw a big barbeque at your house, or borrow a friends place. Depending on the weather and the size of the place. That way you could incorporate the kids.

That's what we had hoped to do but we'll be homeless a couple of months before we go and no one we know has a big enough house/garden in London.

We arranged to have ours in my sis-in-laws house and invited friends only to that one. We said our goodbyes to family members on an individual basis as there was too much potential for emotional chaos otherwise.

It still got a bit weepy and strained when time came for the guests to leave so either be prepared or very, very drunk.

When Phil went in Feb he had a few leaving parties, one for his bro's , one for work and one for his parents - they dragged on for a few weeks and were all very emotional.

When Nate and I go in August we shall say our goodbyes privately and not have a leaving do at all - personally cant go thru all of that again.

Neither will we have anyone come to the airport as that was traumatic last time.

Quiet slip away I think

Gay
x

Hmm - good luck with that then. We wanted the same and in fact expressly stated that we did not want anyone coming to the airport. Regardless of our wishes, the mum-in-law and sis-in-law turned up and tears and snotters ensued.

We left just after Christmas and New Year so had no leaving party as such. Had my office leaving party the same day as their Christmas Lunch party so that was okay. We said goodbye to our friends and family privately. It was emotionally draining especially the day before we left. On our last night we booked into an airport hotel and didn't want anyone to wave us off. Felt more like we were going on holiday.

I would not recommend having a party 2 days before you leave but instead would recommend one at least 2 weeks or more beforehand.

Good luck

Hi

We are in the same boat as you.
My sister has organised a do for Sun for rellies and close friends, but the OH has decided he wants a do for his family (we never see them fron one year to the next) Also the kids want to invite their friends which is ok
The only day we can do this is the Fri as we fly on the Sun. My worry is that the last minute things for the Sat will be hard with a thick head.

You have your do first then let us know

jo

I would say def go for the leaving party as close to leaving as possible. It will be emotional and then if you are still around for another 2 weeks either you will see these people/friends/family again or they will want to come and say goodbye again. Why go through the emotional roller coaster twice. We had an open house for CLOSE family to come the night before we left (left at 5am next morning) to say goodbye. We had told them we did not want anyone to come to the airport as it would be to emotional. They did not come as they knew i was dead against it, you just need to make a stand if you dont want them to come. Husbands sister works at the airport so she popped to see him at the gate as we were literally getting on the plane, but i was on the phone to my sister so didnt really speak to her and there is no 'love lost' between her and me and husband so it wasnt emotional at all.

Maybe it wil be easier for me as I am an only one who's mom doesnt want to know about Canada and therefore doesnt see the point of celebrating her only daughter going off to the other side of the worls.

Also am a bit of a billy no mates as I only have a couple of close friends - one flies on holiday the day before I go and the other one leaves Manchester en route for oz the week before.

easy peasy lemon squeezy for me

Well Gay, I'm a billy no mates as well! My friend Peter, went off to Oz years ago, and my best man lives in Eire now (no contact info! )
So, my wifes side has organised a "surprise" party this Saturday, and we fly on the 9th (I'm in on it, Josie isn't). I thought they weren't going to do anything, but they've came up trumps again! lol (Family, my folks, Josie's workmates and golfing buddies - hers!)
And I think a Limo is involved! LOL
We don't want anybody @ the airport as it wil be too much! The tears might flood the runway!!!! So our friend is taking us and thats it!
Just emphasise why you don't want them @ the airport, they'll understand!
HTH
Kenny

My best friend is having an open house/bbq for me on Sunday, and i fly Tuesday morning.

Have to say am dreading it (the sunday i mean) so think alcohol might be the way through

Hi - we deliberately had a leaving do way ahead of leaving to specifically cut down on the emotions involved. Cos we were still going to be around for a few weeks everyone concentrated on having a good time rather than worry about the goodbyes - they figured they still had some time to do all the goodbye stuff. So it was fun rather than fraught.

Though - if you do it at home, make sure that the food is supplied rather than try and cook as you go. I was so caught up heating stuff up in the oven, that I missed catching up with lots of people.

Also, we started at about 2 so that the kids had a good long afternoon to play before needing to go home to bed, then the adults took over in the late afternoon evening. We booked a bouncy castle - just make sure it can take the weight of a few adults too.

Get it all done and dusted well in advance.

We did my family thing 2 weeks before leaving. The work thing was done the day before I finished. That bit was easy. We both worked in the same place and it had a bar. The final week was taken up with packers, movers and dining out lots. Come the day, I strolled up to Sloane Square to find a black cab, which I took back to the house. We chucked the suitcases in it, shut the front door and dropped the keys through the letterbox. All in all, a fairly stress-free zone.

We were so busy sorting out everything that arranging parties was not high on the list. We also knew that some family members would not come and didn't really want all the hassle.
We did have a do in the end which was organized by some close friends at their house and included all our friends old and new and some of the kids close friends. It was great and left us 2 weeks after to do the final family farewells and sort out a few last minute things.
The hardest part was my wifes sisters and their kids coming to the airport to see us off, personally i didn't want it but they insisted. It was very hard and not the sort of emotion you need to go through an hour or so before getting on a long haul flight.