Tips for Planning A Stress Free Birthday Party

With Harry's 4th birthday party this weekend I thought I would share some tips with you on how to host a stress free birthday party! Yes they don't always have to be stressful and with the right preparation and planning you can expect a smooth sailing birthday that your kids will love!

Budget
First up is budget. One of the things that stress a lot of parents out about hosting a party for their little ones is about how much it is all going to cost. If you have a rough idea of how much you want to spend and stick to it you will be less likely to over spend and you will be able to see what you can realistically afford on things like the venue/food/entertainment/supplies etc.

Venue 
The next thing I would say to think about and start planning is the venue. If you are planning on only having a few people round, your own home is the perfect place to have your party. Also if you have a child who's birthday party falls in the warmer summer months you could have an outdoor party which means you may be able to ask a few more people as you will have more room with everything not being confined to indoors. If you are planning on having a lot of kids over you may consider the hire of a local hall. This is what we will be doing for Harry's birthday this year as we have 10 children invited and we only live in a small 2 bedroom house at the moment, so if you take 10 kids and their parents there isn't much room for anything else. The hall will give us a lot more space and the kids will have more room to run about (and not mess up the house. its a win/win!).

Theme
Personally I think its lovely to have a theme for your child's party. It makes it more personal and that extra bit special for your child. If your struggling to think of a theme try going with your child's favourite TV character or if they are of age take them with you when buying supplies and let them choose the theme, after all it is their party!

Party Supplies
After you, or your child, has decided on a theme its time to think about what you will need in terms of supplies. A lot of of places now do party packs, usually starting in a packs of 8, which include plates, cups, napkins, banners, party bags and balloons which is great if you are working on a budget. The likes of Argos, Tesco and Asda do these and a lot of places online as well such as amazon.

Time
Think carefully about time. If its your child 1st or 2nd birthday plan around their nap schedule, if your still luck enough that they take naps during the day!, so that they are in good form for their guests. If you are planning on serving hot food aim to have your party at 12/1pm or 4/5pm. Party's don't have to last all day, unless you want to of course, but I would suggest that two hours is plenty especially for younger children. We are having Harry's party from 12-2pm and will aim to serve hot food after 1pm.

Food and drinks
That brings us onto food. You may wish to only serve sandwiches, sweets and cake or you may prefer to serve hot food such as chicken nuggets and cocktail sausages. The food you serve will depend on what time you have your party at. For example if you are having a party from 2-4pm a few sandwiches and nibbles will be plenty as people will have already had their lunch and will be going home to prepare for their tea.



Entertainment
You may wish to have entertainment at your party if your budget allows for it. Entertainment that you may consider could be a bouncy castle, face painter, balloon modeler or magician. For Harry's 3rd birthday we had Jo Jingles do our entertainment as we had been going to the classes and I knew Harry along with all the other kids would love it and with just having a new baby a few months prior it took a lot of the stress away for having to keep everyone amused and entertained. I would highly recommend Jo Jingles for a party and their classes in general. they are fantastic!

So there you have it a few tips to help you plan a stress free party for your little one.

Anyone else have any tips they would like to share??


Laura xx