To think kids' parties are a joke

Make the cake and you don’t need a balloon arch! I never really set a budget as such but stuck to what I really needed. Did food myself - if it was mealtime hotdogs and oven chips. Sometimes order pizza but that costs more. Going home presents bought either a book from a set or pound shop.

Just get two cakes from your local supermarket and buy a topper for about 5 pounds. Card warehouse sells helium balloons for about a fiver and give each child a low cost book or one trinket ect. It doesn't have to cost a fortune

What is unreasonable is your requirements, the cake i fully understand wanting one, but if you want a handmade cake then you're paying for time and effort of the person and its their living - you can buy a cake for £8 in asda if you want it cheaper...

a balloon arch? totally unnecessary and a waste of time and money. Again you're paying for the time and effort, it can be done cheaper; you can buy balloon arch kits and do it yourself.
Personally id ask the birthday boy/girl would they rather have an extra £190 (or whatever you'd be happy to give them) in presents or a fancy balloon arch? I know which I'd have picked every year of my life whether I was 5 or 15 😀

Spend your money wiser and it'll go further.

Please take a look at eatyourphoto.co.uk for your cake. We used them for my daughters birthday. Amazing cake and amazing service. We paid £40 for a large square personalised cake.

Pop along to eBay and type in “ready made party bags”.

I wouldn’t bother with a balloon arch. I’d buy some helium and order (again from eBay) some personalised balloons to cover the ceiling. Lots of others things can be personalised to make it special, all for a good price.

It can get so stressful so make it easy for yourself xx

And orange jelly with tinned satsumas in, in those crinkle~edged waxed paper dishes...sausages on sticks were a huge favourite, and pass the parcel.
Cheap and cheerful, and lovely.

I’ve always bought a supermarket party cake. Kids like to go and choose which one. If you have a Costco membership then their larger cakes are amazing!!

Never done a balloon arch in my life. Gone off balloons to be honest due to their environmental impact. But the kids love loose balloons if you must have some - just to chase and throw and inevitable pop!!

Never hosted in my home. Not enough space. Have done a cheap community centre type venue and paid for a kids entertainer then home made all the sandwiches etc. Have also been to some in the same venue but the parents have ordered in some takeaway pizzas to arrive cooked at food time (not many places open though at the right time). Have also done the soft play venues which are £per child and include play, food and party bag. They do work out quite well if you have some cheaper venues. The trampoline park type places are really costly. It for £per child venues o usually have to limit invites. With the community centre type ones it was always whole class. At a play centre the parents buy their own drinks. At the community centre o take some tea/coffee/juice and set up a help yourself station. Party bags can be done cheaply if you know where to buy from. Or get them a book and wrap it - you can often pick up big bundles of books at the works or even second hand places.

As for making up for the missed lockdown parties. Your child probably didn’t really miss them, you did. At 5 now they would have been too young to have even known about parties and/or appreciated them. Our first party was nursery - so turning 4 so usually full classes. And by ks2 we had gone for select friends and smaller parties.

Sorry but you're being silly! Just get a couple of chocolate cakes from the supermarket. They'll be less than £20 together. The balloon arch is a ridiculous waste of money!! Just blow up loads of balloons and let the kids play with them. You can do a party at home for under £50.

DD bought the Colin the caterpillar cake from M&S. I bought two bags of the chocolate Colin face sweets and made two batches of Mary Berry chocolate cupcakes and stuck them on with lots of chocolate sprinkles too. The adults loved them.
Etsy do lots of fabulous cake decorations (basically pictures on card on sticks) you stick in the cake DIL did one recently on a Morrisons chocolate cake. Looked fabulous and wasn’t that expensive.

personally I think balloons should be banned after meeting a small child that suffered brain damage from choking on a bit of balloon.

A balloon arch for a 5th birthday ... and how many years from now are they going to 'stand up for the environment'? Skip the arch. Buy one or two balloons if you must. Buy a cheaper cake, the 5 year old and their guests won't know the difference and will be just as happy. You'll save hundreds of pounds - as well as the environment.

For my twin DC's bday back in Jan, I paid £200 for whole class to attend the local Gymnastics Academy, with an hour's use of party adapted gymnastics equipment, then I something like £40 on healthy party finger food. Cake was expensive, as it was a specific design, otherwise I could have done it all for £250ish.

Balloon arch kit is less than a fiver in home bargains. Yes you have to assemble it yourself but its really not that hard. Cake from the supermarket for less than £15.

My daughters' party was last month (two of them so did a joint party). Hall was £30, entertainer (face painting, bouncy castle, party dances) was £180, cake I made myself for less than £20, food was £40, party bags £20. Whole thing was less than £300.

My son is having a joint party with his best friend, venue is £200 and includes food and activity, cake again around £20, party bags (will do sweet cones this time) £20. Spilt between two around £120 each.

YABU. Bake a cake yourself or buy one for a tenner at a supermarket - they have loads of choice.

Children’s parties can cost as much or as little as you like. We’re doing DS’s at a hall for £50. No entertainer, we’re doing party games ourselves and taking a load of his toys for him and his friends to play with, and catering the tea ourselves, I’m baking the cake. We’ve spent more on party bags and decorations, but to be honest you could get away without any of that frippery and nobody would notice.

Last year we did the same, but at home; a further saving. Save spending more for when they’re older and want to take friends to the cinema or a theme park etc.

Fear not @Greenshake - those things are exactly what my DS’s party will include this Saturday!

I am not generally good at this stuff but I made some bunting and we put that up for the kids parties. I honestly think it looks better than a balloon arch and all it cost was some old clothes and some of my time with a sewing machine

This makes no sense. You can make a balloon arch yourself for next to nothing? Just buy a load of balloons - 100 for 99p and a pump. Cake doesn't need to be fancy but £75 is reasonable if you really want one or just get a couple of cakes from the supermarket. I did a fancy cake but everything else ourselves including soft play, whole thing including hire was about £150 for 50 people. Worth rethinking what you need and what you can do yourself

I know this is a lighthearted thread but seriously the 'joke' is the parents/adults:

Inviting the whole class - just why?
Spending £30 a head aged 5 to do something they all do all the time anyway
Spending ££££ on party bags - it's 1 child's party not everyone's

Be the parent that says 'no' - invite 5-8 children do party games at home or crafts and then a balloon and piece of cake on leaving.

It's madness!

We got a huge balloon arch on Ali express for £2! and pumped them up and made it ourselves - it took about 1.5 hours. We made a cake for £20.

I still remember being 5 and having a party ( over 45 years ago now lol) . It was fantastic.
mat my house, about 15 children playing pass the parcel , musical chairs and a slice of cake at the end. No drama. Mum made the cake and put a pippa doll in the top. It was magical.

I think you need to start looking at these things through the eyes of a child . We have all become far too complicated and made life stressful. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Also for all the extra money spent- you could save it and invest it instead in a junior isa - they will appreciate that one day a lot more than wasting it in a balloon arch!!

Buy a cake from Asda and don't bother with a balloon arch, terrible for the environment anyway!

Youre complaining about the cost but choosing expensive items…?? Get a cake from Asda and I can’t see why a 5 year old needs a balloon arch, can’t say I’ve ever seen one a kids party either. YABU

I've seen diy balloon arches for £9.
Don't waste your money on stuff that won't be remembered.

Costco cake and a few balloons. Just saved you £500 quid.

Dc(5) party at home this weekend and I've spent 50 pounds, and I know she'll have the best time ever! I could actually afford £500 but I just don't get the point?

At 5 they really don't need much to get excited, if you spend this much now you'll need to keep it up/top it for the next 18 years.

I'll have a homemade cake,a few decorations and some party bags with a couple of nice items (no plastic tat).

And yes please don't do a balloon arch, so bad for the environment. Gift them a better planet to grow up on for their birthday instead.

Bespoke cake is wasted on children - they crumble it up or only eat a little. Supermarket cakes are great and taste the same to them.

balloon arches are a stupid waste of money - if you must have one get a DIY one from home bargains - they are the same thing really.

Honestly soft play works out much less hassle - entertainment and food and usually party bag and no mess to clean up - just supply the cake and candles. Party bag wise just but or make sweet cones approx £1-1.50 each

If determined to have it at home then colin the caterpillar cake from M&S, jugs of squash, iceland party food plus sandwiches plus buy big bags of crisps etc and dump them in bowls, ice cream for desert with bowls of toppings (smarties, jelly beans etc so “make your own deasert” can be another party activity), make sweet cones for party favours and games wise get a cheap pinata from pound land and fill with cheap wrapped sweets, buy small xheap prizes or medals for game rewards (bouncy balls, mini colour pencils and colouring books, whistles, mini cars, mini medals, mini bubbles can all be bought cheaply from pound shops), buy a bag of chocolates coins and wrap one per layer for pass the parcel, or see what bouncy castle hire is