You said that your child is turning 6yo. For a 6yo birthday party, IME parents drop off their children - so there would be no under-5yos at a party for my child turning 6yo. And therefore no adults to feed.

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not a baker, but to order a cake at a grocery store is not super expensive.

I feel like I'm wasting the most money on decorations.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not a baker, but to order a cake at a grocery store is not super expensive.

I feel like I'm wasting the most money on decorations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Unless you are using a box mix and canned frosting it costs more than 5-10 bucks to make a cake. Butter is 4-8 bucks a pound depending what brand you use. It takes me at least 2-3 pounds for the cake and icing.

And that doesn't count the cost of your time, etc.

Who uses 2-3 pounds of butter for a 9x13" cake? At most, you need one pound of butter. At MOST.

And you probably already have flour, sugar etc. if not a box mix is $1 on sale and takes 5 minutes of prep.
I always do a box mix and homemade frosting, 30 minutes or less of active work, cost around $6

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Unless you are using a box mix and canned frosting it costs more than 5-10 bucks to make a cake. Butter is 4-8 bucks a pound depending what brand you use. It takes me at least 2-3 pounds for the cake and icing.

And that doesn't count the cost of your time, etc.

Who uses 2-3 pounds of butter for a 9x13" cake? At most, you need one pound of butter. At MOST.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Unless you are using a box mix and canned frosting it costs more than 5-10 bucks to make a cake. Butter is 4-8 bucks a pound depending what brand you use. It takes me at least 2-3 pounds for the cake and icing.

And that doesn't count the cost of your time, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Is this fruit you've picked from your personal orchard? And like bologna sandwiches? Because I fail to see how you could feed like 10 kids on $25. And I have under 5s, so I'm feeding 10-20 adults, too.