You might not have 5 figures to drop on your child’s birthday party (you know, the one you’ll be able to host once people can safely be in crowds again), but that doesn’t mean you can’t throw a party that feels like a million bucks.
Here are a handful of budget-friendly ideas to make your kids birthday an off the charts celebration their friends will talk about for years.
1. Organized Kids Games
One of the best ways to reduce the total cost of the entire party is by coming up with activities that don’t cost money. There are hundreds of kids games that you can incorporate into the party including tag, bobbing for apples, obstacle courses, pinatas, jumbo lawn games and more. By creating little sections that kids can go to, you should be able to put together an extremely fun and versatile party that feels like an expensive professional party planner put it together…even if it was DIY. Organized games are an exciting way keep everyone involved and busy throughout the entire duration of the party.
2. Fancy Food Stations
Rather than dump all eats on one single banquet table, consider creating mini, themed food stations throughout your party space. Food stations are often seen at more lavishly planned occasions that are fully catered, but you can still utilize this idea even if you’re cooking the food and setting them up yourself. To bring in that fancy feeling, add quaint chalkboard signage, farmhouse-style glass beverage dispensers and a volunteer attendant to assist with pouring and serving.
A few ideas for food stations for a kids party can be:
- Drink Station (lemonade, juice, water)
- Fruit & Veggie Station
- Cheese & Cold Cuts Station
- Sub Sandwich Station
- Sides Station (chips, potato salad etc.)
- Sweets Station
3. Photo Booth
These days, just about every formal event comes standard with a photo booth; from weddings to bar mitzvahs to quinceaneras. And costing as little as a few hundred dollars for the more economical booths, why not reserve one for your kids birthday party? It’s a high end party feature for a low end price.
As a company that offers photo booth rental in Buffalo, NY, we can attest to the tremendous impact a quality photo booth has on every party. It breaks the ice by inspiring kids and adults alike to toss on a funny mask, hat or pair of glasses and hop in for a silly photo together.
And while the interaction and entertainment is definitely motivation enough to book a photo booth, don’t forget the value of having the lasting memories of all the photos taken during the party. Most photo booth packages include either photo strip prints, digital photo copies or a hand built memory book with prints and personal messages. In the end, you and your kid walk away with professional photos of them and their guests have a blast together.
4. Event Tent Rental
Renting out a venue is usually one of the most costly parts of hosting a party. After all, if your kid has a lot of friends, you will need to find a venue that has enough space for everyone that is attending. These venues can get very expensive because they are providing so much along with the venue. One of the best ways to cut down on the cost without sacrificing luxurious style would be renting a formal event tent.
You can get tent rentals in varying sizes which will allow you to throw the perfect birthday party outdoors for your child. This can help you avoid the sky-high costs associated with renting out a single venue and help you provide a special space outdoors for shade, protection from rain or as stations where various activities are enjoyed. Using a tent rental not only saves you money, but it gives kids the freedom to be outdoors and to enjoy the various activities even more.
5. Craft Making Activities
While supplying party favors is typically apart of any birthday party checklist, you can combine the party favors with an activity to avoid having to hire more entertainment. Have all of the attendees sit down at the craft table and allow them to create their own party favors which they will be able to take home once the party is over.
6. Professional Speaker Equipment
As a local Buffalo disc jockey team, one thing we can tell you is that throwing a party without music is a surefire way to suppress the energy. Being able to have high-quality music entertainment at your kid’s party not only makes it more exciting, but it also makes it feel much more expensive and premium overall even if you’re saving money on a DJ and simply running a setlist off an iPod or computer.
But the key in doing this right is having professional sound equipment at the party. The right equipment supplies the entire party and all of the kids with their favorite music and provide a very exciting and premium atmosphere. Renting out this equipment can allow you to really be able to energize the kids and provide them with endless amounts of musical entertainment that they can have fun with. Kids love to dance and by having speakers and dj equipment at the venue, you can provide them with all of their favorite music that they can dance to.
7. Affordable Entertainment
When you bring in professional entertainers, your party will feel like a higher end affair; even if the entertainers were very reasonably priced. For kids, there are a lot of options, such as face painters, animal balloon makers, dress up characters and magicians. With a designated time slot on the agenda, you can provide top notch entertainment in a short window that fits in your budget.
The key is finding things that will allow you to save money on your kid’s party without sacrificing fun or style. This is exactly what you are able to get with the tips above. Having fun and exciting cost effective activities at your kid’s party is one of the best ways to minimize spending without sacrificing enjoyment. Just because you want to throw a party that doesn’t cost a fortune doesn’t mean you have to settle for something that is totally run of the mill. Get creative with the budget you have and surprise yourself with how special it can feel.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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