Shirley's party advice part 4 - Better at party planning than Pippa Middleton

[BlatherskiteOfTheLivingDead]

New thread :) Everyone welcome.

party pics on profile....

I try to go gender neutral for my bags too. Mainly because I CBA with sorting out 2 sets of bags.

Give everyone footballs! Or dragons

Errrm, could I ever politely join your most excellent thread please?

My DD is 6 next month, and has a party booked at her gym club - half trampoline/half cheerleading. She's going to love it Me - I'm a bad of nerves already I struggle with anxiety to start with, and this is about sending me over the edge. She last had a party 2 years ago, when I hired an entertainer to do it all for me, which was so much easier. This year, while the coaches will be there to organise the kids etc, I'm still left with organising food, party bags, invites etc. And it all feels a bit much...

The main issue is that the venue is 25 miles away from us/her school, and while some have been lovely and RSVPd pretty much straight away, so far there is only 5 definite yes's. I have planned on 30 kids (number of kids in her class), at what point do I allow DD to start inviting the 'extras' she keeps talking about?

Food - Head coach (and party planner) says if they don't do catering (which they can't on this date), then most people just go down to bulk buy from McDonalds down the road. But, I was thinking of maybe doing food boxes, as not sure who would be able to leave to do the Happy Meal run - or even if I would be happy with Happy Meals But then what goes in a Food Box?

Panic not, jetcat. I am a little overwhelmed with electricians and impending plasterers and the fact that there is nowhere left to sit down in this house right now, but that all sounds very sortable to me. (translation: I'll get back to you!)

Do you want to bake cake, or buy it?

We can help - but after swimming lessons. Will be back later :)

Thanks so much!

I will probably buy the cake, as I'm not convinced my baking skills are up to scrutiny.

I should add, party is at 1.30 and as ive already gotsomething on that day, time is tight to set up food tables etc. Hence thinking about having as much done in advance as possible!

Righto im here whilst those two are busy. This is easy to sort.

Lunchboxes i just had at my party and i did: sandwich (blathers says mini pizzas are better), a little tub of mini party rings, a fairy cake, cocktail sausages, a babybel and i put crisps on the table. (in flynn rider frying pans by the way people!) bottle of fruit shoot style drink. Sandwiches i knew all the people so asked what they would all like, out of 22 kids only one had cheese. The rest had ham or jam.

Cake - buy it. In fact i'd buy a plain cake and a cheerleader cake topper.
here or
item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=260971332510

party bags- check what goes into them and if you're not convinced add something else, we discussed party bags a bit further up but for a whole class party even a quid each mounts up so either do a lucky dip with wrapped books from booksets from the bookpeople or a cone of sweets but use flumps to eek it out!

Invites, are you confident to design your own and print them out? Maybe in the style of a sporting match flyer/scoreboard.

Feel calmer now?

Oh i did grapes/blueberries in a little pot too.

Thank you

Invites - these were shop bought Minnie Mouse ones, I was panicking about running out of time so bought a shed load few. Her class have all been invited, as I figured they should get first invites, but there are at least 4 who cant come and have bothered to let me know. The issue is that there is a maximum of 30 kids allowed, due to coaching ratios etc, so I don't want to invite loads and risk them all turning up...

Food wise, thanks for that, it helps a lot. I don't really know a lot of the kids/parents (I don't do the school run) and wont get the chance to ask. I was thinking of maybe doing different coloured food boxes - each for different sandwich filling? So def ham, could I really do jam?? and maybe a couple of cheese? SHould I prepare back up sandwiches just in case? I like the idea of fruit in a pot as well, as DD loves berries

Cake - if that first cheerleading pic was red (DD's colour) it would be fab. I was toying with the idea of getting one made, there is a shop that does that nearby. Is that an expensive option do you think?

Party Bags - how could I forget the Book People I will go and check them out!

Is there anything else I should be thinking about do you think? I'm not too sure who provides party ware etc, but would I need that if I were doing food boxes?

We don't mind questions :)

I would definitely check what they provide in the party bags. Are they a part of the party package or an added extra? If they're no good and/or expensive, it might be nicer to do your own.

You wont need anything else except lunchboxes, mini pors so you can do it all a bit cheaper eeking stuff out and carton/bottles of drink makes it far easier.

I didnt think jam was a valid option but stealth told me they were most asked for at hers. I then asked parents (i know you cant go that far) and i was shocked that the majority said jam! Its obviously a parenting secret that we're all giving jam sandwiches!

If you have a valid reason to push for rsvp's that should be ok. Stealth says get your dc to go around saying we need an answer or you wont get a party bag and as your venue us providing them, its a genuine threat.

You could get a cake printed up in a big asda or tescos they usually do them cheaply. Have you got a gym team logo? A team shot or something?

Not guilty on the jam sandwiches - I so cheese or ham and that's it.

If you could stretch to £1.50 each you could get them a pair of cheer leading pompoms each from Ebay...

Cake - if you have the logo, and don't want to bake, definitely find a Tesco or Asda who print cakes and get it done there.

Invitations - be ruthless, but maybe also try and facilitate lift sharing since it is so far, if you can?

Ha ha sorry stealth who said jam was popular at parties then?

Party bags are included with the price, I will chase up tomorrow to find out what is in them and post back here for your expert opinions

DD is a bit of a gobshite talkative wee soul, so will impress on her the need to tell her little pals about if they don't reply then they cat get a party bag - that is genius!

Cake, yes they have a logo, but its copywrited, so not too sure where i would stand on that I can pm the link to the website if you'd like to see the colours? (DD also on website in Cheer costume)

From what I can gather, those that are coming are lift sharing, so maybe that's already in the pipeline, but I know I am seeing a couple of mums on Friday, so will put the suggestion forward thanks

Ham and cheese it is then!

Copyright on logo could be an issue - Tesco et al won't print anything if they think it is copyrighted.

You could contact the seller of that cake topper and ask if it could be done in red?

this seller can make it on icing

because its on icing not rice paper it would be far more robust. And i doubt you'd have the copyright worries if you got permission to use the image from the gym club? Have you got a squad photo or a shot of dd in her kit?

On the question of getting a cake made - yes, probably expensive (£40ish, at a guess) but maybe worth it if you can afford it and it's less stress.

Ooh, I like that one Doc'sWife (had originally typed DW, but forgot which nickname you go by - I could always ask if the club if they would mind...

See, it didnt even cross my mind to contact the seller re the ebay one - thanks so much for helping me figure this all out guys

Stealth - I was looking at cakes in M&S, which were around the £30 mark, so I guess I could always enquire how much getting a cake made would be - DD would love a trampoline cake -even more so if it had a cheerleader bouncing on it! (pics on profile of DD and her mini cheer troup)

I have ordered the food boxes from ebay, so that's a start - yes?

If you were looking for a cake like this although the modelling on that one is not great IMHO then you might well end up paying more - but it would be worth a phone call.

I like these to go into cupcakes (or rolls, in place of sandwiches??)

There is also a whole set of "go team" cheerleading party supplies, but I can only see them listed from a US supplier that doesn't ship to the UK

The cakes in m&s are quite steep. If you got the personalused topper made you could get a plain celebration cake from tesco far cheaper and then you glue the topper on. Even better they do a value cake with balloons on that you could pick off and re-cover with the topper.

Your profile isnt public so cant see the colours but could we use this somewhere?http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=200853967671&index=20&nav=SEARCH&nid=14324023519

Oh and call me dw or whatever, my dh aint even a doctor!

Ah tits try again..

item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=200853967671&index=20&nav=SEARCH&nid=14324023519

PMSL that it was DW, not me, who introduced Playmobil into the equation for a change

Seriously you guys are amazing

DW - I love the playmobil figure, I can see a spending spree on ebay coming up, as I also love those cheerleader figures Stealth I think I am probably going to go with a bought cake with a topper on, as the party has already cost me quite a bit, and funds are tight this near Christmas

Profile should now be public, even though the pics are a bit small sorry.

Playmobil cheerleader is bought