How much should a birthday party cost?

[Ge0rgina]

My husband shared this article with me and some of the stats took my breath away!

"The average cost of a child's birthday party has risen to £214, with 9% spending 'at least' £800"

I hope I'm never in that 9%! In fact I know I will never be! Fair enough, if you can spend that kind of money for a 16th, 18th or 21st then I completely understand.. But on average?! Crazy.

I'd like to think I've spent on average about £150 on birthday parties each year.. Some have been MUCH cheaper than the others though.

.. How much would you say you spend on average each year?

This is my daughters first proper birthday party with friends from nursery. We've hired soft play centre at £110 then have to provide good for 30 kids so looking at £150 x

I love old fashioned ones at home, with pass the parcel, musical chairs etc and themed tea like pirates or dragons etc. Not sure on cost, maybe c£30.

ho hum, I tend to think a big proper party "out" will be about £200. Most we've actually spent was almost £300 (combat games for a 12yo).

I'm pretty amazed by that £800, too. I wonder if they are adding travel costs, maybe, like if a child goes to Disneyland Florida??!

I would agree with the £150 mark, bit less if at home. I could easily spend far more though!

I think £200 is a good average. Pre-school maybe not but, once they're at school, there's a little pressure to invite either all the boys/girls or the whole class to a party rather than select half a dozen and risk offending the rest. So if you're talking minimum 15 kids (and most people don't have a house big enough for that many or want 15 rampaging about high on cake!) then you're looking at off-site parties, play venues, hiring a community centre etc. £200 doesn't go very far.

Most expensive was £84 for 6 kids to a Spy Mission place.
6 kids bowling was about £50.
This year was around £30 for 4 of them to go to a roller disco place.
Most parties have been at home, max 8 kids in total, probably around £30-£40 cost all in.

I'm a children's entertainer, and £200 for a full party package is reasonable round here, not including food, cake or room hire.
People here are typically cash rich but time poor, if you have the time, imagination and energy to put into a party you can do it for far less than £200, but for a lot of people it's worth the money.

@ChasingSquirrels. How do you pick 4, 6 or 8 and not upset all the others? (V impressed at your bravery.. )

Cogito I think it all depends on your dc. dd1 is struggling to keep to 10 for her 9th birthday. dd2 wants 2 friends. If she really stretched it she could invite maybe 5. She just prefers small frienship groups and small parties.