To think kids' parties are a joke

Trust me, a 5 year old does not give a shiny shite about a balloon arch or 'number stand' (had to google that). You're just trying to impress the grown ups.

None of them care. And they will care even less if you have decent coffee/drinks and a bit of food for them too.

I have been shocked at how much the cost of things like this are, now. My daughter had her Christening at the weekend and we paid £135 for her cake! When my older children were small, you could buy christening cakes from Marks & Spencer for much less but that is no longer the case (I assume not as many people have their children christened any more).

Couldn't you just arrange to have the party at a soft play centre? Then you won't need to worry about any of that and they do the food there, too.

What child wants whst you have described though, a balloon arch that stops them having thr fun of popping balloons and an expensive cake that probably has flavours they don't like or decoration they aren't interested in.

Get a supermarket cake blow up some balloons, spend the money on things that interest a child.

I think these days it can work out more expensive (and stressful) to hire entertainment and organise food at home. Our local leisure center charges £150 for 15 DC and each additional DC at £7. This is for either a bouncy castle with footballs out ect, baby soft play or a swimming party with inflatable and hot food. I then just took Colin the caterpillar cakes and made sweet cones.

You can spend as little or as much as you want to. You can buy balloon arch kits from places like amazon, asda, party delights, party pieces pary365 etc and do them yourself. There's loads of YouTube videos to show you how to do them. As for cakes you can buy themed cakes from supermarkets but if you want one that is that bit more special try morrisons food to order, m&s food to order, waitrose food to order etc. I got a fab dinosaur cake in the actual shape of a dinosaur from waitrose for £40 for my son's 4th birthday. It looked and tasted great, guests were so surprised it wasn't more expensive. You can also buy ready made iced cakes and then just buy edible decorations related to your theme and stick them on. Noone needs to know you didn't make the cake at home unless you want to share. If you have the time you can bake a cake.

I'd spend the money on a bouncy castle or taking my kids away for a treat. It's your money though.

You absolutely don't need to fork out for a balloon arch! Kids don't care- just buy a pack of balloons, a pump and a couple of helium birthday balloons. Or buy a kit like those mentioned above and diy it. Similarly, there are loads of nice cakes at the supermarket which you can add candles & decs to. A really special bespoke cake would be a big number birthday treat here, not for a 5yo!

I would save the money on these things to cover your other costs- tea & coffee for adults, party food, hall/venue hire, entertainment hire, party bags. I was lucky, I grew up in a house with room for parties which cut costs and my mum was willing to do some party decorating - but I would be surprised if she spent much. In fact, I think the most "expensive" thing for what it actually was turned out to be party bags- she didn't like some of the super cheap toys in case they hurt anyone/ were choking hazards so spent more money there.

Getting a cake made is definitely worth it. £75 is cheap if you have a kids design on it too it must be tiny.

If you want to save money buy cupcakes from Tesco and a main cake from M&S. The balloon arch I wouldn't bother with for a 5 year old defo waste of money.

Card factory do some huge helium balloons they blow them up for you too.

I have done every combination tbh. Yes it’s great to have the hall and entertainment sorted even the catering but you are looking at £750-1000. That is just ridiculous. Do kids really look back on their big parties more than 2 months later with joy? Probably not.

Better to get three different sized cake tins, get on youtube for inspiration, cover in icing and slap half a doll on top. As a terrible baker, even I can make a half decent cake with a little guidance.

you can buy helium canisters and a packet of balloons for £30 then just tie them together. You can also get better decorations more cheaply if you source them yourself. At age five, it is good to have the kids in a confined location and you also have to cater for the adults so the price is much higher. By the time they get to 10-12 you can take them to laser tag, or tramppolining or horseriding and although it’s a couple of hundred, it is much more manageable. I am not one to splash big insta worthy photos all over insta for clout but I do think that to an extent, getting at least some entertainment works well. I’ve also had parties where the kids just visit the house and play traditional games and that has worked well too. As long as the kids have fun and get fed and prizes, everything is good.

DD was 21 this year and I got a balloon arch kit plus other balloons and decorations for about a tenner. The balloon arch was dead easy to do and not worth paying £100+ for a professional one!

A ready made cake from a supermarket will taste the same as whatever custom-made £75 cake you’re looking at. I bought my wedding cake from Waitrose and it was amazing

As a professional cake maker, I totally disagree with a supermarket cake full of preservatives tastes as good a custom-made one. However, I do agree that a supermarket cake is perfectly good for a childrens party.

5 year olds don't care how much you spend. They just need a cake, some balloons to kick around, some food and some party games. It can all be done very cheaply if you need it to be.

It's all for show!! What joy is a child going to get from a balloon arch? They don't play with it and when you do eventually take it apart you will realise you paid that much for £20 worth off balloons. Cake is cake aslong as it tastes nice who cares Costco birthday is a favourite in our house tastes amazing and is big enough for everyone but tesco and asda do good cakes for a good price.

My dd is nearly 7. She's not been to a party with a balloon arch or a cake that isn't a supermarket one or homemade. What a waste of money! I can understand spending on the entertainment, but absolutely no need for fancy cakes and balloon arches. It's not a wedding!

This. Kids parties are all avoid the parents, the kids couldn't care less about crap like a balloon arch 😅

I totally agree with everyone else. Kids will much prefer just some normal balloons to bash around and you can get a few special helium ones with the age on from Card Factory or similar.

Bespoke cakes are expensive, they usually taste a lot better but it's lost on the kids. I got one for special birthdays such as 13th, 16th and 18th only but bought supermarket cakes for others.

I can recommend this cake from M&S - it will do 20 kid sized pieces, it is very rich and delicious so I would def not give them normal slices. Stick a sparkler candle in or two, or cover it in smarties/sprinkles to add colour.

www.marksandspencer.com/personalised-extremely-chocolatey-party-cake-serves-25-/p/ckp60077800#intid=plpnav_pid_pg1pip45g2r6c2|prodflag_plp_ts_QP_41

I know several parents who had balloon arches at different parties, they all did the arch themselves (with spare hands from family/friends). I think that saves you at least £100. Is it something the child has asked for? Because if not, clusters of big balloons around the room is fine! Or balloons tied onto one long string and then that hung across the wall. The kids would probably like to play with them anyway!

I know you want to make this a special party to compensate for the past years, but you need to make the most of the fact they are 5... easily impressed by being allowed to run riot, and sparkly things.

£190 on balloons that you'll throw in the bin is wild. You may as well withdraw the cash and flush it down the toilet. You do not need this to make any birthday special.

Better yet, put the money you'd spend on balloons in your kids bank account, they'll thank you for it when they're older

I agree you don't need those things. A Balloon arch is fairly eash to make if you really want one, and the kids are not going to be fussed on a fancy cake. I normally do a supermarket cake for cutting but hand out cupcakes (I have a lady who does them for £1.50 each in whatever theme we request).

@abiabib123 how do the Costco cakes work, do you pre-order them? Can you do that on the website?

I used to bake a traybake cake and cover it in buttercream and smarties and other small sweets. A £75 cake is a waste of money for small children, and the home baked version will taste much nicer. A Mary Berry traybake recipe is very easy.

Costco cakes taste vile and artificial.

DS's favourite cake ever was a fairly simple one which had a couple of Bob the Builder trucks 'shovelling' Smarties on top of it. Probably cost less than a tenner.
Balloon arch - pah!
Kids that small will neither know nor care about such frivolities.

You want an expensive, fancy cake, balloon arch and all the showy stuff OP.

Your 5 year old wants to race around with his friends and blow his candles out. He won’t care if the cake costs £100 or a tenner.

Book the village hall, a bouncy castle, and buy some food, squash and a birthday cake (and candles) from Asda. Nothing else needed.

You could buy a Happy Birthday Banner and a pack of balloons if you feel you really must contribute to destroying the planet.

@budgiegirl

I disagree, I ordered a custom cake for my mums birthday £65 (2 years ago) and it tasted similar to supermarket cake with oversweet fondant icing despite the description saying buttercream (there was both!) last year I bought one from sainsburys and it tasted just as good. I think you need to pay a lot to get a decent custom cake, i honestly think some are mass produced they custom iced

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