Children’s parties can end up costing a small fortune but there are lots of ways that you can save money and still give your child a fantastic party. My children are now 12 and 14 so I have arranged quite a few birthday parties over the years! Here are some of my money saving tips. Most of these tips and ideas can be adapted for use with parties for both younger and older children.
Having the party at home instantly saves you money on hiring a venue. It also means you can restrict the amount of guests due to how much space you have, both space saving and money saving!
Have you got a family member or friend who has a skill that they would be willing to bring to your party for a small fee or better still free! Talents such as face painting for youngsters, nail painting/make up tips for girls or football skills for boys.
If you are doing the catering, instead of laying out lots of food that may either get thrown away or end up on the floor, you could fill party food boxes with food and a drink.
Personalise boxes with each child’s name. You could also tie a balloon to each one.
If the weather permits, an inexpensive party for younger children is to have a ‘Park Party’, especially easy if your local park is close by. Lay a few old sheets & blankets on the ground and hang some balloons/decorations from the trees. To keep costs down even further, guests could bring a food that starts with the first letter of their name or their favourite food.
Party bags can end up being very costly by the time you’ve filled them with lots of little things. For one party I bought lots of little ‘inexpensive’ gifts & sweets (or so I thought!) but when I worked out how much each bag had cost, it was £2.70! As I had done 10 I’d spent £27.00 just on party bags alone! So, some alternatives to party bags…
Give one quality gift. Spending one or two pounds on one quality gift will probably work out cheaper than filling party bags with lots of little gifts & sweets.
Consider having a ‘making’ party and they can take home all the things they have made during the party. For her 7th my daughter had an ‘Arty Crafty’ party. I bought some very cheap white t shirts, plain canvas bags & a few fabric pens. I folded A4 paper and stapled together to make note books and supplied colouring pens, pencils, paper, glue and magazines to cut pictures out of. They loved taking their own designed t shirts, note books & pictures home in their very own designed bag along with a balloon and a sparkly cupcake!
Finally, for older children, it’s a good idea to write down agreed party plans to make sure costs don’t spiral out of control when the party plans are in full swing!
Good luck with your future party plans!
Nikki Gomez runs www.boywondergifts.co.uk
Gifts, keepsakes, partyware and baby shower partyware just for boys, baby gifts to gifts for teenagers.
There is currently 20% off all partyware through January.
