Birthday party at Clemyjontri

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I did not think people would drop off. We have never done a party other than our immediate family. Reading this site, I thought I was supposed to invite the class, so I did. Reading this site, it sounded like many people decline parties, so I assumed I would have 10 - 15 kids. And it is on Father’s Day, and the consensus was that people would go to a close friend party but not a classmate party, so I was super shocked when families RSVPed at close to 100%.

Lesson learned and I am trying my best to make a fun party for my kid. Hindsight - would have brought cupcakes to her class and taken her do something with me for the day of her birthday. But now I am just trying to survive the party.

I posted while you were posting. I hear you, OP, on just trying to survive it. I did an all-class party for my DD’s 4th birthday at a gym/bounce place. She is 5.5 and I’m still recovering. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

OP with parties like this less is more. If the craft is non negotiable, put out the supplies, have a demo out, and make it open ended. Put the supplies out as individual kits in baggies so you can give them away as favors to kids who did not make one. Ditch the coloring. Get cheap mini cupcakes from Safeway or Costco. They taste better anyway. If you were planning on custom cupcakes they are $$ so that will save you a chunk. Order cute animal toppers instead. Playtime and food (serve cheese pizza and fruit) are concurrent. After 45 min or so, round up everyone for cake and singing. And then while everyone is gathered, hand out tickets and send them to the carousel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP with parties like this less is more. If the craft is non negotiable, put out the supplies, have a demo out, and make it open ended. Put the supplies out as individual kits in baggies so you can give them away as favors to kids who did not make one. Ditch the coloring. Get cheap mini cupcakes from Safeway or Costco. They taste better anyway. If you were planning on custom cupcakes they are $$ so that will save you a chunk. Order cute animal toppers instead. Playtime and food (serve cheese pizza and fruit) are concurrent. After 45 min or so, round up everyone for cake and singing. And then while everyone is gathered, hand out tickets and send them to the carousel.

Ah sorry just saw you are doing sandwiches. That’s perfect too. Don’t worry about bringing speakers and a bubble machine. There’s no need for a bubble dance party at a playground. Spare yourself lugging that stuff and managing it. With paper plates and trash bags, lunch is self cleaning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I did not think people would drop off. We have never done a party other than our immediate family. Reading this site, I thought I was supposed to invite the class, so I did. Reading this site, it sounded like many people decline parties, so I assumed I would have 10 - 15 kids. And it is on Father’s Day, and the consensus was that people would go to a close friend party but not a classmate party, so I was super shocked when families RSVPed at close to 100%.

Lesson learned and I am trying my best to make a fun party for my kid. Hindsight - would have brought cupcakes to her class and taken her do something with me for the day of her birthday. But now I am just trying to survive the party.

What time is the party? I remember when you posted and asked about father's day.

Here's the thing. It's usually up to me (mom) to plan something for Father's Day, either with or without Daddy. So if I got the invite I'd think SWEET! We can go this party on Sunday and it counts as an easy and fun outing (leave dad at home) or a fun afternoon with dad.

Exactly. I have a son born on the 10th of May, so the birthday party weekends for him often coincide with mother's day. A couple times I've accidentally scheduled his party for mother's day, and those always have the best attendance. All the moms that say what they want for mother's day is just a day to themselves--to relax, sleep, take a long bath, read, etc.; this gives the Dad's an easy way to occupy the day to give their kids' mom what she wants. I bet a lot of Dad's have asked for the same thing and the mom's are thinking along those lines.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you already priced out sandwiches and cake? Would pizza and grocery store cupcakes be cheaper?

[Anonymous]

We went to Costco and the most cost effective seems to be those sandwich wheels and some fruit. Not going super elaborate with food but waters, cake, sandwich trays, and juice for kids is 120. We priced out pizza and it was the same cost. I am not even doing full sized sandwiches, but with 50 people it is 3.00 a person. I can’t figure out how to get it lower than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to Costco and the most cost effective seems to be those sandwich wheels and some fruit. Not going super elaborate with food but waters, cake, sandwich trays, and juice for kids is 120. We priced out pizza and it was the same cost. I am not even doing full sized sandwiches, but with 50 people it is 3.00 a person. I can’t figure out how to get it lower than that.

Make sandwich pinwheeled yourself and cut up a couple of watermelons. Mini cupcakes are perfect that age.

[Anonymous]

OP the other thing you need to consider is supervision. The kids are going to want to head straight into the playground. Trouble is, it's huge and super easy to lose sight of them. Make sure you prevent the kids from heading over there and/or when you do let them play, you should assign adults to kids if people are dropping off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to Costco and the most cost effective seems to be those sandwich wheels and some fruit. Not going super elaborate with food but waters, cake, sandwich trays, and juice for kids is 120. We priced out pizza and it was the same cost. I am not even doing full sized sandwiches, but with 50 people it is 3.00 a person. I can’t figure out how to get it lower than that.

People overestimate the food needed all the time. Depending on the type(s) of sandwiches, the kids or may not eat them (based on what I’ve seen at other parties). For young kids, pizza is often a better choice or those Chick Fil-a nuggets. Adults might eat, but probably not as much as your thinking, especially since they are going to be trying to keep an eye in their kid. Honestly, less is more. I don’t think we’ve been been to a single party where there isn’t a decent amount of food leftover.

[Anonymous]

Do food and cake at the same time. It will be hard to gather everyone twice.

Skip coloring. Definitely pay for carousel. Pretty lame to have party there and not pay for the ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - this is devastating to see consensus. Won’t skip the craft project, as DD specifically asked for it and returning the materials will not even come close to making up the carousel money. The crafts are also the favors - pet themed party so craft is pet related and then take home. Spent 15 dollars total and birthday girl is over the moon for it. But 21 kids RSVP and their parents, which means I am hosting a 50 person party - was not the intention but invited the class and then all their parents and siblings said yes and things have spiraled. I thought maybe I would have 15 - 20 people total! Which means my food budget is 3 times what I expected.

An extra 70 dollars (since tickets are 3/per child) is hard to stomach (especially after an unexpected house repair) I was really hoping that people would say they had been and not had the host pay for the carousel and it was fine.

Ahh!!

Come on. You can’t spend an extra $70. Pack lunch next week if you have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went to Costco and the most cost effective seems to be those sandwich wheels and some fruit. Not going super elaborate with food but waters, cake, sandwich trays, and juice for kids is 120. We priced out pizza and it was the same cost. I am not even doing full sized sandwiches, but with 50 people it is 3.00 a person. I can’t figure out how to get it lower than that.

People overestimate the food needed all the time. Depending on the type(s) of sandwiches, the kids or may not eat them (based on what I’ve seen at other parties). For young kids, pizza is often a better choice or those Chick Fil-a nuggets. Adults might eat, but probably not as much as your thinking, especially since they are going to be trying to keep an eye in their kid. Honestly, less is more. I don’t think we’ve been been to a single party where there isn’t a decent amount of food leftover.

DP. Agree about sandwiches. Kids sometimes don't want the filling, only the bread, or vice versa, or won't touch anything with [fill in the blank] in it/on it. I've seen sandwiches be largely wasted at kid parties--a token bite and the rest is left in a blob that can't be saved by you to take home.

Pizza or pizza bites or good quality chicken nuggets may be less likely to get nibbled then left on the plate, and can be cheaper than store-made sandwich trays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - this is devastating to see consensus. Won’t skip the craft project, as DD specifically asked for it and returning the materials will not even come close to making up the carousel money. The crafts are also the favors - pet themed party so craft is pet related and then take home. Spent 15 dollars total and birthday girl is over the moon for it. But 21 kids RSVP and their parents, which means I am hosting a 50 person party - was not the intention but invited the class and then all their parents and siblings said yes and things have spiraled. I thought maybe I would have 15 - 20 people total! Which means my food budget is 3 times what I expected.

An extra 70 dollars (since tickets are 3/per child) is hard to stomach (especially after an unexpected house repair) I was really hoping that people would say they had been and not had the host pay for the carousel and it was fine.

Ahh!!

Too late to fix for this party, but for next time: I notice you say that "all their parents and siblings" said yes. The siblings drive up costs big time and you can find many threads on DCUM about the issue of siblings of classmates/friends coming to parties or not. Any chance you can stipulate that the party is for the kids in the class and not sibs? I'm guessing it's too late at this point--?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - this is devastating to see consensus. Won’t skip the craft project, as DD specifically asked for it and returning the materials will not even come close to making up the carousel money. The crafts are also the favors - pet themed party so craft is pet related and then take home. Spent 15 dollars total and birthday girl is over the moon for it. But 21 kids RSVP and their parents, which means I am hosting a 50 person party - was not the intention but invited the class and then all their parents and siblings said yes and things have spiraled. I thought maybe I would have 15 - 20 people total! Which means my food budget is 3 times what I expected.

An extra 70 dollars (since tickets are 3/per child) is hard to stomach (especially after an unexpected house repair) I was really hoping that people would say they had been and not had the host pay for the carousel and it was fine.

Ahh!!

Too late to fix for this party, but for next time: I notice you say that "all their parents and siblings" said yes. The siblings drive up costs big time and you can find many threads on DCUM about the issue of siblings of classmates/friends coming to parties or not. Any chance you can stipulate that the party is for the kids in the class and not sibs? I'm guessing it's too late at this point--?

Assuming you sent an evite, just email out an updated message that the pavilion capacity is for X number of people and won't be able to accommodate siblings; Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience.

[Anonymous]

The carousel ticket can be the party favor.
Ditch the siblings, do CFA nugget trays and watermelon.