Etiquette question

[j4]

If someone invites you to a party, and the invitation doesn't say "bring partners" (but does imply that it's okay to bring friends), and your partners are not on the invite list in their own right, is it rude to email and ask whether it's okay to bring partners? Would it be rude (even ruder?) to just bring partners anyway (on the basis that they are my friends as well)? Or should one assume that if the partners in question were welcome in the first place, they would have been on the invite list?

Comments

[pir.livejournal.com]

I tend to play that one by ear.

In general an invitation specificly to me to a party is something I take as assumed that a guest is probably ok, particularly a partner. If I would like to take someone who the host doesn't know I will generally ask first.

If I am unsure if someone I wish to accompany me would be welcome or not, I will ask.