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opinion please on birthday party

24

Comments

  • LJM
    LJM Posts: 4,535 Forumite
    i would do food even if it is just nibbles just easy things like sausage rolls,crisps,cake,biccies and maybe just some salad dippy bits you dont have to go mad and it doesnt have to be expensive much cheaper than paying someone else to do it for you. what entertainement do you have planned? if you do not have to pay for disco or what ever then i think £99 works out quite resonable for venue especially this time of year when they begin bumping up prices.alot of the children in my eldest class have started having parties on sat morn they do movies for juniors which is £1 each then KFC and each have a snack box this works out at £3.50ish a head but you dont have to worry about a venue/food/entertainment or clearing up
    :xmastree:Is loving life right now,yes I am a soppy fool who believes in the simple things in life :xmastree:
  • LoLo wrote: »
    Hi

    I am currently looking for a venue for my son's 7th birthday. I have found a venue that looks good but the snag is the cost.
    It is £99 for the venue alone irrespective of how many children go, up to a max of 40 kids. If I want to add food this is at a cost of £2.50 per head or I could take my own food.
    The other option would be not to have food. They have the option of having the party at 1:30 till 3:15. Do you think it would be acceptable to have the party at this time and not have food. Obviously there would still be drinks available to the kids.
    I just want other people's opinions in this please.

    Interestingly, although I think food is fairly central to a birthday party (and kills some of the time!;)), I do also think it depends on the time of the party. If I was having a party at 1.30-3.15, I think you could get away without lots of food, although I would have cake and possibly crisps. You would need to put this on the party invite though, because some parents will assume lunch is being provided, yet you will have to deal with the starving child.

    I do also think it depends on what you are doing for the duration of the party. We had a movie party in a cinema once, from 10.15-12. They didn't have a facility to have food, so we provided a bag of sweets/crackers at the beginning and drinks and popcorn about half way through. We also had fruit available. We made sure the parents knew that the children would be home for lunch.

    I'd worry more about filling the time than not having food. And kids are always hungry so I'd tread carefully with energy levels and behavioural knock-on effects. My youngest has recently had a laser quest party. They only had a 2.30-4.30 time slot available, yet they all managed to devour a hot meal and then lollies at about 3.15.

    Have fun. :)
  • Hi

    We recently hired a church hall near us for about £25 and spent about the same again on food. We also hired an entertainer to keep the kids entertained and my dd loved it.

    Good luvk with whatever you decide to do :beer:
  • bestpud
    bestpud Posts: 11,048 Forumite
    What are they doing at the venue?

    Is food the only thing you need to provide?
  • LoLo
    LoLo Posts: 545 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    the venue is a soft play area and would be only open for people attending the party. If I decided against food I would put this on the invite but still have the cake, drinks and other little nibbles such as crisps, sausage rolls and maybe a few other bits for if kids got hungry during the course of the party.
    I just wanted other peoples opinions really as it is better if people who are not directly involved tell me their point of view. Also another reason that I ask if when I have taken my son to other people's parties the children all seem very reluctant to come away from the play area for food and often the food is rushed down or only half eaten if you see what I mean.
    You have all given me something to think about so many thanks for all your comments.
  • shellsuit
    shellsuit Posts: 24,749 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    What about making up a little box up each for the children, with a sandwich, sausage roll, drink, fairy cake and maybe crisps or choc bar?

    That way, if they didn't want to tear themselves away from playing, they could take their box with them?
    Tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty...
  • RoxieW
    RoxieW Posts: 3,016 Forumite
    £99 for a playcentre for up to 40 kids and £2.50 per head food? I'd snap their hand off!
    MANAGED TO CLEAR A 3K OVERDRAFT IN ONE FRUGAL, SUPER CHARGED MONEY EARNING MONTH!:j
    £10 a day challenge Aug £408.50, Sept £90
    Weekly.
    155/200
    "It's not always rainbows and butterflies, It's compromise that moves us along."
  • bestpud
    bestpud Posts: 11,048 Forumite
    edited 1 December 2009 at 1:35PM
    LoLo wrote: »
    the venue is a soft play area and would be only open for people attending the party. If I decided against food I would put this on the invite but still have the cake, drinks and other little nibbles such as crisps, sausage rolls and maybe a few other bits for if kids got hungry during the course of the party.
    I just wanted other peoples opinions really as it is better if people who are not directly involved tell me their point of view. Also another reason that I ask if when I have taken my son to other people's parties the children all seem very reluctant to come away from the play area for food and often the food is rushed down or only half eaten if you see what I mean.
    You have all given me something to think about so many thanks for all your comments.

    In that case, they will probably entertain themselves and, you're right, they won't want to come away and eat. Also, they can start to feel a bit sick if they eat and go back in, hence many venues won't allow them to.

    I think nibbles will be ok and plenty to drink as they get very hot in those places.

    Maybe you could get them an ice cream each for the end? It might entice them out and cool them down a bit? You'd have to ask if you could use their freezer, or pack then very well in a cool box, but I've seen parents do this before and it seems to go down well.

    Is it close to Christmas?

    If so, why not have Father Christmas visit at the end (if you can get a costume and willing volunteer)? Perhaps he could give out the party bags and an ice lolly each? If you provided the costume, the staff may do that for you...
  • bestpud
    bestpud Posts: 11,048 Forumite
    RoxieW wrote: »
    £99 for a playcentre for up to 40 kids and £2.50 per head food? I'd snap their hand off!


    That would be another £100 if there were 40 children though.

    You can get a lot of party food for £100!
  • Caroline73_2
    Caroline73_2 Posts: 2,654 Forumite
    My son's best party ever was hiring a cinema, for £100. It took 200 people so we took all his friends and invited their families along too. We went to the cash and carry and got everyone a bag of sweets and a fruit shoot.
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