I'm so upset, I could cry, please help regarding Birthday party.

super41

Don't panic, don't cancel and don't feel like a failure because you're not! It's your child's birthday party and you want to enjoy it so don't get stressed it will be fine! £20 can go a long way and will certainly be able to cover your food. There have been some good suggestions so I won't add much to them What I would say though is that at 2 they will hardly eat anything if my experience is anything to go by. They will pick at this and that and will probably just stick to the crisps! Make a few sandwiches, get value ready salted crips, perhaps some raisins and some homemade buns. Jelly is cheap and cheerful, put a tin of manadarins in to brighten it up! For parents what about a few dips and some pizzas? Always on special offer somewhere. They will be too busy supervising their kids to notice the buffet! And if they bring some drinks the party will proceed no problem!

I absolutely agree with people who say don't bother with a party bag at age 2 - next year will be dIfferent they will ask you for a party bag at the end!! It's all just peer pressure with parties (and that's just the parents!) Doesn't matter what anyone thinks, you're running the party.

Good luck and have a great day!

Dazzieboo

Sorry about the large font on my earlier post, I was typing without my glasses and enlarged everything !! Just had an extra thought on the party bags, if this is the line you really want to take. Lakeland Limited have Pudsey Bear Gift Bags 50 for £2.29. www.lakelandlimited.com ref 1119

tee_pee_2

Kimy win please try and enjoy the party kids at 2 like anything really but try not to stress. If you ahve got good mates coming, it doesn't matter what the buffet offers they will be happy to share in your childs special day. BUT if they do pass comment tell them to foff off and don't invite them next year.

seaside_sid

I agree with tee pee, just keep it simple and enjoy.

Why not start a new trend of donating to a charity instead of supplying party bags full of rubbish.

A piece of cake to go home with is just fine.

ailuro2

I agree- no need for party bags, just hand them a piece of cake and one of the balloons used to cheaply decorate the house beforehand.

We never invited any adults to the party when dd was 2, and certainly would never have had a party involving drink for a kids party.

Each to their own,though

undecorated fairy cakes are usually 99p for 12 and can be decorated beforehand with each child's initial, or they can do it themselves as something to do.

Jay-Jay_4

After reading all these great ideas I'm thinking "gosh doesn't £20 go a long way!!!"

Although it's nice to do a buffet, it can be economical to do one or two 'hot meals' and very nice too.

I did a party where I served a potato hash (with pickles and red cabbage) for the grown ups and hot dogs for the children, the tato hash went down well but everyone ended up having a hot dog anyway. Asda do 24 lovely freshly baked hotdog buns for a pound and a few tins/jars of hotdogs work out fairly cheap. A few onions, ketchup and mustard.... you don't even need plates, just hand them the hotdog in a napkin.

Glad

most sweet shops still sell 1p sweets, buy 100 costing £1 and there will be 10 each for every child
use a cheap roll of sandwich bags instead of party bags, the bag only ever gets thrown away

bubbles_2

I would just simply wait until someone asks for a party bag at the end of the party and say, "oh god..the party bags! I knew there was something I forgot!" To save you feeling embarrased As for the cake, just cut it up whilst the kids are there and hand it round to anyone that wants a piece. (you will have a lot left over this way to offer to the adults as they wont all want it. whateer you make re:food just space it out it will look a lot more if you put it on as many seperate plates/bowls as you can!

hth bubs x

rainbowrisin

I think everyone's already covered everything, but just to say that it will be fine, and with 2 year olds the simpler the better - one of my littlies is 2, and tbh all but the simplest of party games is beyond them. For their second birthday I just did a few eats and got the toys out and the children had a brill time. Then we all sang happy birthday, cut the cake and that was that.

I also wouldn't go loopy with the food either - I found ham sandwiches, wotsits (:eek: :eek: ) and bits of fresh fruit went down best, as that was what they were used to. My more adventurous party food was left pretty much untasted.
I really would go really minimal with the party bags - mine come home from parties with balloons they loose, crayons and little colouring books which are two small for toddler hands, and plastic toys which they don't play with. When I did party bags I just put in a piece of cake, a bar of chocolate and a thank you note home decorated by us.
I think your little one will have a lovely time.

bobsa1

Don't know if you have a home bargains near you bu you could get tons of sweet stuff, etc from there.

My dd is two and a half and for her 2nd birthday we had 8 kids plus adults.

Adults got pringles, dips, carrott & cucumber sticks and a piece of b'day cake.

Kids got jam sandwiches, marmite sandwiches, cheese sandwiches (made far too many so adults ate them) crisps, cucumber, grapes, bits of cheese.

Dessert, jelly, some fairy buns (again adults ate what was left) and some biscuits from homebargains.

I got loads of dd toys out eg trikes, slide, ballpool, dolls prams etc and kids entertained themselves.

I did pass the parcel but you don't have too and did party bags with a book 39p home bargains, a punch balloon (in packs of 8 or 10 from home bargains) and some cake.

You can do this for £20 easy. Make a cake yoursef, cover it in icing and then decorate your childs name in jellytots or something.

Kids of this age don't care, it's when you get to age 5 that they compare parties!!