Party stress!

[glowworm5]

I have arranged a class party for my dd for her 5th birthday next weekend. Hall booked, bouncy castle and entertainer booked for the second half. I will be basically catering it myself. Dh will help but he will be coming later with dd and younger sibling so I can set up without them running about.

The closer it gets the more stressed I’m feeling about it. I know it’s just a kids party but doing it alone is overwhelming. I will have an hour to set up. I’m planning to cook a few bits on the morning such as pizzas and sausage rolls, hopefully have the rest done the day before and can just throw it all in the car. Party bags will also have to be done the day or a few days before and boxed up ready to go.

Have a few banners and balloons which I will get up as quickly as I can when I get access to the hall. Tea and coffee for parents of course. Can anyone offer me any tips or reassurance? It’s the first time I’ve done a full class party. There just seems to be so much to remember.

Definitely prepare as much days before. You can get sandwich platters from Sainsbury’s that are a reasonable price. Make sure you get jugs for squash and enough cups/plates to go with.

Don’t underestimate putting up balloons/banners as they can take a while, especially if you’ve got to lay out tables and chairs etc.

If you have a friend or family member who can help set up they will be worth your weight in gold honestly.

Oh Christ I didn’t even think about setting up chairs and tables. I will try and find someone otherwise I think it will be very stressful. Or maybe I could plead with the hall owners to be let in a little earlier.

Paper plates and paper cups. You will need a few squash jugs. Second the pre prepped sandwich tray idea, most supermarkets can do them. You'll be fine, but if you can enlist a couple of friends so much the better. Take them for a drink couple of days later when you've recovered!

Can you get any friends to help you set up? An hour is not long even if there are a few of you, and I’ve had opportunistic (cheeky) parents turn up 30 mins early and leave their 6 year old with me before mine had even arrived….

I recommend you:

• arrange for some friends to help
• do the party bags the day before - you definitely won’t have time on the day
• pack all the bits you need the day before (candles, cake knife, kitchen roll, plates, cups, napkins, serving plates and bowls, cleaning spray, table cloths, sellotape, scissors, string, pins, blue tax, loo roll, bin bags, squash, tea, sugar, bags to put presents in to take home)
• for food, you could also chop up some cucumber sticks, get loads of crisps, maybe strawberries or melon, chocolate fingers or some sort of biscuits. Try not to do anything too fiddly, the chocolate fingers are always the biggest winner and are no effort.

I always found the most stressful moment of the party to be the cake - a baying mob all watching you cut the cake and jostling for their slice. I recommend you delegate this job to your husband 😁

I wouldn’t have a bouncy castle with 5 year olds. You’d be better off having the entertainer for the full thing and possibly a face painter. It should really be 1hr of entertainer and party games, then food, then cake, and a bit more dancing/ games for last 15 mins or so

Write a list of everything you need to take and tasks when you are there. Defo rope a friend in to help.

Here's my favourite tip. 2 identical cakes. One for candles during the party and cut the other one up at home before the party and then add it to the party bags. I hate the stressful trying to cut up and dish out cake whilst people are leaving or trying to find a knife etc.

Brilliant idea. I hate the cake cutting during party time. Always so much else to be getting on with.

I don't want to throw a spanner in the works, but do you definitely know the hall owner allows bouncy castles? Some do, some don't.

I can't offer reassurance.
My tip is to ask people to help you.

My tip would be don't let the grandparents be in charge of the kids squash. Perhaps that was just my personal experience 😂

I did a whole nursery class party for 4th and a reception class party for 5th.

For the 4th party I had 15mins to set up. You read that right. 15mins. By myself 😱

I borrowed a pull along trolley thing (like you see kids sleeping in during the day at festivals as parents drag them around, no idea what they're called) to ferry stuff from the car to reduce trips back and forth.

Shoved up the banners first and threw table cloths out in tables.
Laid out the paper plates and cups next with napkins.

Know how many tables you need to set up and pack for those, pack table cloths on top as you want to get them out onto the tables first.

Unwrap the cellophane from anything wrapped like paper plates cups etc in advance before the party!

Party bags were all prepped night before and loaded into a grab box.
Balloons, pump, masking tape, wrapping ribbon/string and scissors were in another box.
Sandwiches all made and frozen the week before 😂 thawed for the party on reusable platters.
Crudites all chopped the night before and shoved into food bags for pouring out quickly onto platters at the party. Likewise melon and strawberry and grapes.
Shove packets of pom bears into bowls.
Likewise chocolate fingers or animal biscuits or whatever sweet treats your doing.

Cake - everyone wants some, noone wants to wait. Have a cake to sing HBD to and then distribute a fairy cake or something for the gannets to eat while you cut the main cake. Decide how you're going to cut the main cake in advance so you don't have to do the slice maths on the day! Shove the slices in party bags as they leave.

Leave blowing up balloons to be the last job - you can get other parents to help as they arrive, some will be willing.

Don't forget the bin bags.

What OP has planned is fine. The kids will love it!

This post for party prep is fantastic!

Instead of party bags give each child a book with a lolly or flump sellotaped to the front - chuck the books on a table at the end and they can choose one each e.g., https://www.books4people.co.uk/products/giggles-galore-10-books-collection-set?variant=56061209543033&currency=GBP&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google%2Bshopping&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18286127658&gclid=CjwKCAjwvqjOBhAGEiwAngeQnc8b0pSIU-IK0hnInoXOlvbs1BssJw7_wbmelcYdW3Dt3KTT6q7WrxoC6nQQAvD_BwE

Rather than a buffet do a colourful cardboard lunch box for each child - it helps you not over cater and you can do in advance or just have tubs of things to choose from - raisins, juice, fruit, choc, crisps and then 3 types of roll. I just chucked picnic blankets on the floor and they sat cross legged with their picnic box.

Get help with the balloons and banners. I bought giant balloons and chucked them in the room - could have got away with just that as the entertainmemt for the whole party

I did a party.for 70, with me as the sole entertainer and caterer as partner was ill. Madness! A basic craft area for the children who were quieter/needed to regulate was a hit.

Good luck xx

Watch the Motherland party episode, especially for cake tips 😀

Thank you! But did you see the genius ideas about the double cakes and frozen sandwiches? I missed a trick there!

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRC6Nbmy/
the Motherland clip..

I did. Love the double cake idea. Not so sure about the defrosted sandwiches, I’ve got a picture of soggy bread in my head. This would need testing!

O my feckin god. Are people really suggesting Sainsburys sandwich platters et al. Cut up Melons and Strawberries??

I'm Northern and glad to be hearing this chirade haha.

The child is 5yrs old!!

Don’t spend time cutting up the cake at the party for the party bags. Have the main cake for singing happy birthday but get another cheap one that goes in the party bags ready wrapped in the morning.

Just had another thought - for presents, it’s a good idea to have a ‘presents table’. Stick a table cloth on it and when the first present arrives, place it there. Then direct any as they arrive to that table. Eventually, people will self-serve and just take them there directly without asking.

Last thing you want when you are rushing around is people handing you gifts and then having them end up all over the place.

I like the little cup cakes for bags-really easy! You can also get premade platters if you want, but this is more expensive so I would just ask friends and family to help if possible, Grandparents are often the best, as they are more likely to have done parties themselves, in the pre soft play/entertained era (if you were a kid in the 80s or 90s), and they'd often love to be asked to help.

An hour is plenty of time to put up a few banners and balloons, and set up table & chairs and get cups etc ready for tea / coffee for parents. You’ll probably get that all done in 20 mins. Just ensure you have everything prepared in advance. Most importantly, don’t panic, as you have plenty of time to set up.

agreed! How long does it take to cut up a bit of fruit and prepare some basic sandwiches for kids? Why pay £20 for a sandwich platter with sandwiches most kids won’t like anyway.

Did this and survived just over two weeks ago.

Prepped everything in advance, party bags in a crate with pre cut cake, then had same cake for blowing candles out, all games and party entertainment in another box ready, then a crate with decorations, tape, string, scissors etc.

The bouncy castle guy did his thing, really fast only took 5 mins to blow up a huge castle with slide.

Only had 30 mins either side to get everything up and down, lone parent so just me and son setting up. Hats off he helped a lot, having jobs made him feel important.

The biggest take homes where -

It takes a lot longer to set up tables and chairs than you think, ours were in a storage cupboard which felt miles away from the main hall. The hardest part was juggling heavy fire doors rather than trying to carry.

Jugs only had two (always replenished) but felt like i was constantly watching to refill

(Some) other parents are hell..... one family of 6 turned up 45 mins early, they were waiting outside and complained the room wasn't opened, sat around, and asked where they could get a coffee. Single woman frantically heaving furniture around with no offer of help, so directed them to a coffee shop (which they didn't go to)

Pulled the bouncy castle down for food and games, one Dad flicked the switch to put it back up so his son could go on it, another parent complained that her child didn't understand why the castle had come down so she was leaving due to a meltdown.

Sweeping the floors and packing the car up is hard when people won't leave and mill around chatting.

Carrying the gifts to the car took longer than expected, thw sheer quantity was unreal and my child was very lucky and fortunate, but naively i expected small ish gifts, but the gifts were huge!

BUT, you can do it! The sense of relief and pride left me on a high, i was very anxious before especially being a lone parent who is an introvert! I really had to psyche myself up to even book it, but didn't want my child to miss out due to my poor life choices. So go for it, have fun and try to enjoy it :).