Your child's Birthday party is a moment you want to remember forever, at the end of the day they only turn that age once. You only get one shot to celebrate it. And at Party Peeps we encourage families to live the moment so that they'll be able to love the memories for years to come. But that doesn't mean you have to break the bank to make your child's Birthday party completely magical and memorable.
At the end of the day the kids and adults will remember the fun they had. It's the entertainment that will make a lasting impression. Get the entertainment right and everything else will fall into place. If the entertainment isn't engaging the children or is unbareable for the adults your party risks being remembered for the wrong reasons. Once you have your perfect entertainment to engage the children and create a really fantastic atmsphere you'll start to think about venue, food, cake, decorations, party bags etc. And this is where the savings can be made, afterall you've booked the bit everyone will remember.
Here's five top tips on how you can save money on your child's Birthday party...
Venue - Don't spend a fortune on the fanciest venue you can find.
We'd always recommend shopping around when it comes to venues. Have availability and prices for atleast three options and don't commit to a venue until the entertainment is secured. Why? Because there's plenty of venues to choose from but getting the best entertainment is most important and often gets booked up.
When it comes to venues the kids are never going to remember if the ceiling could do with a top up of paint or if the blinds are a little dated. When you start searching on google maps there's loads of options for venues for kids parties and the price for village halls, community centres, scout huts etc can vary hugely. Expect to pay anything from £12 to £50 per hour, we find average hourly cost for a large hall with basic facilities to be around £20-25per hour. For a two hour party you're probably going to need to hire it 3-4 hours to allow time to setup and pack away.
Food - You don't need to put on a banquet.
Keep it simple when it comes to food and avoid preparing too much food that'll go to waste. Do you need to provide food? There's a questions that gets asked by parents alot and the simple answer is no. It is worth thinking about timings however. If your kids Birthday party is across a usual mealtime (think 12-2pm for lunch, 4-6pm for dinner) the chances are the children will get hungry. Hungry kids usually means they're not going to engage or concentrate so well on your entertainment and dare i use the term 'hangry'? If the children are anything like mine the moment they get the slightest feeling of hunger it'll be world war 3 unless they get something in their tummies soon.
We do however always recommend to atleast provide a snack. Kids get hungry often and with all the fun of the party they'll be burning energy and will need a boost half way through the party. Cheap snacks can include crisps or fruit. But the cheapest thing would be the Birthday cake which you could serve instead of sending them home with it . Who says you have to give kids snacks and then send them home with more? Half way through the party sing happy birthday and then take a short break for a drink and cake.
Cake - It's not about the price tag.
Now when it comes to the cake for your child's Birthday party there's a few ways you can avoid breaking the bank. Firstly, you don't need to have one huge cake that can serve everyone at the party. You could look at several smaller cakes or have the main birthday cake and then some cupcakes for guests to enjoy. Secondly, you don't need to have a bespoke cake that is worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake from the Great British Bakeoff. The birthday cake is a symbol, a gesture of celebration for the birthday child and they'll remember the moment everyone gathered around to sing and wish them happy birthday and witness them making a wish....not how much the cake cost.
When my first child was turning 1 we ordered an In The Night Garden cake from a small independant bakery. It served 80 people and was hand decorated with characters made from frosting and had my daughters name hand written across in the most beautiful font. The cake was absolutely delicious and looked like a showstopper. But since then my mum has baked a cake every single year for our children's Birthdays and it means so much more. Every year the kids can't wait to see what type of cake Nana has made them and the reveal is a real treat. Plus my mum is the hero of the day.
Decorations - What goes up must come down.
I've never heard a child at the end of the party say 'That was the best party ever, they had the most beautiful decorations'.... but we do often hear 'That was the best party ever, i had so much fun'. Hence the importance of the entertainment for your child's birthday party. You don't need elaborate balloon arches that cost hundreds of pounds or flower arrangements on the tables. The more decorations you put up the more you have to take down and tidy up. Don't create more work for yourself, a child's party is meant to be enjoyed. A few balloons on the door as people come in and a happy birthday banner on the wall you intend to use for a group photo will be perfect.
Often we do parties and they've not needed to put up any decorations at all because our disco setup transforms any room into a super cool party and provide an awesome backdrop for photos.
Joint Party - Does a half price party sound good?
Did someone say HALF PRICE? Yes we did... Have you thought about hosting a joint party for your child and one of their friends? If your child has a good friend whose Birthday is around the same time why not join forces and split the cost (plus the effort). Unlike many children's entertainers, Party Peeps don't charge anymore for joint parties meaning it's literally half price. Plus you'll share the costs of everything else including the venue, food, decorations etc.
So there's five tips on how you can save money whilst planning your childrens birthday party. We have many more but we didn't want to write a 100 page book on the subject so look out and we'll probably write another blog post with some more money saving tips. For now feel free to drop us an email to find out more about our awesome kids party entertainment and whilst we're at it we are more than happy to share more tips with you in the run up to your childs party.
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