Planning a children's birthday party on a budget
11:56 AM
When you’re a parent, there is little that feels it requires more military-grade planning than your child’s birthday party. It always feels that there are a million-and one things that need to be thought about or planned to ensure that the day goes off without a hitch. Couple this with having a tight budget to work against, and it may feel like you’ve got a recipe for disaster!
Here is a guide to help make things easier to plan for your child’s big day!
The Gift
Take another element of stress out of your son or daughter’s birthday by heading over to the Wicked Uncle website, where’ you’ll find a huge range of gifts which can be filtered by gender and age, in order to help you pick the perfect gift that they will love.
Find the perfect venue
The venue is definitely the thing that you want to choose first – without doing this you’ll have no idea how many children you can invite, or how much entertainment you will need to provide yourself.
Parties at home can tend to be the best option when working to a very tight budget, however, will require a lot more planning and preparation compared to going somewhere who are specialists in kids’ parties like bowling alleys, laser tag and the like.
If the idea of 20 kids tearing around your home brings you out in cold sweats, then maybe consider making it a garden party or switching up to a local park where you can pre-plan games and entertainment – of course this would be completely weather-permitting.
Plan the guest list
Once you know the venue, you’ve got a better idea of how many kids that venue will accommodate. If you have gone for laser tag, bowling or similar, then this number will depend solely on your budget. If it’s your home, then capacity is more the issue to consider.
If it is primarily school friends who will be attending then ask your son or daughter’s teacher for a class list as this will enable you to whittle down the list to the right amount of guests (sounds ruthless I know!).
If your kids are a little older and have an established group of friends encourage your child to invite two or three kids that they would like to become better friends with, and not just the ones they are already good pals with.
Plan smart with the food
Once you know numbers, you can begin to think about the food. If you will be providing this yourself then you will have lots of factors to consider. Will you go for a simple buffet style spread or maybe order in some pizzas? Or you could just do treats and dessert and not put in all that expense on trying to provide an entire meal for distracted party going kids. What ever food route you decide to go you will need to consider how much will you need per child? It will probably be a lot less than you think. Try to also choose foods which will last as leftovers if not completely devoured!
Less Is More With Decorations
This is an area where most parents probably overspend, because realistically the guests won’t be overly bothered about what the venue looks like! Sometimes just a few balloons and banners will suffice – not only are party hats and blowers seldom used, but it is more waste to clear up and dispose of afterwards.
What you save on decorations you can spend on cool goody bags for the kids to take away afterwards.
Remember most kids are just excited to get to hang out with their friends on their birthday and you don't need to go over the top or spend a lot of money to create an amazing fun time for your mini guest. Good food, fun simple games or an activity and a little atmosphere go a long way for setting the stage for making memories and letting the birthday boy or girl know they are celebrated and we are so glad they were born.
1 comments
That birthday party sounds AMAZING! Thanks so much for post.
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