tips for the perfect party (Children's Parties)

Member Name: clairemarks

Product:	Children's Parties
Date:	19/07/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: making your child happy

Disadvantages: expensive

When I was younger I was an only child and lucky enough to have a birthday party every year. I always looked forward to my special day and spending time with my friends. I now how 2 children of my own and think it is nice for them to also have a party.


My daughter is 5 on Wednesday and her party is tomorrow. I have been told I always go over as I always end up spending way too much. I am lucky as my mum always pays half of the party food so it helps me out a lot. I find it much easier to buy cup drinks with straws than using normal plastic cups and squash. I find this avoids spills etc and does not cost that much more. I like to have a themed party but never use themed plates. The usual white ones are fine with a themed napkin on top


When I arrange a party I always try to book it in a venue this is mainly to avoid my house getting trashed and I think you can get some good value for money venues. I decided to to book our local youth center this time. Costing me £50 for 2 hours you get the hire of a huge bouncy castle with ball pit. The price also includes 3 rooms. The first being the one that has the bouncy castle in, the second a huge climbing area and the third a place where you can eat. I like having the separate room for food as it gives you the opportunity to prepare the food while the children play.


I always make my own party food and my own cake. I find the cost is lower rather than someone else catering for you. I always let my children choose what cake they would like and this year my daughter choose to have a butterfly cake. I was quite pleased with the outcome and it comes complete with edible glitter. I think in total the whole cake cost me £12 which is great compared to the prices a high street shop would charge. My friend bought hers from Chatwins last year which set her back a massive £50. All for her daughter's 2nd birthday. I found this shocking.


I think its important to write out proper invitations rather than word of mouth as i have found that people will forget if it is not written down. I am quite disappointed to be honest. I wrote out an invitation to every child in my daughter's class (25 in total) as I did not want anyone to be left out and I got 7 replies saying that they would be coming and 1 to say that they would not. I found this rather rude to be honest but I suppose I would not be able to cope with them many children anyway but even so it would have been nice for them to tell me that they would not be coming, there would have not been any harm.


My specialty is my loot bags. I always think its a nice way to say "thank you for coming to my party". I always make sure these are nice. I like to make personalized items which always go down well. Like bracelets or key rings for the boys. I found that Asda had a good offer on loot bag toys. They cost £4 for 10 packs. The packs included rubber snakes, games and crayons. I also found a pack of 4 bubbles for £1 in wilkos so I bought them too. I like to include healthy treats like raisins and pa ks of dried fruit. I do include the odd lolly. If small children are coming to the party,I think a good idea is to buy them a small book. I found some lovely ones in Home and bargains. These were lovely board books and only cost 29p each. Its much better than trying to do a loot bag for them.


I always arrange two games of pass the parcel. I find this really fun. If you put a prize in between each layer it makes the game more satisfying for each child that gets a turn to open the paper. I do not ever go overboard with the prizes. I usually only pay a few pound for each.

If your child gets a present. I have always found it much easier and convenient to open their gifts at home, this way it will avoid any arguments as kids will fight over toys and also will keep your child focused on their actual party.
New clothes are also a must have for me. I always like my girls to look nice and the birthday girl wears a big badge so shes easy to identify.


If you are hiring a room, make sure they supply a CD player as there is nothing worse than a quite party and you will need music for when you are playing pass the parcel.


I never really bother with decorations as I find children will fight over balloons etc... I have found this in the past so avoid balloons until home time.


The total cost of my daughters party was £150 I know this sounds an awful lot for 2 hours but she has been looking forward to it for months and seeing the smile on her face tomorrow will make the whole thing completely worth while.

Summary: all good fun