I think I'd go to the local big box store and buy a bunch of runners and inexpensive area rugs. You can apologize for them by saying you expected bad weather and didn't want anyone to worry about the floors or feel like they ought to remove shoes. Either Portland, I think it's believable.

Thanks and might work but we have just about all wood floors with few rugs. Just not possible to cover the area that is concerning. (swear when we move we will have heated concrete floors and the best fashion parties).
Just looking for wording and the caterer actually brought this up to me.

There is no nice way of writing it. So just be honest. Just put in your note that you would prefer your guests to not wear high heels due to the fact you have wood floors. Short and sweet. NancyLouise

Actually, the party is over and was a great success! We did add a message to the map page (important as we are really hard to find and parking is very tricky). I asked the caterer and she gave me some very nice words. (not exact) that said that we were concerned about everyone's safety (steep steep hill to walk down) and that high heels did not work on our floors.
I did tons of research and talked to two hardwood floor people. Google high heels and hardwood floors images and it is a game changer. The folks I spoke with basically said that some floors are so damaged that they can never be repaired properly. Mainly it has to do with nail sticking out of the heel. So imagine my dismay that mt own D's heels are so worn down that a nail is sticking out. And she is my worse critic regarding the floors.
I have no regrets whatsoever about posting our request. I would have felt terrible if we had asked anyone to take off their shoes upon arriving if we had not notified them.
Once we posted our request I felt so at peace. I cannot be barefoot due to feet problems but always take in door flip flops or slippers. And apologize.
No party is worth $10,000 worth of damage and my friends would never want that to be the case.

I was told a stiletto heel adds as much pressure as 7 times the person's weight, so you were right in asking what you did !

Shortly after I delivered a new home, the owners had a housewarming that I attended.

A couple of days later, the owners reported damaged hardwood flooring that they figured was my responsibility. My flooring contractor came over and tracked the indentations from room to room. The homeowners and I instantly remembered it matched the movements of their next door neighbour, a curvacious five-foot hottie wearing six-inch spike heels.

Confronted, the lady of the house relented on her criticism of me and mentioned that now she knows why her sister's home had granite floors throughout the "public" areas.

I have all hardwood floors on my first level and some on the second. I would never ask anyone to remove their heels. I have scratches and even a few gouges, but I'd rather have that than people not feeling welcome. I have just come to learn that people are more important than things.

I have orthopedic problems. While I do walk barefooted occasionally, I do so reluctantly. I know someone else who walks on the sides of her feet when she is barefooted and without her orthotics - she also has serious orthopedic problems....some people do not like to go barefooted/shoeless because of the ick factor (sweaty feet or stepping in something that has been spilled in the kitchen), others of us do not like to go shoeless because of medical reasons.

At any rate, I very much agree with Karen - people are more important than things. I want people to feel comfortable in my home. My floors are less important than the people who walk on them.

Absolutely you should ask them to remove their high heels....they can totally destroy your floors and I have had this happen......and adult that doesn't know this already is a total idiot!