Birthday Parties: A guide

Posted on June 6, 2009

We are winding down on our birthday season out here in the Garden State.  Chloe is very popular.  Thanks to Gymboree and the Mom’s Club, she has “wots and wots of friends.”  And I don’t even KNOW the kids from her gymnastics program!  (Except for the ones that overlap, that is.)  Birthday party list:  Harrison, Seth, Ryan, Isabella T., Julia, Jesse, Juliana, Jacob, Isabella, and Benjamin’s birthday parties (respectively).  Plus, we were invited to a couple more that we can’t make.  Not to mention, Chloe’s party!  Why do we have so many close together?  Well, a majority of these parties are from our Gymboree friends.  And Gymboree organizes their classes by age,  when they are really young, by months.  So, a majority of Chloe’s friends were born in either April, May or June.  That makes these three months the BUSIEST MONTHS OF OUR LIVES!  And, if I were to get carried away, more expensive then Christmas.

However, I learned a few valuable lessons this year:

1)  Plan ahead. I knew most of the kids birthdays, and so I took that list with me to a toy store that was going out of business, and bought as many presents as I could.  I was able to get a 60-70% discount on a majority of the gifts we gave out this year.  The question is, does that make me cheap or prudent?  That’s always up for debate.

2)  Set a budget. I tried to budget a $10 gift for each present.  (With the “Going out of business sale,” that was the original price, not the sale price.)  Trust me, it IS possible to get a quality gift for that price.

3)  The dollar store is your friend. A large chunk of the price of gifts is the packaging.  I went to our local “Dollar Tree” and was able to get gift bags and birthday cards 3 for a dollar.  Plus a huge bag of tissue paper.  I can’t even tell you how much money that saved me.  When gift bags can run aroung $3  a piece, and cards are $2.50 and up!  I also purchased regular wrapping paper at the dollar store.  Some gifts lend themselves to being wrapped!  When the packaging alone is a part of your budget: reuse, and utilize the dollar store!

4)  Make your own. The dollar store selection was limited when it came to birthday cards.  So, when I got bored with those, I started to make my own.  I dug into my “arts and crafts” bin I have developed after years of teaching and being a mommy.  And with a package of blank cards from Micheal’s for $5.00, I was able to make a bunch of our birthday cards.  Did they look professional? No.  Is anybody really gonna care?  No!

As to throwing a birthday party…

Well, that’s totally up to you.  I enjoy a good birthday bash with lots of friends, lots of foods, and lots of activities.  And, I like a good theme!  The last two years, we have done parties at home, and it worked fine.  For Chloe’s first birthday party I did a princess theme.  Although, Chloe had a lot of friends from Gymboree there, it was still primarily an adult party.  So, the main priority was food and drink.  For her second birthday party, we did an “Under the Sea” theme.  I gave myself a budget of $250 and used  the Oriental Trading Company for a majority of the decorations and activities.  My ultimate plan was to have the party in back yard.  However, it was rainy and cold.  We moved the party indoors.  It was crowded, but it went fine.

This year, I decided to do a venue party.  It had two major benefits:  1) I didn’t have to clean and decorate my house.  2)  I didn’t have to cook.  (Although, I did make the cake.  I couldn’t help myself.)  The party was fabulous and everybody had a great time.  However, I have to admit, I didn’t have as much fun with it.  I missed the hours of researching themes, party games, and favors online.  I missed the shopping and the thrill of finding something that worked perfectly.

After doing parties both ways, I have also learned some things:

1)  You pay for convenience. I purchased the invitations and thank you cards for Chloe’s first birthday.  For her 2nd and 3rd birthdays, I made the invitations.  The cost difference was dramatic, but so was the time difference.  It took me HOURS to make the invitations and thank you cards, where as the pre-made ones, it was maybe an hour of filling out cards and addressing envelopes.  In addition, our “venue party” was more expensive than the ones we had at home.  But it was WAY more convenient, and we didn’t have to deal with clean up and left overs.

2)  If you plan far enough ahead, you can save money! I usually start looking three months ahead of time for Chloe’s party, only because I am anal like that.  This year, I was able to catch the venue during a “sale” and saved $100.  It was still more expensive than an “at home” party, but cheaper than I would have paid otherwise.  With Chloe’s 2nd birthday, I knew we were doing an under the sea theme, so I bought a lot of the decorations and favors for the party when the party store was having a huge sale.  I admit, this gets more difficult when kids get older and their interests change more rapidly.  But, if you are like me and enjoy a good birthday bash, the farther ahead you can plan, the more you can save.

3)  It doesn’t really matter. After all the brithday parties we have been to this year, we have enjoyed the simple family get togethers just as much as the huge bashes.  No matter what you do for your child’s birthday, as long as they feel special on that one day, then you did your job!

After all that, does it mean I am going to change the way I  plan Chloe’s party for next year.  No.  I have too much fun with it.