Decisions, Decisions (kid’s party planning)
As a mom, that feels like she can pretty much DIY anything for a party experience, I have to reign myself in to keep from adding too much to my plate, getting overwhelmed and then letting myself down.
As I have talked about before, one of the deciding factors for what you might be able to do for your party is budget.
Over the years, I have decided that for me, what works best is to rent a venue that offers party packages for children’s birthdays. This works for me because we don’t have to rent an additional item for children to play on or entertain themselves with, it’s a safe environment when there are no other families there so parents can relax a little while their little ones play with friends.
Creating a budget for a party is so important, because you have to decide what you might be able to do yourself and what you need to outsource, if you are able to.
When it comes to planning parties here are some of the things I start with to help me decide what I would like to do.
Location
Recently, we have been trying to have our parties in city owned facilities, especially for our kids. The downside of these venues is that they don’t allow adult beverages and they require a lot of insurance clearances for any vendors but they are super affordable. When you choose one of these venues, it would be good to be familiar with the location that you are renting. Is the actual party location far from the parking? Will yo need to direct guests to the party? Will you need to cover something that clashes with your themes on the walls? These are things that I consider when I am deciding on big decor pieces. If the venue is indoors, you can cover a lot with drapes. When the venue is outdoors that is a little harder, because drapes fly in the wind unless there is something solid behind the drapes.
Ideas for coverage outdoors would be any of the wood walls, hedge walls, or flower walls.
Other things to consider, does your venue include table and chair rentals? or will you have to use another vendor for that? Adding additional vendors adds to the cost, so you want to make sure you understand!
In my experience for younger kids, indoor play locations are the best bet and bang for the buck.
2. Food
Food can be a big expense for any party or it can be super reasonable. Depending on what sort of party it is and who you are feeding. For casual events, we have discovered that in most cases, pasta goes a really long way. Other party favorites include pizza for kids parties or tacos. We always make sure to have a vegan option.
If you are lucky, you might be able to have a caterer that will also include beverages. If you decide to do the food yourself, be sure to give yourself lots of time to get the food ready and setup at your venue. Think about keeping your food cold when you need to and warm when you need to.
If you have a theme in mind and the food will do the trick, just make sure to contact caterers in advance and get your quotes.
You will also needs drinks, ice, and a place to store them or just a couple of large drink dispensers.
3. Entertainment
For kid’s parties, it’s important to know what the kids are going to do. As an educator, I know that if you don’t plan for kids, they make their own plan and that is usually when people get hurt.
Bounce houses seem to be a go to, but often, when you have kids of different ages you can also get kids that will hurt themselves.
I’ve used a company called Happily Ever Laughter that does 3 services per hire. They sing a little song, do a little magic show, and then do the balloon animals. If you can find a company that provides more than one activity, it’s completely worth it. This is also a time when using an indoor play place is worth it, because then they will have all the entertainment taken care of!
You want to keep in mind that kids have small attention spans so usually one activity isn’t enough.
4. Decorations
Decorations really help drive home the theme. Again, if you have time, you can totally DIY and save money. When you consider the time it takes to travel to pickup flowers, or pickup table cloths, sometimes it’s worth it to hire a professional. If not, you can buy a lot of things from amazon! I recommend paper products, decorations, and simple supplies from amazon. I will compile a list of things that I have bought that have worked well for us. If you are going to order from amazon, order in advance because some products you get are super disappointing. If you can, I would also make sure to build whatever you can in advance but be mindful of how much you can transport in your car.
What seems to work for decorations of table, is table cloths ( I use cloth, because it looks better and it’s usually not that much more money), some sort of table runner (this can be different depending on the theme.) some sort of centerpiece and then plate settings.
5. Timing
When you have a party, it is always stressful. Things take longer than you think they will take and something always slips through the cracks. If you can, you should have a couple of people assigned to help you the day of the party. If you don’t have anyone that can help, you can use a service like our party helpers. Our party helpers will be an extra set of hands when you are hosting a party. They can help with goodie bags, ice runs, light cleaning, greeting guests. Really anything that will help you make sure that you have enjoy your guests, make memories, and focus on the important things.
Overall, the most important thing for any party, for me, is for the guest of honor to feel special. You have to decide how this will work for you.
What other questions might you have for your party planning?