How to Make the Most of a Birthday Party at Home
Birthday parties are special events in our family because we don’t have them every year. Sure, we celebrate our kids’ birthdays every year, but the big pomp of a party that includes all of their friends is something we want them to see as special not expected. It also must be noted that since the average cost of a birthday party is at least $400 these days, doing that times 4 every year would be outrageous. So when my soon-to-be 7 year old Princess told me that she wanted her birthday party at home, I thought wonderful! Then I started to panic just a little bit. Planning parties is not a talent that God bestowed upon me. But I didn’t want to just throw some things that I purchased at a party store out and then have a glorified play-date for her party. She needed to feel special and celebrated! That’s when I remembered my friend Sarah Blake, the incredible party planner extraordinaire!
Sarah’s business, Sarah Blake Creative Celebrations, specializes in children’s birthday parties. She takes a theme and runs with it to the point that the creativity is mind blowing! So I called Sarah for help and she presented me with a menu of options that let my little Princess decide what treats were offered to her guests and what activities they did. I decided to send the invitations out myself (although Sarah did offer to do that), so the only thing I had to do before the party was pass along the RSVP’s to her and order the cake (although she said she would be glad to do that too).
The day of the party, all I had to worry about was NOTHING! Sarah arrived 1.5 hours before the party and had everything ready to go when the first guest rang the bell. Then, THE BEST PART , Sarah ran the whole party. I got to do my favorite thing; take pictures of my little loves having a wonderful time. Her running the party is a little extra that you might be tempted to skip, but honestly it is the icing on the cake for you. Because you aren’t “in charge”, you aren’t running around like crazy. The kids don’t get out of control either because they aren’t having to compete for your attention. This entire party literally happened in two rooms in my house, and the kids stayed in those two rooms. Now, how many times have you thrown a party only to have your entire house destroyed? Well, not this time chicky!
Watching the party proceed (from the sidelines, hehe), it was almost as if she had timed out each activity. First on the docket was the Frozen Manicure station, followed by getting to dress up as princesses. Then the kids got to play a few rounds of Freeze Dance. Sarah planned in some snack time, and the kids enjoyed Olaf’s Melted Water, Anna’s snowball and snowflake cookies, Melted Olaf yogurt cups, and my favorite, Elsa’s fudgy chocolate cake pops (wanted to grab a plate of these myself and hide in the closet.) Then everyone played Do You Want to Build a Snowman with their own dice and felt snowmen, and they even found time to make and decorate paper snowflakes. The kids never got bored and the party ended exactly on time. And Princess told me repeatedly that this was truly “the best birthday ever.”
Now I won’t lie to you and tell you that this was cheap. Having someone plan and execute your event is going to add a little bit to the bill. My total was $550 for Sarah’s services, BUT that included all the food, activities, decorations, set-up, clean-up (angels sang for that one), and even a candy-free, but awesome goodie bag for the kids. Had I done this shindig myself, I would have spent at least $400. The party would have sucked and then I would have spent the entire day doing everything that Sarah did. So the way I look at it, my Princess got an amazing party that she will tell her kids about and all I had to do in the end was a quick vacuum (and Sarah even offered to do THAT!) I’m more than happy to give up a month of lattes for the little extra that a planned party got me!
If you are interested in having Sarah create an awesome experience for your little munchkin, you can check her out on her web page or like her on her Facebook page to keep up with what she has in the works. I hope you have enjoyed seeing all of the fun that we had at Princess’ party. It truly was a magical event!
