To think this is actually reasonable value for a child’s party?

[neverplaywithasmoo]

I am paying £750 to exclusively hire a soft play for two and a half hours.

Included in that is obviously use of the facilities for an hour and a half then an hour with all food and drink (including the cake) napkins balloons etc with a theme we want. (DD wants princesses of course but there are others available.)

All guests also get a free return visit to the soft play and party bags are included too.

I can’t see how we’d do it much cheaper really.

@neverplaywithasmoo
Basically there's two things to consider.
Will your daughter enjoy it?
Can you afford it?
If yes to both then what's the issue?

Some people round here have birthdays at the local park:

1. Invite a bazillion kids to come to the park after school.
2. Decorate the picnic table with balloons.
3. Provide footballs, rockets, bubbles etc.
4. Kids charge around and have a wonderful time.
5. Give them cake and pop.
6. Everyone goes home.

It costs basically nothing and the kids have loads of fun.

I never said she wouldn't like 30... but you're inviting 30 FOR YOU... not for her because she won't know the difference. She'll still enjoy it just as much with 10 or 15 kids.

If you can spare £750 for a 4yr olds party, go for it.

There’s no issue; just finding the thread quite interesting.

Am insane amount

Wow that’s a huge amount of money!
Softplay party round here with food is £14.99 a head I have maybe 12-15 kids including my own and a friend for the other 2 who it’s not their birthday
birthday child
2 siblings
2 sibling friends
8 other guests

plus I buy a cake and party bags so about £250
that’s my party budget for all 3 kids! Not just one! I aim for £2-250 per party and depending on what they want to do depends how many kids

I do think that seems excessive tho!

Exactly! You know fine well it’s expensive. If you can afford it, go for it but no need to gloat

I recently spent £100 for exclusive use of a huge bouncy castle and softplay equipment. Food and party bags (for 20 kids) cost around another £100. £750 seems really expensive, even with the return passes.

@BudgetBuster It isn’t for me in the sense I’m going to personally enjoy playing with them 😂 But I do think something that brings some happiness to a group of kids, even if only for a few hours, is nice.

I think it’s probably fairly standard for a party, some on the thread agree and others don’t.

Of course some people just won’t have parties which is fine. But I don’t think at this time it’s possible to have a party for a large group that’s dramatically cheaper.

Yabu as that is a huge amount, and not cheap for a birthday party. If you can afford it and it makes you happy then fine, but it's not a reasonable amount or affordable for most.

For my kids I have done parties at home with games and crafts, plus a party spread. Cost is under £100.

Other times I have hired a community centre, with toys and ball pool included, plus outdoor area. Cost £100-150 for a half day hire, and I catered with family. We did some party games too. Cost under £300.

You don't need a bouncy castle for a party! There is nothing wrong with traditional party games/crafts

I once went to a ‘park party’ but it was awkward as obviously a park is a public space and a lot of children who weren’t part of the party were circling around. Difficult as you can’t really tell them they can’t and it was stressful for the birthday child. It also depends when in the year your birthday is … I can’t see many people going for a party at the park for my DS’s birthday; he was born on the winter solstice!

My first thought was 'that's insane', so I checked the soft play near me. It's a reasonable soft play, but not huge. It's £400 for exclusive hire for 30 kids, but that doesn't include any food, cake or party bags. You could clearly do food etc for much less than £350, but at £11.50ish per head for food, cake and a party bag it's not a ridiculous cost if you are outsourcing it.

We have just had a birthday party at home. I limited it to 5 friends, as I wasn't willing to have any more, especially given we couldn't bank on being in the garden. It was fun (and cheap!) but no way would it work with 30 kids. As you say, most of the places allow up to 20 kids max. I'm also with you on the hatred of bouncy castles at parties. I've been to many parties where they are poorly supervised with way too many kids on and it's been a miracle no-one has seriously injured themselves!

The size of the party (30 kids) is for you because you obviously carry some sort of guilt if you leave someone out.

Yes, a party is lovely. My kids have had parties every year but we do a maximum.of 10 kids... sometimes they couldn't even name 10 kids they wanted!

@Grindfall Those parties in the park happen a lot in my town too. Also we’re a coastal town with big greens beside the beach- those are full of gazebos, BBQs and games of rounders every summer! Lots of people do kids’ parties there.

In February?

OP, IME softplays really vary and so does the price so what other people might spend isn’t really very instructive. If you can afford it and want to spend it, there’s no issue.

Let's hope they all turn up (speaking from experience 😬).

I think you've identified the expensive part - the entertainment. My child at primary age was really bored by the eg magician act, or quite frankly anything where he had to sit still for more than 15-20 mins. Because i knew i was inviting younger and older siblings the sand art worked really well. But hope the party goes well, x

I personally think it’s a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a 2 hour event for hyped up little kids who won’t even remember or value it in a months time. For some families or even small charities that amount of money would be a big deal, but I guess if you’re affluent and it won’t make a dent then you don’t have to trouble your mind about things like that.

My wedding was less than that . What a total waste of money for a young child's party . I did all my kids parties at home , they all have fond memories of their parties . Are you just bragging because I'd say a fool and their money are easily parted .

I think that sounds reasonable, it’s in line with what I spent on last years class party for my eldest which didn’t include cake and return visit. And great you can just show up and don’t need to bring/do anything! Hope your dc thoroughly enjoys it!

Well that’s going to be shite if your child’s birthday is in November.

Some kids are born in winter. Inconsiderate little buggers!

So £20-25 each all included is actually quite a fair price - the question I would ask is: is this really necessary for 4 year olds, and so many of them? It sets the bar high for other parents so may actually cause a bit of resentment amongst them as they will feel they will then be forced to spend similar sums to hold similar level/sized parties - when most kids are really very happy with a smaller group pizza and a craft activity and an hour in the garden.

At that age we held them at home or went to the church hall parties, had a party entertainer for an hour if necessary and provided the food/party bags for about 12-15. And at half the cost. It was plenty.

It may actually be very overwhelming for the 34 kids you’ll have coming, all of whom will have a parent who will stay at that age - so you are presenting them with 70 people, mostly strangers, in a high octane environment for over two hours. I say this as someone tho ran both Beavers and Brownies in our local hall for approx 28. 90mins was often too much for 4-6yr olds.

Honestly, I think there will be tears and upset within an hour and would consider scaling it back?

I had a pretty budget wedding but it was still more than £750. Even so, I don’t really see it as a waste of money; I know people who have spent thousands on weddings and people who have never got married and both are happy with their choice.

It’s interesting to see what sort of prices people pay; I’m quite enjoying the thread!