This is a sponsored post for Gumtree.
“So…” I began, with some hesitation, “I have a weird request.”
“Yes,” she replied, preparing herself for whatever I was about to ask.
“My daughter is having a birthday party and I want to get some round balloons. Not oval like normal, but round.” And yes, I made a round shape with my hands as I asked, as you do.
“Round?” she asked.
“Yeah, so you know normal balloons are more oval,” again showing her with my hands, “and these are more round. I can show you on my phone if you like? Or I can even buy some and bring them in to be filled up?”
As this stage Hubby walked away from the conversation. It had reached a level of ‘weird lady {me} wanting round balloons’ and he needed to escape.
I blame Pinterest for this round balloon obsession. By the end of the balloon session I’d ended up ordering no round balloons and 40 pink oval balloons {no glossy strings and no pearly colour on the balloons. Fussy? Me? Never}. Things kinda changed when Hubby said to me, “You know this party is for Lacey, right? Not for you.” Understood.
I’m a total newbie to this party planning gig. Yes, we’ve done parties before… but just family and close friends. Now, we live in a totally new area {where round balloons aren’t the norm}, with totally new friends and a child that can tell me what she wants {unlike when she was 1 and I had total control of all the party details}.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from hosting parties and things, as well as attending them over the years, it’s that no one likes a stressed-out host. You’ve seen them. The people running around, a slight sweat {or glow, if we’re being kind} and they’re not having fun at all. So I knew that when I decided to have a party for Lacey that involved not just family {and taking into consideration that I’m preggers and still experiencing lovely morning sickness}, was that I’d outsource as much as possible. I know that sounds terribly fancy, but it’s not. Hang with me.
Gumtree came to me and asked if they could help out with Lacey’s party. At first I thought, what am I going to do? Sell Lacey in the classifieds? But then I remembered that they have a whole heap of listings for business services {which I used when I was a nanny}. So I agreed and got about planning. I set a budget. $200 for a cake. $600 for an entertainer. $150 for a cleaner… And then I started pinning for inspiration.
Apparently my head is still living in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, because once I’d started searching the Gumtree directory and emailing people things got GOOD. Having someone make the cake of my {ahem, Lacey’s!!} dreams? $40. Seriously. A fairy to entertain loads of kids for the WHOLE party? Affordable! A cleaner to make the house visitor-ready? Cheap as chips. And I actually even have money left over to have someone make all the food for me. Sushi platters, sandwiches, cake pops, and sweet little sausage rolls, oh my.
I sound all confident and party-ready, don’t I? I’m not. Not quite. I’m quietly stressing out, because while the details might be sorted the big questions start to come in. How many kids should we invite? How many is too many? What if no one wants to come? How long should a party go for? Do parents stay too? Do I need to feed them? Is 11am too early to serve wine? And the list goes on…
Oh, and will the party be the same without my {ahem, Lacey’s!!} perfect round balloons??
Keep it simple and keep them busy – just wish I could take my own advice. I can recommend a face painter for the kids if you like that kind of thing? My girls (3 and 5) loved her so much at my 5yo’s birthday party last year, I booked her in immediately for my 3yo’s party this year, happy campers all round, and the best $70 ever spent as they all waited with anticipation to have their faces done. I also usually bake off a round of small cupcakes and whip up a batch of icing in a couple of colours and put them on a out on an activity like table with various lollies for the kids to make and top themselves, they loved it. Another great investment I made which cost me a whole $2!! yep, you read that right, was I purchased a table off gumtree which was almost good for the tip, but it had a metal frame, so I asked hubby to cut the legs down so it’s a good height for the kiddies. We use this for the cupcake icing, colouring in, just about anything, and all the kids little seats, ottomons fit underneath it nicely too, so if they want a seat they can. It just makes them so comfortable having everything in front of them and at their height. Easy to cover too, you could pick any fabric to throw over the top, we even used a single bed doona cover last time to help theme the party.
Have fun, in preparation for these events every time I tend to go crazy and try not to rip my hair out whilst hubby stands by and asks why I do this all the time, but I figure it won’t be long before they all grow up and won’t want us around anymore, they’ll just want to watch movies with their friends and be alone to talk and giggle amongst themselves so I may as well do what I can now whilst they enjoy it, and besides, I would do anything to see those beaming smiles on their faces! Enjoy! 🙂
I love the cupcake table idea, and how cheap was the table! Crazy.
I know that I’ll probably come undone over the next couple of days {party is on Saturday} but I’ve prepped as much as I can to reduce the stress… so we’ll see!
Thinking of you today and hope that you’re smiling and not stressing!! I’m sure it will be beautiful and Lacey will have a wonderful day 🙂
The parent stay or go question is one Im always not sure on. My thinking is that if they are little (under school age) I would stay, but that is just my preference and I would feel awful leaving parents with a bunch of 2-3yr olds running riot.
If parents stay I provide enough food for both parents and children (same selection).
Yeah, I am thinking that I’d probably be hesitant to just drop Lacey with someone I hadn’t really met before {at this age}. I’ve got food for the parents, just trying to figure out how I’ll fit them all now!
It will be great, you will be great and Lacey will have a ball.
ps I am usually a glistening sweaty host, next party I am totes outsourcing!
Have fun x
I’ll report back – so far not sweaty at all – but we’re a few days out yet.
Haha, oh my Chantelle, I did giggle at your post.. I have stood in your place so many times (with same said bemused, exasperated, embarrassed husband hiding in the back corner of the shop while I try to explain to the confused, yet lovely shop assistant EXACTLY what it is I’m after!). I agree with parents staying for your party. At Lacey’s age, kids are too little to stay by themselves & that’s a lot of work for you to manage them all! In your “party food”, include some adult food, like an antipasto or crudites & dip platter. Even a cob loaf would be a hit with the cooler weather coming soon! Where I live, everyone knows everyone, so we usually make our kids parties afternoon events that carry on into the night for the adults!Good luck with the planning.
I love a good cob loaf. What’s your favourite filling?
I am a pretty basic kinda gal with my cob loaves, not into seafood ones so I usually go for bacon, spinach, cheeses, philly etc. I’m trying to eat healthier these days so cobb loaves aren’t my friend as much anymore.. 🙁
I’ve been keen to try this out soon, but if I did, I’d have to add a few pieces of crunchy bacon thru it too.. 🙂 http://www.stayathomemum.com.au/recipes/side-dishes/spinach-cob-loaf-dip/
I love party planning, I can’t wait to see the pictures of your daughter’s big day! For the parents stay/go I would leave it up to them. That is how I do it, usually most stay & yes I feed them. Now I am off to go check out pinterest for round balloons!
There’s a recipe for how many kids to invite to a child’s birthday party. The age your child is turning plus 2. No more than that. Let her help choose the guest list, working with that number of friends. If someone RSVPs “no”, she can invite another.
Recipe for how long: Your child’s age x30 minutes. If she is turning 6, that’s 3 hours. I wouldn’t ever have a party longer than 4 hours – most weddings are under 5 hours.
If parents stay, you need to feed them. Take a poll of the children she wants to invite and just ask if the parents are planning to stay. 11am is too early to serve wine, yes. Wine is a dinner beverage. You don’t need to serve the adults any liquor/beer/wine. It’s a child’s party and they should expect to have punch, juice, water, or soda.
Oh gosh. They need to give us those party-equations in a manual when we leave the hospital. I’ve never EVER heard of them before but they make sense.
And the wine was kinda a joke… but I’ll serve sparkling water and sparkling apple juice, with dips and so forth for the parents.
Thank you. Your comment has been so super helpful. xx
I just saw that you quoted me in your blog post on the party. So funny that you said it should be in a book as I was just combing your blog for something you’d said about someone who made a disgusting comment after you posted a picture of your daughter and you were wanting to discuss privacy on blogs – and I’m planning to quote you in a book I’m writing! If you could point me to that blog at autumn@clearmindgroup.com, I’d appreciate it. Still combing.
Also, I’ll add these tips on children’s party planning to the book on etiquette I’m writing to help others. 🙂
The parenting book should be out by the end of this summer. You can find my existing book (and later that one) at http://www.amazon.com/author/autumnhahn/
I completely understand!! I wanted clear round balloons with round paper confetti inside for my daughters first birthday {another Pinterest idea} and the lady looked at me with glazed over eyes as I showed her my picture. “Confetti inside a balloon will pop it” she told me…righto then. I then decided to go with balloons with stars and number 1s on them- all clear, no colours, please!
I am SO glad I’m not alone. In the end the balloon lady loved me {or so she told me to get me out of the shop!} but it was hard going there for a while.
You can also under-fill an oval balloon to make it appear round. 🙂
Yes, the balloon lady showed me that, but I wasn’t so convinced. They weren’t as round as the ones on Pinterest. Fussy, aren’t I?
This made me laugh so much: the situation with your husband walking away was us a few years ago. I too blame Pinterest! To answer your questions: the kids WILL come, all kids love a party. At Lacey’s age parents normally stay so I generally make the party 1.5-2 hours and the adults will eat the kids food 😉
Pinterest has a LOT to answer for. Including the little love heart shaped fruit kebabs I’m struggling to master.
Thanks Claire. Great tips. My sister and her boyfriend have just let me know that they’re flying up for it, so I am so happy. Plus I have a helpful Ma and mother-in-law.
You know what stresses me out the most, the small-talk with the parents and making sure they’re happy. Eek.
I totally get the round balloons. One time I NEEDED clear round balloons with a smaller orange balloon with white polka dots inside. Everyone were SO unhelpful and I had to compromise. Damn you, Pinterest!
Compromise is such a dirty word.
Yes, damn you Pinterest.
Oh, if you need any help with the party I’m happy to help 😉 I have a party planning/hire business http://www.sweetcelebrations.com.au
Hilarious re the balloons. For the record, I TOTALLY get it!!!!!!!! I love planning parties – it’s definitely my thing. But I also agree re the stressed out host – not fun for anyone! I remember bustling around too much at my eldest 1st birthday party so for my second baby’s 1st birthday I made it a breakfast party and had everything set up buffet style before hand. Virtually nothing to do while the guests were there except chat, cuddle my baby and pat ourselves on the back for surviving the first year with 2 kids!!!! Simple but sweet is my aim now. I love making decorations and then make the food super simple so it’s not a busy day for me so I can enjoy the kids antics, chat to other parents and soak up the cuteness!
11am is fine for wine! The party will be fab with oval balloons. Don’t stress about anything as the kids will not notice or care about the things you worry about. Give kids some space, other kids to play with a piece of cake and they’re set. I can’t wait to see photos and I hope Lacey has a fabulous day.xoxoxoxoxoxo
My daughter is 3 in a month and I LOVE throwing party’s for her. I always go way over board with food, balloons and do it yourself party bags (brown paper bags and go nuts with all the stickers you won in pass the parcel!!!) This year I have broken my foot and been off it for four weeks so far so I have had to make sure I simplify it this year. We are only having cake and cheerio’s (I am attempting the merry go round cake from the new women’s weekly book). As well as cake I have got a pile of plaster shapes from a fabulous lady at my local market (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Plaster-Pieces/388326224551773?ref=ts&fref=ts). With any luck the kids will fill up on cake not cover themselves in paint and head on home happy! I still have plenty of red, white and pink balloons left from last years “Upsy daisy” party so I’m sorted there and ready to hit the ground running when this cast comes off!
Good luck with “your” party. I think at the end of the day so long as there is cake the kids will think it’s great!!!!!
Oooh, I love kids parties!
Last year we had about 60 people for my daughter’s 3rd birthday. That included kids, their siblings and the parents.
I planned a variety of relatively non structured activities (quiet colouring, in her bedroom, then a craft table where people could decorate a pirate hat or a crown, a bucket of sand with treasure buried in it, face painting, bouncing on the trampoline, a kids tent and teepee outside). I also had a pin the hat on the pirate / princess activity, but everyone was too busy to use it.
I suggest you invite as many kids as you are comfortable about having, and make sure all Lacey’s friends are included.
Parents will most likely stay, and I generally supply coffee / tea and some sort of low alcohol sparkling wine (like Zibbibo) for those who feel they need it.
I am sure that everyone will want to come! I am sure that you, Lacey, and the guests will have a blast!
P.S. Call me a control freak, but I also like to have some sort of crafty fun party bag – last year I supplied little bits of crafty stuff (feathers, stickers, glitter glue, buttons, pom poms) tucked into a little box. I do not like to give lollies – but I do encourage people to take a cup cake / treat from the party table home if there are leftovers.
Hahaha you poor OCD Mummy! I know you are, because I am too! I have had everything here over the years from toddler parties, to 16th, 18th, 21st. And Engagement parties! We even hosted 2 Deb after parties for a couple hundred hyped up teens! My thinking was if they were here I knew what was happening and I know the other parents were grateful! We only have a small 3 bedroom house but a huge yard so always aimed for outdoor entertaining. Tiny kitchen makes it difficult but I cook and freeze for weeks before. Cakes I do myself and decorating ( mostly cos I don’t trust anyone else to do what I want) and LISTS. I make lists for Months before then when they’re fulfilled, NEW lists! Sounds like I’m really organised whe I read this but I’m actually CRAZY nervous right up until the last guest leaves and find I’m so busy making sure all is perfect and everyone has a great time that I forget to relax and enjoy. I’m also the one running round with the camera photographing everyone and everything so at least I can look back and relive! Being a Mum is wonderful AND bloody hard work….but worth every grey hair! Kids parties are mad, exhausting, messy, noisy affairs and you know not on. e of them will notice what shape the balloons are! Enjoy these days my love because the parties get bigger and way more complicated…LOL
Actually, birthday parties for kids are always a stressful affair and the reasons are all mentioned above. However, another fellow blogger wrote a bit about this a few days ago…lemme rope you in : http://www.blogwatig.com/2013/04/b-brings-birthdays.html
I hate to be the rude one in this discussion, but I really have to ask…$950 for a child’s birthday party just for starters??
Chantelle are you just over-exaggerating or is this normal?? :O
It’s my first one so I wasn’t sure what was normal. I know friends have always spent around $2000 {eek!}. Thankfully {as mentioned in the following paragraph} the quotes were much cheaper than I imagined they might be.
Huge sigh of relief.
I think there is no general rule for parties. People can spend as little as $100 on everything, where others might to only have a party once or twice in a childhood and go all out.
I was kind of wondering the same.. I feel like hiding in the corner at that amount when I know how little I spent on our girls.. $2000 is definitely EEEEEK to me but then, there are people who can afford it & have money to burn. Wish they’d throw some my way just to pay on ordinary bills! lol
I totally get it, and I’m not spending $2000 – and I’ve always balked when I’ve seen people spend such money on parties.
I haven’t spent that much and I have had Gumtree help me out with costs {which I am grateful for, really grateful}.
I could justify it all a dozen ways – but I think it comes down to personal choice. Parents make decisions, I’ve made a decision to have a special birthday party for my daughter {her first real party}. We won’t be the people that do it every year, and we do have a baby on the way. Do I have money to burn? No. But have I made a decision to create a special party for a little girl I adore? You bet.
And just lastly, I don’t think you need to hide at how little you’ve spent on past parties. I’m a budget-conscious mum and I’m proud when I do things on the cheap. It’s savvy and smart, and you should be proud. x
OMG — this is so great … I don’t remember how I found you but I am sure Pinterest!
A close friend of mine had a 2 year old party for her daughter storey. http://blog.hwtm.com/2013/01/favorite-things-modern-glam-birthday-party/ Olathe party was featured on this blog. Complete with ROUND balloons!! Parents siblings and of course 18 of storey’s closests friends enjoyed the AMAZING event. I am sure she would be happy to give you pointers on where she found the balloons. http://ashleynicoleevents.com I can’t wait to see picks!!
BTW I am desperately trying to get into taking a picture a day … Losing for now!
That party is amazing. I’m keeping it in my memory for future use. Oh and I’ll pin the bejeezus out of it!
of course you have seen the heart shaped balloons ? 😉
Are you trying to start something?
No, I didn’t! Another thing to keep in my memory bank!
Every year I have all these fantastic intentions of a wonderful party for my boys and every year we end up having hamburgers with the family, byo drinks. You know what though? Everyone still has a blast and the kids remember all their birthdays – don’t stress too much, it’s the people that make the party what it is, all the other stuff is just extra!
Biggest tip: have a distinct start and end time and don’t stretch it out too much. I always found/find that 2 hours is a good limit for all concerned.
Well, all my kids had birthday parties at Macdonalds when they had party rooms….$3.95 per kid and that included a happy meal, ice cream cake, party host (who entertained them with games etc) and a tour of the kitchen..my kids loved it and heres the best bit for a full time working shift working mum with 3 kids…no prep and no clean up!!!
We had the entire class for Raya’s party just because it was early in kindergarten and when friendships are developing no little one wants to be left out. This is the only year I would do that though. We had a disco so they all just wanted to boogie, numbers didn’t matter. We had it from 4-6pm – this was plenty of time. We have glowsticks – no lolly bags and we gave them a simple sausage sizzle. They were exhausted, had already had dinner and parents took them home to bed. Heaps of parents were very happy. We had wine on hand for parents who chose to stay but we encouraged others to have a break and have 2 hours to themselves. I made the mistake to show a 5 year old Pinterest !!!
Chantelle, I have a contact for the round balloons and some fabulous sidewalk chalk party favours (if you’re looking for a junk food alternative) Can I post the links here? Or email me briony(at)catchphotography(d0t)com(d0t)au
Good luck with the planning. I think we have a few more years of old skool bbq for our parties. I reckon we can get away with that for a 2yo
maybe not so for a 5 🙂
Don’t get me started!!!!!! x
Hi, I’ve thrown quite a few parties for my two kids. Some years my biggest one has had two because of his two sets of completely different friends. We’ve thrown big parties and little parties. I’d say the number of guests depends on your child and how confident she is. We threw a party for 25-30 kids for my son’s 5th birthday, he’d coped fine the year before with that many but his confidence dipped when he started school and he freaked out with the number of kids. When he was 6 we had 10 friends at home and that worked much better. Have a start and finish time and about 2 hours is about right. You will be exhausted afterwards and the gift opening can go on for ages once you get home! Give parents the option to stay, most will with 5 year olds and have some biscuits ready to go with their culpa or nibbles to go with the wine! Good Luck!
I’ve been madly making finger puppets for party favours for my soon to be one year olds party. Not a single puppet. Each child (15!) needs a set. Of 6! What am I thinking??
And round balloons are on my list.
Along with hand made decorations, smash cakes, photo booth, dress up outfits for each child…!!!
I am crazy. But gosh it’s fun.
Ps the oval balloons looked fine 🙂