So you want to arrange your child’s birthday party?
So, you want to arrange a birthday party for your child and you don’t know where to start? Allow Rock It Inflatables give you a few ideas!
Getting the date right
First of all, you have to find a date for the birthday party that suits everyone, you need to be available, the birthday child’s best friends can’t be on holiday that day - it just isn’t a party without your besties there. Then you need to find out if the rest of the kids in the class are going to be around on that date too. It’s no good booking a date and finding out they are all on a school trip that date, or there is a grand opening of a new toy shop with amazing give-aways that everyone simply must attend, and you certainly can’t clash dates with another child’s birthday party, as that will raise popularity issues with who gets the most party goers to their party. It’s a minefield before you start!
So, you have the date set in your mind, and everyone seems to be available after you have put the feelers out there, then the next thing to sort out is where are you going to hold the party?
How much will a party cost?
The type of party you are going to hold will come down to your budget. Unfortunately, money will play a big factor in what you do for the big day, but no matter what you do just make it a fun party and that doesn’t have to cost a fortune and the kids will love it. It can be something cheap and cheerful at home, or you can hire a local venue, or you could go to a play centre or family attraction that offers party packages. Everybody has a different budget and there is no right or wrong amount to spend on your child’s party. By keeping the food snacks basic and hiring a cheap bouncy castle for the garden you could probably put on a small party for under £100, or with a little more money in the birthday pot you could go for a larger inflatable like a Bounce n Slide or Obstacle Course, if your garden is large enough, and prepare a lovely tea party for the children and invite the whole class, and you will be looking at spending between £200-£300 once you have factored in the party bags and decorations.
When you hold a party at your own home there are good points and bad points. So, the good points are it can work out cheaper than hiring a venue or going to a play centre. You are not necessarily limited to the number of children you can invite, unless your house is particularly small and short of space, and if you have a few unexpected guests arrive it doesn’t cost that much more to give them some party snacks. Any left overs can go in the fridge or cupboards and ideal for pack lunches for a couple days. On a lovely day sunny day, the children will all be outside enjoying the bouncy castle and it doesn’t really matter about any food crumbs on the grass, and a good size bouncy castle will keep the kids happy for hours. You just can’t go wrong with a bouncy castle party.
However, when having the party at home, you can’t guarantee the weather and if the good old British weather lets you down, you could end up with house full of children to entertain as it’s too wet to use the bouncy castle. Once you have 20-30 children in your house playing with your own child’s toys things can get a bit messy and breakages could happen. Also, you have the aftermath to clear up, cake crumbs and sandwich crusts may be found for days after in places you never knew they went. And then you get the mums that don’t seem to have a home to go back too. You are all pooped out and ready to sit down with a well-deserved glass of wine for surviving the day, and some people just don’t get the hint it’s over.
Play Centre or Attraction Parties
You could take the easier route and go to a Soft Play centre, or company that hosts everything for you. This is generally a more expensive option as they have the activities already up and running at their venue, and qualified staff to supervise the children. They supply food and drinks, and all you have to do is just rock up with the birthday child and a birthday cake, oh and remember to invite the guests. These types of venues can be anything from Play Centres, Go Kart parties, Lazar Shooting parties, Farms visits, Theme parks, Sea life Centres and so on. These are great for busy mums that don’t have time to do all the organising, or if you don’t want your house trashed by some tiny terrors. But one of the draw backs with these type of venues is, they charge per head and you need to know exactly who you have invited and making sure they are going to turn up (and don’t expect you to invite their siblings as well). Unless you give a lot of notice, you will be expected to still pay for any children that do not turn up on the day which is very frustrating.
Also, your child will have to decide who they are going to invite. There is usually a minimum amount the play centre will require you to have for a party which can be anything from 8 to about 15 as a minimum, but if your child is super popular and they want to invite the whole year group to their birthday party, not just their class or closest friends then this can get very costly. Play centre prices vary greatly on what’s included but you could be look at anything from £10-£25 per head and like I said before, if any don’t show up on the day, you will usually still have to pay for them.
Hiring a local hall
Hiring a hall for a party is becoming more popular in recent years. There are so many small businesses offering their services to make the whole process much easier, but it can come at a cost. To start with you need to find the right size venue, some smaller halls may not have enough space for all the bouncy castles, soft play and still have room to put tables and chairs out to feed 25+ children, so make sure the hall you choose is big enough. Getting hold of the person to book the hall can be a challenge as well. Often with church halls the bookings secretary is a volunteer and takes bookings on their home phone and may be hard to get hold of. But when perseverance has paid off and you have the hall you want then you can decide what you want to put in it.
Hiring a Bouncy Castle in a hall
A good reputable company like Rock It Inflatables will know most of the local halls in the area and have a good idea of what will fit in the hall, both in terms of floor space and the height. When putting a bouncy castle in a hall you need to know if there are any height restrictions with low ceilings, low beams that run across, or any hanging lights or projectors. All these must be taken in to consideration when booking the correct bouncy castle for the hall. If a bouncy castle company turns up on the day with a castle that is too big or too tall for the hall it may be too late to do anything about it and you could be left without the main attraction if you haven’t looked into this before the day. As well as the height, if you book a bouncy castle you need to know how much space it is going to take up in the hall, especially if you have other things going on at the party too. You will need to leave a space of around 4-5ft behind the bouncy castle where the electric fan goes to put the air in the inflatable. Then you need to leave another 2-3ft gap either side for access and room for the operator to place weights or sand bags to secure the castle safely, so it doesn’t move around the room when the children are bouncing on it and it doesn’t tip over. Then you also need another 3-4ft in front of the bouncy castle step where a mat will need to be placed so the children can get on and off safely on a soft area, rather than the hard flooring in the hall.
Hiring Soft Play in a hall
Soft Play parties in halls are becoming more and more popular. A few years ago, soft play was just a few plain or some dodgy hand painted shapes and not very appealing, but in recent years with the introduction of digital printing on pvc soft play has made a boom in the bouncy castle industry and now you can hire Bouncy Castle and Soft Play Packages in halls with matching bouncy castles and soft play shapes. These indoor packages are perfect when hiring a hall as you can have lots of equipment to keep the children happily playing and enjoying the party for hours, and a package can cover a range of ages from babies if you hire in a ball pit and some toys, to up to 15 years if you hire some of the larger inflatables or giant games.
If you look at the Indoor Packages on the Rock It Inflatables website you will see the wide range of packages that are available for all ages, and depending on the size of the hall and of course your budget, you can hire multiple inflatables from bouncy castles, to bounce n slides, obstacle courses and fun runs, and all sorts of activity style inflatables to suit the age group of your party.
Sending out the party invites
So, you have your date, the party venue is arranged, and you know what type of party you want to do, all you need now is guests. You may have opted for just a select few or you could be inviting the whole class but whoever you are inviting they need to know your date as soon as possible so they can put it in the diary.
When you send out the party invites make sure you include an RSVP, clear details of how they can let you know if they can make it or not, and keep a list of who your child has invited so you can keep tabs. Not everyone will reply and some just turn up even though they haven’t confirmed as just assume that as they have been invited they are going and forget to let you know. And then you have others that can’t make that date, and some mums never get to see the invitation as it’s been lost in the bottom of the school book bag never to be seen again.
If after a week you are still unsure who is coming and who isn’t, maybe ask your child to speak with their friends and ask them to reply and if that fails try to find the parent in the playground. Unless you have hired a play centre and need exact numbers, I would recommend assuming you are going to be getting a few extras turn up so you don’t under cater.
Decorations & balloons
Decorations can be purchased relatively cheaply from a factory shop outlet or on eBay or Amazon. A few banners and balloons still do the trick and can look good for not a lot of money. But like most things you can spend more to get a more personalised look, adding back drops and helium balloons rather than the traditional blow up ones. There are balloon companies that offer an array of character balloons and displays, and can dress the party room for you, from door arches, to table centre pieces and just floor standing decorations. They can also do your child’s name in large letters across a backdrop in a room which looks amazing. Many of these companies can be found on Facebook or the internet.
Catering
If you enjoy baking you could now be in your element preparing the cupcakes, sausage rolls and making the sandwiches. But if like me all that seems too overwhelming there are lots of little companies that offer catering for children’s parties and will come along to your hall and set it all up for you and dress the tables, all colour co-ordinated to your theme, they may even decorate the hall for you, but remember this all takes time so book the hall with plenty of time either side of the party to get everything set up and pulled down in the time scale you have hired the hall for. Going over time may mean that you are encroaching on someone else’s hall hire time.
Another easy option for your catering needs is to pop into your local supermarket and see what party catering packages they offer. Many now make trays of sandwiches and will recommend party foods and you just pick them up on route to the party and there’s no fuss having to make everything. Not a cheap option but less stressful than making all the food at home and finding containers to take it to the hall in and large serving plates to display it all on.
Some bouncy castle companies now offer Hot Dog warmers which you can hire and serve up a Hot Dog in a bun which is always a winner with kids, and nice if it‘s a winter birthday party and you want to offer warm food without too much stress.
Party entertainment to add sparkle, glam and fun….
Party Entertainers can add loads of fun and laughter to a party, but it can be hard to have an entertainer to keep the attention of the children for the whole time of the party so often they only perform for 45-60 minutes and the rest of the time the children can enjoy the bouncy castle or soft play. A good entertainer will set you back as much, if not more, than a bouncy castle package and not everyone has the budget for both. The benefits of having the bouncy castle package is the price remains the same whether you are hiring it for a 2 hour party or 5 hour party, where as an entertainer charges by the hour.
Other fun party additions are character appearances, where you get a character to arrive at a given time during your party and surprise the children. They usually stay for around 30 mins and will join in games and it’s great for those photo opportunities. If your party is for a little girl, there are lots of Princess Appearance companies that will attend parties, and the good ones are truly magical and are professional actresses and speak in the familiar American voice the children are used to hearing on the films, but be sure to get a good one, as you don’t want to waste your money on someone that looks like they would be better suited as a drag queen.
The Cake
No party is complete without a cake!
Again, you may relish the thought of designing and making your childs birthday cake, but if not, don’t worry there are plenty that do and there are lots of talented bakers out there who can make some amazing themed birthday cakes to your requirements from between £50-£150 depending on how many portions and the overall complexity of the design. Facebook it a good place to look for a good cake maker. They usually display all their photos of cakes they have made and gives you loads of ideas. A cheaper option is to buy a ready-made birthday cake from a supermarket, either straight off the shelf or many now offer the option to personalise the cake or even add a photo to a cake, although the thought of sticking a knife in someone’s face on a birthday cake does seem a bit strange to me.
Sweet Carts, Popcorn, Candy Floss, Shush and more…
A growing party trend for childrens party is to ditch the jelly & ice cream for dessert and offer the children other favourites such as Candy Floss, Popcorn, Slush and many more novelty fun foods. Sweet carts are a lovely add on to a party where children do up and help themselves to a variety of penny sweets and pop them in a bag. Candy floss is available in many different flavours and colours so can be themed to your party and is usually served up by an assistant. Popcorn is fun watching it pop away and the smells are devine. Slush machine are a new thing to hire in for parties and come in different flavours and certainly are a preferred choice for the children rather than a cup of juice.
Party Bags and Sweet Cones
Another party tradition that can be done on a budget, or you can go all out to personalise the bag and put a special gift in each one for every child. There are companies that specialise in party bags and you can give them an amount you want to spend per child and say if it is for a boy and girl and leave the rest to them, an easy option but not the cheapest. A DIY party bag can be a small bag with a couple of sweets, a novelty toy and a piece of cake as a thank you gift for coming to my party, this can easily be achieved for under £1 per child, and another option is sweet cones. These vary in price but typically you can buy a ready made sweet cone from about £1.50 and you can have stickers on each one to personalise them for not that much more.
Thank you notes
Thank you notes are a lovely touch to send after the party to thank people for coming to the party and thanking them for the present. Notes can be hand written on pretty notelets or you can have ones especially printed
Well I hope this guide has given you a few things to consider when arranging your childs next birthday party, and if you are looking for some fabulous indoor party packages or a bouncy castle to go in your garden you will pop over to the Rock It Inflatables website for inspiration. We are always happy to discuss your party requirements to fit in with your budget so give the office a call on 01702 546615, we are always happy to chat about parties as this is what we do best.
Thank you
Sue Hems
Top Bouncologist
Funology department
For Rock It Inflatables Ltd
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