AIBU to be annoyed by this

I never hear the neighbours parties, I'm always at them . I wonder why you weren't invited.

Well you were probably looking forward to your nice quiet afternoon as I would but hey they were only having fun. And lets face it we dont often get the opportunity in this country. My neighbours across the back had the same thing until much later plus the loud modern music and bbq and splashing and squealing round a large inflatable pool. The men sat in the pool eating pizza lol. I put my earphones in and listened ti Simon and Garf.?

Where I live it never really gets warm enough for extended parties in the garden but if the neighbours are doing noisy things in the back I sit out the front. We have a school round the corner and I people watch and say hello to the tinies as they go home from nursery.

I wasn't invited because it was a family party and I'm not family. And I do like them and I appreciate it could have been much worse. I think if they had warned me it would have been fine - but we planned a quiet afternoon in the garden and that couldn't happen. Had we known we would have planned something else so it would have been fine

It is tricky in this weather! Everyone is outside. I went out the other day to get away from noise from both neighbours!!! It wasn't late though and I guess we all want to enjoy the weather.

I think you are very lucky to have neighbours who you like and normally you all live side by side getting along nicely.
I do think you are being a tad unreasonable about this.
They could have invited a lot more people and been a lot noisier by playing music and gone on until the early hours so I think your neighbours were actually pretty considerate of hours and others time being disturbed so controlled things as much as they could by not having music and limiting the hours and you should be grateful for that.
Imagine how you would be feeling if a loud party had gone on until 4 a.m.

I know this unwanted noise is irritating but I think you should just let it go. It could be SO much worse. It could be swearing and fighting...
....or MY other pet hate, the smell of BBQs!

Get over it and be glad you don't have neighbours from hell as I do, then you would have something to moan about.

My neighbours are in their sixties with no grandchildren. They had a party on Sunday evening. Hubby and I went indoors as we found it a bit noisy. Having said that, we have four grandchildren and when they visit they can be very loud. Our neighbours are probably bothered by that but don't complain. Live and let live I say.

To be honest, so long as it isn’t every week I wouldnt complain about noise which ended at 8pm! Parties round my way often go on well beyond midnight, especially after teenagers finish their exams.

We had a well known actor living behind us and they once hosted a three day house party when my daughter was taking her A levels. Phoning up in desperation at 1 am resulted in drunken shouting down the phone (them not me) and no reduction in noise. They went quiet about 4 am until the next afternoon when it all started up again.

We felt like having a party when we heard they were moving.

What really makes me mad is the fondness in our our area for letting off fireworks at midnight following the singing of Happy Birthday, in a neighbourhood full of small children and babies, not to mention old ladies who need their sleep.

Wiggle - by yourself a pair of noise cancellation earbuds and wear them when you’re sitting reading - you won’t hear your neighbours - and then have a nice afternoon gathering yourself and make some noise - if there’s any comeback from your neighbour you can bring up the subject but if not leave it and read with your earbuds in.

I agree with many comments - it would have been polite for your neighbours to have warned you that there may be some noise, so you could have made other arrangements. It can be irritating if you wanted peace and quiet but out of the blue couldn't have any.

You mention that although not a really regular feature, your neighbours have previously had people over and out in their garden, so why don't you consider politely (in a friendly, non-aggressive manner) asking them to let you know when they are planning another party? You could then make your own arrangements and both of you would be happy..

Keep your comments warm and friendly and explain that you don't object to their gatherings but it would be helpful if you knew when they would occur.

Minerva, who was the actor?!

It's begrudging other people having fun that gives oldies a bad reputation! Glad I don't live next door to you.

Sorry, but yes, I think you are being unreasonable.

wiggle you should try living next door to students, as I do 32 weeks a year! Every September I live in fear of what the next year's batch will be like. I have lost count of the times I have had to throw on a coat over my nightie and trudge around to bang on the door and tell them to turn off the 'music' and pipe down. An occasional day-time family gathering would be no problem in comparison. Don't be such a misery!

Yes, please tell Minerva - I'll all agog!

Yes Im afraid I think you are being unreasonable. Its not every day or week. We pay a lot for our home so we should be able to have the occasional party! You could have gone out for the day, we live in a village and we have to put up with all the noise and terrible music ( I love most genres of music but not ‘ bad pub music ‘ but how do we complain when so many people are having fun?

I think I might have taken myself off for a walk to a nearby park or local beauty spot, rather than stay indoors for the whole time this was happening, you can still enjoy the fresh air somewhere else....I don,t mean necessarily the whole 8 hours of course but you could have had a pleasant afternoon nevertheless. I have done this before now, when the smoke and smell from other people,s BBQs becomes too overpowering. As others have said get some headphones and still enjoy your garden, as there will probably be a few more of these gatherings before the summers over.

Get the garden hose out and train it over the fence! (Oh, forgot, we can't use hoses now.)

our neighbours had a party a few years ago that went on for three days! We were going a bit crazy at the end of it. Now if they are having a party, we tend to just go off somewhere. The couple three doors down were chatting outside at 11 pm and the middle neighbour told them to pipe down as his kids were in bed, which they did. I live in the middle of the country but our other neighbour converted his house into three a few years ago, and built a bungalow for himself in his large garden, so we have quite a crowded little community with three extra households. Everyone is considerate - and you tend to get used to the yapping dogs where before there were none.

Try living with the neighbours we have behind us....they've bought a hot tub, and have 'tub parties' most weekends.
They start about 7-00pm and never, ever finish before 4-00am!
Fortunately we can sleep in the front bedroom, where the noise isn't as bad, although we can still hear it. They have a large summerhouse (where their sound system is) and an enormous gazebo so even rain doesn't stop them!
Other neighbours have phoned them, only to get a torrent of abuse and the music volume cranked up, some brave neighbours gave gone round in the early hours and asked them to quieten down a bit, again abuse with added threats "I know where you live" and music volume increased.
The police have been called on numerous occasions, they turned up once! Even then, he was warned, the police drove away and the noise started again!
He's just an absolute thug, apparently had a moderate lottery win, still working but likes to party, a lot!!!
Last Sunday morning I got up at 5-30, to get things done, quietly before the day got too hot, and they were still shouting and laughing at that time, but at least the music had been turned off!
Everyone is a bit wary of confronting him, he shouts, his foul language is beyond belief, he threatens, he intimidates, he's just awful.
They have two enormous dogs too, who are never allowed in the house, and are left to bark all day and night. RSPCA said dogs have dry food, and water, so they won't get involved.
I've never wanted to leave my lovely house before, but he's making me consider it.
In short, if I don't win the lottery, I hope he does!
So yeah, I think you're being a tad unreasonable!

Sorry wiggle, you ABU. Your neighbours had a family gathering in a, presumably, family house. I would not have expected them to let you know in advance as it was a gathering conducted in daylight hours without loud music etc. I suspect many of the guests were working people whose free time is limited as well. If you are retired (as I am) then there have been plenty of lovely days to read a book in the garden lately. In the kindest way, I think a sense of perspective is needed here. Noise reducing headphones are made for a reason !

It finished at 8pm? That’s shows they were being considerate towards you. I held my daughter’s 18th at home. We were surrounded by second homes and I checked whether anyone would be down from London that weekend. All said no. My horrible next door neighbours who only came down every other weekend deliberately came, after all, and made a fuss all evening. All the teenagers behaved and I was there all the time. I doesn’t matter how hard to try, someone will cause problems. You were nice and said nothing. Good on you for that.

If you have next door neighbours this is something you can expect. If it's a once in a while party and they don't play loud music all the time and do numerous other things that p you off then stay where you are, or, search for a property where all that might? annoy you is the dawn chorus, noisy livestock, smells and every thing else associated with rural life. From personal experience you can't beat the latter.