My Little guy is turning Two I/A in Oct.
We didnt have a one year party for him because of a couple of unfortunate deaths in the family.
So his 2 yr party is going to be a big one.
Problem is that I’m on a tight tight budget.
The guest list is about 100 people (if we’re really selective); I can’t have that many people at home.
Even if we do fit them in - they will truly mess the house up and I’m not wanting to deal with the clean up and repairs afterwards
My initial idea was to have it in the hall that Salman and I got married in - kinda like coming full circle.
But the hall is going to be roughly $35 - 40 / per plate. Thats for an afternoon party; thats fine because who wants cranky kids at an evening party.
Now that just $4000 for the place and food; entertainment hasn’t been added yet.
The other option is to rent a local hall approx $1100 and cater in Approx $12-15 person. That totals $2300 w/o entertainment.
Other things to worry about
Decorations - is it a better idea to pay someone to come decorate
Party prep stuff - plates and etc how much will that cost
Favors - need good ideas
Invites - where can I get cheap ones?
Entertainment / themes - need ideas he loves Abby from Sesame Street but thats soooo cliched
Okay I’m getting overwhelmed thinking about it.
I love planning parties but I’m so not good with budgets. I feel my creativity is so constrained.
Between my sisters, we’ve had m’A 6 first birthday parties (the 7th will be in October i’A).
I would do the decorating myself to save money. Remember - it is a child’s birthday party, it does not and should not be fancy or formal, rather it needs to be bright and fun!
Decoration ideas - this is one of the few times you can use balloons and it looks tasteful!
Quick and easy ways to decorate, but still get the look you want:
get bright coloured plastic tablecloths that go in the theme you have. Get bright plastic plates in solid colours and get the dessert and appetizer plates and napkins in the theme.
for centrepieces, use a plush toy (relatively cheap) and attach a bunch of balloons to it. You can give away the plush toys at the end of the evening as a party favour. Give one per family, not per child!
let me find out from my sisters where they get their party stuff from (it’s a US-based company that delivers things like napkins, plates, balloons)
for food - my sisters are neurotic - they cook I’d prefer to cater, but if you’re interested in keeping costs down, maybe you can do a mix. Do the appetizers (or whatever can be pre-made yourself) and negotiate down the caterers.
for activities - this is my big thing: it is a kid’s party! The kids need to have fun. Have kid friendly activities. A cheap but fun activity is colouring. My sisters will draw poster board size pictures (in black outline) of the theme and then get a pack of crayons and markers from the dollar store and the kids will colour it! You can have 3-5 kids colouring one poster. For the last party. we did 8 posters and the kids were entertained.
we’ve also done cookie or cupcake decorating, finger or stick puppet making, pin the tail, pinatas, bowling, throw the bean bag, charades.
pick three or four activities - don’t do more activities than there is time.
Oh, and can't you get a less expensive hall? Here in T.Dot, you can get community centres, church halls or even party rooms at condos for a lot less. The only sticking point would be tables and chairs - whether you have to rent them or not. Oh, and kitchen facilities are important as well!
Can you go with a town community center?Few towns have really nice ones and they just charge the 'residents' a very little amount.If there is not one you like where you live,maybe somewhere a friend lives and they can do a booking on your behalf.It will bring your cost considerably down.
Based on how the weather is going to be in Oct, you can do a tent party in your local parks. Along with a big party tent, you can rent a bouncer for kids. Invite a clown or a magician. I think that rentals and entertainment can fit within $1100 budget and it will provide more open and kid's friendly place for all the kids to run.
^^I was going to mention the same thing. A lot of people I know have gone that route (having parties in a park) and it works out well. If you do it in a park......a jump house is a must!!
out of 100 people you need to figure out how many kids and adults and plan your party accordingly....if your party have mostly adults then you have to make sure your food is damn good......
....also keep in mind whats the age group of most of the kids and what kind of activities they would probably like... for example a boy of 7+ years old would hardly be interested in coloring or in crayon stuff....rent a place where you have plenty of room for kids to run around or arrange some kind of physical activity like soccer, hockey, trampoline etc .....
Last year i organized a party of 60 at home. Even though i moved all of his toys to the basement, my house was such a mess, i forgot hiding the puzzles and for the next whole week i stumbled on a puzzle piece every now and then but kids had so much fun. we organized kids activities in front and back yard. As the age range of kids was from 2 year old to 9 years, we set up different stations, like paint station, play dough station, we used a race track area rug so that small kids can race small cars on it. As we have a very long driveway, my husband used side walk paint to create a race track and older kids raced radio controlled cars on these tracks. i also hired a maid to help me with the pre party set up and post party clean up. for decorations we used black and red baloons on the ceilings. The year before that we rented a party hall in a friends condo building. Most of the condo buildings have a party hall that they rent to residents for nominal fee but you will be responsible for the after party clean up. You will also be required to take off all the decorations. On that party we invited elmo, the guy dressed as elmo organized few activities for the kid. The plus in hiring a clown or magician or some other cartoon character is that it takes the load of your shoulders. on my nieces birthday they some how managed to find a kids play area (chucky cheeses type) that allowed outside food. they rented the whole facility for $400 on top of the usual charges . this included a separate hall for parents, separate hall for kids and all the play area.
If you are going to rent a community hall, hiring a helping hand is very helpful for after party cleanup.
I am surprised your local halls are so expensive. Look around and I am sure you can get a place for 100 people for $500 dollars. Most halls charge $90-125 per hour.
community centers
lodges
sometimes they let you rent out halls from schools etc
church halls (if you don't have an issue with that)
If you cater within a restaurant - the hall cost is covered within it.
and then cater the food. if you have 100 people - with desi menu means you can order for 90 people and even have food leftover.
Cake you can get from bakeries like A&P, Sams, Costo instead of a expensive bakery
Decor you can do yourself
cleaning and set up you can do yourself as well.
so I am thinking you can throw a big bash for under $1500.
thank you Lusi :D I wish I had the time - I would love to it for a friend but not for a business.
not to brag but I have thrown parties to remember for under $500.
Stores like Michaels, Dollar Store, target $1 aisle have great favors. Kinkos awesome for invites. You can practically do anything with software now.
Free spaces - like parks, backyards, Cheaper places are community halls, school cafeterias, local church halls or masjids or restaurants because they throw in the hall with it.
Don't overdo the food. It's a waste of money. Sometimes I make appetizers myself and cater the food.
I’d prefer to cater, but if you’re interested in keeping costs down, maybe you can do a mix. Do the appetizers (or whatever can be pre-made yourself) and negotiate down the caterers.