Anonymous wrote:But can we go back to the open bar thing? If you're going to drop a wad on a kids' birthday party, that seems like the most worthwhile expense.

Heh - I've followed this thread but haven't posted b/c we spend way too much also (but we have twins so, hey, it's a combined party, maybe the same price as if we had two separate parties?). $250 for the bounce house, $250 for the face painter/ balloon twister. I guess we don't have the do the face painter but while half of the kids are in the bounce house, the other half are over with the face painter (watching whoever is getting their face done at the moment and waiting their turn) and I like the balloons as a party favor b/c the kids love them and the best part is that they go away soon! My kids have tons of gift bags w/ little tchatkes that they want to keep but never really use. So. Many. Things. So having the balloon twister make the kids balloons in lieu of giving gift bags is my gift to the parents.

Yeah, so on top of that will be the cakes ($15ish each from the store), snacks, and pizzas - and we need a lot since we invite all their daycare friends and kids they play with from the neighborhood. And since parents stay, we need several bottles of wine and a few cases of beer.

TL;DR - come over to my house on party day for the open bar

Anonymous wrote:Having DD's first class party this year, and this is the running total thus far:

$400 - Location/kids gym
$120 - Pizza
$50 - Snacks/drinks
$10 - Plates/napkins/silverware
$5 - Decorations (this is for the pack of paper, I made them all myself)
$40 - Goodie Bags
$80 - Our gifts to DD
$60 - Cupcakes

I think that's between $700-$800. Didn't expect all the kids to RSVP yes... Which means we went over the number in the package (why the location price is so expensive). Looking forward to when she's old enough to have sleep over's... Yes it's not going to be our best night of sleep, but it'll be MUCH cheaper!

Why does a child need to invite the entire class to a birthday party?

I have never understood this.

My kid is turning 6 and I have yet to see a drop off party. I can't wait.

Anonymous wrote:

costumed character entertainment don't generally cost that much

I checked into it. They run at $200-400 an hour.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But can we go back to the open bar thing? If you're going to drop a wad on a kids' birthday party, that seems like the most worthwhile expense.

By the time my kids are four, it's all drop off parties.

Ughhh...dropping off four year olds is sort of a pet peeve of mine. I ended up with 10 four year old boys once, and had to break up several fist fights and comfort several children crying over things like sharing, taking turns, etc. It never occurred to me that parents wouldn't stay for 4 year olds. Don't do that to someone hosting a host party....

All the 4 and 5 YO birthday parties my kid has gone to all have parents staying (and this is the same group of kids that go to the same preschool). Not drop off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But can we go back to the open bar thing? If you're going to drop a wad on a kids' birthday party, that seems like the most worthwhile expense.

By the time my kids are four, it's all drop off parties.

Ughhh...dropping off four year olds is sort of a pet peeve of mine. I ended up with 10 four year old boys once, and had to break up several fist fights and comfort several children crying over things like sharing, taking turns, etc. It never occurred to me that parents wouldn't stay for 4 year olds. Don't do that to someone hosting a host party....

I personally don't feel that you are spending a lot for a party. That is how much a nice one costs, often even more. stop having parties if it's a problem for you

Having DD's first class party this year, and this is the running total thus far:

$400 - Location/kids gym
$120 - Pizza
$50 - Snacks/drinks
$10 - Plates/napkins/silverware
$5 - Decorations (this is for the pack of paper, I made them all myself)
$40 - Goodie Bags
$80 - Our gifts to DD
$60 - Cupcakes

I think that's between $700-$800. Didn't expect all the kids to RSVP yes... Which means we went over the number in the package (why the location price is so expensive). Looking forward to when she's old enough to have sleep over's... Yes it's not going to be our best night of sleep, but it'll be MUCH cheaper!

What a waste of time and money. None of this is necessary.

Anonymous wrote:But can we go back to the open bar thing? If you're going to drop a wad on a kids' birthday party, that seems like the most worthwhile expense.

By the time my kids are four, it's all drop off parties.

Anonymous wrote:I thought I'd do a modest birthday party for DD turning 6. Not like our friends throwing thousand dollar parties with open bar and costumed characters entertainment.

$250 - booking a 3 hour pool party at the local, very nice YMCA facility.
$100 - I'm spending on paper plates, table cloths, hanging decorations,

When I order cake and buy all the food I'll add another $100.

Birthday presents will be another $100 - 150.

So the birthday is going to cost us about $500 at the end of the day. Isn't that crazy?

costumed character entertainment don't generally cost that much

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.

What if you show up yo the park and someone else sets up their stuff first?

In our area, if you plan to jots a party in the park you are almost always required to reserve the space and pay for it.

With six guests and a big park, it is not an issue.

We take a folding banquet table just in case picnic tables are an issue.

but see I don't have a folding banquet table so that would be something else I would need to purchase so that another $60-$70 I need to spend. And then maybe throw in some chairs. And honestly by the time I do all that and pay for it I might as well pay $50 - $75 more and just go to a venue.

Anonymous wrote:But can we go back to the open bar thing? If you're going to drop a wad on a kids' birthday party, that seems like the most worthwhile expense.

that will cost me another $500

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you people asking the most important questions? Where are these open bar birthday parties and how do I get invited to them??

+1

And is there a kid's party place where you can serve booze.

It's a kids party, but adults are invited. They stay, have a drink, eat dinner.

At our party I'm inviting maybe 30 kids. Half might show up. Plus the parents. The parents need to supervise kids at the pool. I'm looking to feed 50 people..

Yes, it's the decorations that seem really high here. At the dollar store you should be able to get plates, cups, napkins, tablecloths and silverware for under 20 bucks. To do Frozen, I would just get blue and white of everything and then Frozen cake plates.

My child has a December birthday. We did parties out of the home...it just suited us better. So much easier without the cleaning factor. I always spent at least $250 on them, but with 20 or so kids in attendance, it felt like a deal. We did bounce places, swimming, bowling, movies.