Whole class party in London how to keep costs down?

[skyfly]

Hi all, I’m hosting my first ever bd party for whole class of 7 y.olds. My head is spinning as I look at the costs: cheapest hall I managed to find is £40 per hour (120 for 3h: 2h party and 1h set up/clean up), entertainer is £200 for 1h or £290 for 2h (for 20-30 kids), bouncy castle hire is £100 and decorations, food, cake, party bags will amount to another £150-200 and I looked for cheap supermarket options. Even if we don’t go for entertainer (although I hardly imagine how to keep so many kids under control without), it still adds up to minimum £500.

How do others manage to organise the parties in London and not break the bank? Am I missing something?

[Meem321]

£150 for party bags??!!!
Organise your own games and save on the entertainer.
Bouncy castle surely unnecessary.
Reduce party to 1.5 hrs and just hire hall for 2 hrs and get friends to help clear up.

[Dacadactyl]

150-200 on party bags?! No way. I hate them. They're just filled with plastic tat. I'd just cut up a costco cake and put that in the bag with nothing else. I've done this myself in the past. That'd save a bit of cash.

[skyfly]

@Meem321

£150 for party bags??!!!
Organise your own games and save on the entertainer.
Bouncy castle surely unnecessary.
Reduce party to 1.5 hrs and just hire hall for 2 hrs and get friends to help clear up.

I think £150-200 for decorations, food, cake and party bags! Not just party bags but it’s still whole lot of money and it’s if I go with really cheap options

[mitogoshi]

£40 seems expensive for a hall, but reduce it to 2.5 hours and the party 1.5 hours. Organise own games, make own food, cheap tat for party bags and supermarket cake, should get it under £100.

[mynameiscalypso]

Why do you need a bouncy castle and an entertainer? Most kids parties I've been to, they just want to run around and poke each other with sticks. When is it for? We've had a few all class parties in a park (where there's also a bandstand/covered area).

[skyfly]

@Dacadactyl

150-200 on party bags?! No way. I hate them. They're just filled with plastic tat. I'd just cut up a costco cake and put that in the bag with nothing else. I've done this myself in the past. That'd save a bit of cash.

Sorry I meant £150-200 for decorations, food, cake and party bags.

[winterplumage]

We hired community places, like the local nursery, park, drop-in or community garden. No entertainer, just food, drink, music and some activities (treasure hunt, musical chairs, etc.).

Also, just going to one of those places with soft play. They usually have a party deal.

Another way, at that sge, was to share with a classmate whose birthday is close, so you and the other parents share the cost.

[skyfly]

@mitogoshi

£40 seems expensive for a hall, but reduce it to 2.5 hours and the party 1.5 hours. Organise own games, make own food, cheap tat for party bags and supermarket cake, should get it under £100.

It’s the cheapest I found in the area, the rest are £50-60 per hour. Not sure I m capable of keeping 25+ kids entertained on my own for 1h30-2h, hence thought of some sort of entertainment

[FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain]

hall - £120 for
entertainer is £200 for 1h or £290 for 2
bouncy castle hire is £100

I've done several whole class parties and never had an entertainer. They do a surprisingly good job of entertaining each other, throw in a bouncy castle, balloons and a 'disco corner' where you put on a playlist of kid friendly music and they were all happy, red-faced, sweaty like crazy things.

Have you contacted Council leisure centres? The one near me does Sports hall with bouncy castle, some inflatable stuff like sumo suit, giant games and provision of tables/chairs £120 for a 2 hr party and 30 mins either side to set up/close down.

decorations, food, cake, party bags will amount to another £150-200

Think about the space, if it's big will decorations be worth it? We got banners and all sorts the first year but actually when we put them up they looked tiny and inconsequential. The next year we just bought big bags of balloons and blew them up to throw around and paper tablecloths so about £10. Paper plates and cups added another £5.

Food £50 - cheese or jam sandwiches, big box of supermarket brand crisp packets, jammy dodgers/oreos/party rings, mini rolls/fairy cakes, cherry tomatoes/cucumber rounds, blueberries/melon chunks. Jugs of squash or cheap lemonade. Keep it simple, they are not interested in eating and see it as a blocker to having fun. They will sit for the bare minimum of time acceptable and eat very little. If you buy lots of food you will be taking it home or throwing it away.

Party bags £20 - sweet cones, a couple of balloons each (tidying up for you) and a slice of cake. Go to a cash and carry if you have one or a shop that sells the big tubs of pick n mix sweets.

Cake £20 from the supermarket

[coffeetofunction]

Bouncy castle or entertainer, you definitely don't need both. 1.5 hours for a party is more than enough. I'd also cut back on decorations and we always have a cheaper cake for parties, homemade in the past as well. I've never done party bags, either a book or bubbles or a small box of sweets, homemade sweet cones are good, I've also done a colouring book and pencils as well as play dough. When I've done food I've done "pack lunches" a brown bag label for each child with a sandwich pre ordered, crisps, a biscuit, a drink and a piece of fruit.

[skyfly]

@winterplumage

We hired community places, like the local nursery, park, drop-in or community garden. No entertainer, just food, drink, music and some activities (treasure hunt, musical chairs, etc.).

Also, just going to one of those places with soft play. They usually have a party deal.

Another way, at that sge, was to share with a classmate whose birthday is close, so you and the other parents share the cost.

Cheapest soft play in our area is at £700 for 25 kids 🤦🏼‍♀️

[greateasternboatway]

For party favours you could get a load of books like these from the works and give everyone one each and a piece of cake - no bag needed! https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/childrens-book-collections/smile-with-story-times-10-kids-picture-books-bundle/9781788817837.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-r-vBhC-ARIsAGgUO2BYu6Q4GsmyvVU8FSpy83dar7wfFshOzSlFALuRejh3Gw4LJlRbmfcaAoKdEALw_wcB

Organise your own games - musical chairs, pin the tail on something, pass the parcel etc. Put music on a speaker and everybody dances. Can you borrow a projector to put some YouTube dance videos on? Get bubble wands/a bubble gun, glitter tattoos, giant tennis rackets and shuttlecocks, skipping ropes, ingredients for slime, cheap fairy cakes and icing to decorate them. Food and drink wise - squash, cartons or water and tea/coffee for parents. Big beige buffet for food and supermarket cake, order a topper off Etsy if you like - done.

Also agree with others reduce the time of the party down.

[Thisismynewusernamedoyoulikeit]

Pay for 2.5 hours at the hall so kids come for 90 minutes only, bouncy castle or entertainer if you like but certainly not both, do it mid afternoon so no meal needed, supermarket cake and candles, thank you cards instead of party bags, some balloons and a banner.

100+100+20+5+20=£250

[Needmorelego]

Just don't do it.
For 7 year olds you just need half a dozen friends at home.
Pass the parcel, pin the tail on the donkey, musical statues.
A few pizzas and crisps.
Party bag of piece of the cake, packet of smarties and something like a Hot Wheels car.

[BringMeSunshineAllDayLong]

We've always gone to the park (May and September birthdays) we have a hut (properly shite thing int he park) you can rent for £30. Food in there. Tell everyone to wear waterproofs if raining. Do loads of silly games. Eat food. Sweets instead of party bags. Hurray!

[Talipesmum]

Yes, whole class hall parties are expensive. But you don’t need both entertainer and a bouncy castle. One of those and a few games (musical silly faces is a good one to end on) and some party food should do it.

One way to halve all the costs is to share the party with another child in the class with a birthday within the same month or so. Makes a big difference to costs if there’s anyone suitable.

[Ariela]

Do you know any other parents in class have a birthday same sort of time of year? Ask if they'd like to split costs and have a joint party. Then whole class is invited but the invite instruction is split amongst the children and to only to buy 1 present for 1 child.
You can divvy food prep up by family, and with 1 (smaller) cake per child
Entertainment costs - split if you have an entertainer, or ask 1 parent to do a pass the parcel, another musical statues, etc.
Gift bags - buy the same and split costs per family.

You'll be popular for keeping everyone's costs down.

[Ariela]

@Talipesmum great minds...

[idontthinkimunresonable]

We did pizza express!

[Talipesmum]

@Ariela

@Talipesmum great minds...

😊