There has been much talk on twitter recently concerning our toddlers reaching their 2nd birthdays and the types of parties we are going to have to accompany them turning a year older.
Last year for Burton’s 1st birthday I wanted to have a party at home with as many friends and family as I could squeeze into my downstairs living space.
I looked forward to preparing all of the party food myself, make up the party bags (or boxes in my case!), devise a party game or two and of course make the birthday cake (which I did as different sized cupcakes). I love cooking and putting on a good spread and a kids birthday party, especially my own child’s party, was something I could not wait to do!
(You can see how the party turned out HERE.)
This year, I have been wary of the fact that being another year older all of the party guests would have far too much energy to be accommodated in our house and as we don’t have a garden I have been trying to think where I could hold Burton’s party. So I thought that:
*on his actual birthday (Friday) I would invite family members to our house for a little birthday spread at tea time and make some cupcakes (saving his main cake for his party).
*On the Saturday we have tickets to see In The Night Garden Live so that would mean having his party
*on Sunday and as my OH’s parents have a lovely large garden, I had asked if we could hold it there, to which they agreed. So I thought I would do a Toy Story themed party and hire a bouncy castle and do some toddler party food and have a BBQ for the adults and older children. My only concern was if it rained – if it did then we would have to stand under the gazebo!
However, after hearing about the birthday party ordeal that the lovely ‘me’ from TheBoyAndMe faced with her sons 2nd birthday party over the weekend, I have had a total re-think about what I am going to do for a Burton. After slogging her guts out and having two nights where she was up most of the night preparing for the party, then add the fact there was torrential rain on the day of the party, plus some guests who were very ungracious just made ‘me’ feel like all her hard work had been for nothing! Then last night she tweeted that now she understood why people have soft play parties, you pay and it’s all done for you with no late nights and stress involved.
That tweet stayed with me last night and this morning. I don’t object to soft play parties and have attended a couple myself with Burton. I guess like TheBoyAndMe I enjoy hosting and making food for parties and want to do the work myself. I also have friends who would appreciate my efforts more too! However, I started thinking that I have a small baby this year (who I am breast feeding), the British weather can not be guaranteed to be dry and because of going to see the Night Garden show the day before I wasn’t giving myself a lot of time to make party food!
So I have booked a soft play party at ATLANTIS a great play centre a few miles from where I live. I took Burton there today and he loved it – the smile on his face told me all I needed to know that making this decision was the right one for him.
This soft play centre has the added bonus of also having an outside play area, so it the weather is dry there are so many more things the guests can enjoy. It costs £9 per child (adults are free) which is for 2 1/2 hours which includes food and drink and a private party area and full use of all of the equipment. Plus for £2 per child they will provide a party bag too. (see letter below).
I will provide the birthday cake (which will be a Toy Story inspired one!).
After booking the party, I then thought to myself that I probably would have spent more money had I gone ahead and hosted the party myself. I estimated that I would have spent the following, based on 14 guests:
*hire a Toy Story bouncy castle – £50
*Toy Story themed party tableware, banners & balloons – £50
*Toy Story party bags – £30
*party food – £50
(more if I did a BBQ aswell!)
**Total cost doing it myself approximately £180 but would probably have ended up costing us more !
**Total cost at Atlantis £150
Plus no tidying up and if any child is sick then someone else gets to clear it up!
So thank you TheBoyAndMe because I think i have not only saved myself a lot of time which I may have struggled to find, but money as well. 🙂
Thank you xx
I’m so chuffed that you’ve made this decision. Like you, I really love the whole preparation and thinking every single detail through, but I was distraught on Sunday night that my efforts weren’t appreciated more. Ungrateful gits! It feels like cheating but I fully understand why parents do it, and next year if finances allow I may well do it myself. I spent £70 on food, £20 on cake decorations, £30 on a cake tin, £2ish on 7 party bags = £15. I had all my decorations from last year or made the ‘car’ themed table decorations because I couldn’t find any. £135? If we’d gone to the local soft-play I would have invited more children than the four I invited, probably ten children. One soft-play is £8.95 all in (no party bags) so would have cost £89.50, the other place we could have used would cost £6 but you provide the food. That might be what I do next year (http://www.parcplaycardiff.com).
You’ve made the right decision Jenny, for your own sanity!
Yes cake tin I have bought one of those too! Hadn’t taken that into account! With the children getting bigger a soft play place is great for them to run around in. I will miss not making the food and party bags myself , but I cannot be super mum all the time lol!!
The play place at Cardiff looks fab the boy will love it for his birthday next year and you can still do a tea party for close family and best friend/s. def cheaper and less stress for us (even tho I enjoy it!)
Thanks for your comment lovely lady xx