When did B-Day parties get so crazy expensive??

[myprincessgirlisa]

My DDs 7th birthday is coming up & asked her what she wanted to do.

She wants to go swimming!!!

So i started researching all the local & not so local pools & water parks.

well to my surprise the average cost was $30 a kid at a 10 kid min!!!
Thats $300 for 10 kids!!!!!
It DID include all these "bells & whistles" like treat bags & food, BUT they dont even offer a package where you could just do swimming & cake.

well i started looking at other stuff like Libby Lu, Justice, My party princess, Michaels crafts, park district, local indoor arcades......ALL of them are at least $20+ a kid with a min # of kids!!!

at this point i am thinking i wil just take her & a few friends swimming & then go out for Pizza afterward??

do any fun places to have a birthday party exist wher you DONT have to have only 1 package choice or you dont have to pay $100s

i know theres always the "party at home" but i dont want the ILs to come & think its an all night beerfest...its a kids party, not an outdoor "lounge"

 

[HelenePA]

Next week I am paying 11$ per person for a mini golf party for my 3 yr old son... Growing up I never got "parties" I am a new years eve baby so I live thru my kids but OMG this party is going to run me at least 300$ and then I still have 2 more parties to pay for this summer for my 2 dd's. Then a welcome new baby party since I am not having nor do I want a shower but I'd still like a small maybe bbq when #4 is born... good thing DH has a 2nd job.

 

[pigget74]

Do you have a YMCA in your area or a local pool? I know our college has a pool and we can do parites there and it is $3 per kid and we supply everything but the lifeguards. The Y has a member rate and a non member rate for birthday parties. Good luck.

 

[jellybeans0607]

i refuse to play the game. we love going to these extravegant parties, then we come home and talk about the host and how much money she spent.
last week end we went to a neighbors party for her 6yo. she had 6 tables set up wioth chairs a=under a tent, she rented the bounce house, had a bubble blower, a port a potty, hot dog spinners, cotton candy makers, popcorn popper, 3 seperate sprinkle balls for the kids to get wet, dress up costumes that the kids could keep, swords and shields for the boys, goodie bags...and i know even more. sure we had a good time, but most was unnecessary.

on sunday night we had my daughters 8th bday. she had 3 friends sleepover and i bought 2 pizzas and a cake.
and as far as i could see the kids had just as much fun at mine.

 

[2dogmom]

My DD is turning 8 next month and we are having a bowling party at the bowling alley. It is about $10 / kid, but it is 90 minutes of bowling, shoe rental, drinks, goodie bag, 10+ kids and birthday kid is free. I added on $2/kid to have pizza instead of the hot dogs that come with the $10 party. I think it was a decent deal if I were going to have it away from the house.

We also considered mini-golf and roller skating, but this was the cheapest. The past 2 years she had sleepovers and with pizza and chips and drinks and goodie bags it was under $70. (She grounded herself out of a sleepover this year.)

 

[RMulieri]

They have gotten ridiculous.The new thing in my area is Bounce U which is a lot of indoor inflatable stuff to jump on slide on etc.Now granted the price includes set up, clean up, all the food,goodie bags, and prty attendants.....$400 for the pkg.Not sure what the Min or Max # is.I heard the price and said "No thanks"

 

[Jaci]

My DD had her party at the pool we are a member of. It was a 2hr private party for up to 50 people for $100. We invited everyone we could think of! LOL After 50 people, it would have been an addition $25 for up to 25 more people. It only included lifeguards and the pool usage. I bought $30 worth of cupcakes and water and we had the biggest birthday bash ever!!! For party favors, my sister found 6 pair of googles for $4 and bought 4 packages...each kid got googles and I spent a little over $17.

 

[mamaLori05]

Tell me about it!!! We had a b-day party for my dd at the end of April for her 3rd at a bounce house place and it was almost $300, but it did include 25 kids. Originally we thought that was insane, but then we started looking around at just renting one bounce house and having the party at our house, and it was actually more expensive when you added in food and stuff. The parties are crazy expensive, but you know, my dd still talks about her party and how much fun she had. To me that is worth every penny!!!

 

[thegrimdwarf]

I agree, kid's parties are NUTS. I think it's all part of a Keeping Up With The Jones' mentality - businesses know it, and they fill demand. My husband and I refuse to buy into the idea that our children's birthday parties need to impress anyone. We keep parties small (family and my children's close friends - not my good friends who are childless, my husband's college buddies, etc, etc, etc, like some of the parties we've been to. My brother had over 100 people at my niece's first birthday party, and there were exactly 9 kids there - it was insane, and my poor niece was beyond overwhelmed.

Anyway - I appreciate the fact that you've asked your daughter what she wants, so you're now sort of obligated to deliver. But going forward, it might be a good idea to let her pick a theme, and you do the planning according to your budget.

I hope she has a great birthday!

 

[Minniemouse07]

We do our parties at our local YMCA. It is a flat rate for up to 25 kids. $180 for a gym party and an extra $50 (flat rate) for pool time afterwards.

Their parties include paper products, drinks (fruit punch/lemonade) and a birthday cake. I bring pizza and loot bags.

This year we are skipping the party though. I'm taking dd to WDW for her 7th bday.... just the two of us (leaving dh and ds home).
It is a bit more than $300 but our memories will be priceless!

 

[irene_dsc]

We're going through the same thing here. Ds really wanted a pool party, and the Y is the only place I could find where we would get the whole place to ourselves. (The idea of sharing a huge pool with hundreds of other people was a supervision nightmare - I can barely keep track of 2 kids there, much less a bunch of other random kids!) But, our Y charges a min of $145 for a party room, plus $9.50 per swimmer. That could've ended up pretty pricey. So, we are doing a Backyard Birthday Splash party, with the Slip-n-slide, water balloons, and the sprinkler, plus do-it-yourself sundaes... (I just made the invitations last night)

 

[HGD24]

I really can't justify celebrating every birthday with anything but a cake and some close friends. We played dodgeball, kickball, hide 'n seek, etc at our birthday parties...we made up our own fun, didn't have it supplied to us. There were no hired clowns, bouncy houses, arts & crafts tables, etc. It's a birthday party and no matter how big you go, by the time the next kid's party comes around, the other kids are going to forget all about your child's party and move on to the next one. In mine and DH's family, you got a slightly bigger celebration for your 5th, 10th, 13th & 16th birthdays, but no where near the type of parties people have today. Maybe just more people invited and sometimes at a larger location (a hall or someone else's house who offered the space).

Since you've already asked your DD what she would like, you are in kind of a spot. I agree with a pp who said that next year, maybe just have her select a theme and go with a smaller party at home with that theme.

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

im glad to see im not crazy

i dont think im on the spot about asking her what she wanted cause DD is SO easy going & she would be happy if it was just me & her...the friends would be a bonus.

i think what i might do is take her & a friend or 2 to the pool/water park & around 4pm take em for pizza & depending on what ive spent & other stuff....a trip to the movies!!!!
I can manage that with coupons to save & im sure she will have a blast

 

[Iott Family]

My DD is turning 8 next month and we are having a bowling party at the bowling alley. It is about $10 / kid, but it is 90 minutes of bowling, shoe rental, drinks, goodie bag, 10+ kids and birthday kid is free. I added on $2/kid to have pizza instead of the hot dogs that come with the $10 party. I think it was a decent deal if I were going to have it away from the house.

We also considered mini-golf and roller skating, but this was the cheapest. The past 2 years she had sleepovers and with pizza and chips and drinks and goodie bags it was under $70. (She grounded herself out of a sleepover this year.)

She "grounded" herself out of a sleepover party that would be more cost effective so you are paying $$ extra $$ for her to have a bowling party? Huh?

 

[pweyl36]

We usally ask them where they want to go for dinner and get them a nice presant. last yr we took both kids to Great Wolf Lodge for there bd's. There bd's are sept and oct. They loved it and my nieces live 30mins away and we picked them up and took them too. They loved so much they want to do the same this yr.

 

[MandM-Mom]

Birthday parties are expensive these days! My daughters always have large parties, but thats because I never did so we go a bit overboard. We have alot of kids because I don't like to leave people out, but I always try to keep it a $10-12 per child. My dd4 had her birthday at Indoor Skate and bounce house place this year and it was $227 for 18 kids it included pizza drinks unlimited skating and bouncing. DD will be 7 tomorrow and next Saturday we are doing a Movie Party at Regal Cinemas, 15 girls and there American Girl Dolls to see the new Kit Movie, 11.50 a girl includes unllimited soda and popcorn and movie, not bad add a cupcake cake and I am a bit under $200.

Also our Pizza Huts do make your own pizza parties for 3.00 a kid, we did this one year for DD fifth birthday, they all had a great time. THey make there own personal pan and then you buy the drinks and bring the cake. Very economical and they had fun

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

I do a "big party" every other year for my kids... So one year... its a small family gathering and the next year can be a biggie....Last year we combined my 2 and 4 y.o's b-days at JW Tumbles and I think it was around $300 - this included nothing. But at least I was knocking out 2 birds w/ 1 stone.
This year, I'm not sure.... they are both in preschool now and both have a good amount of friends.... Oldest is turning 5 and thats kind of a milestone in kid world....

 

[rt2dz]

To the pp who thinks it's about keeping score with others and the pp who tallies up the host's receipts...

Well, my kids have big, “extravagant” parties that are really, really fun that everyone thinks cost a fortune. They don’t. Everyone I know pays way more than I do. The one at-home party we had was much more work and cost me more than this big “blow outs”. You just have to know what you are doing.

DS7 had his last party as a swim party, at the YMCA. They do parties for members only (facility or program, different rates). The facility member rate is super low and includes the life guards. The program rate still includes the life guards (all the other pools do not include the life guards), but is a lot higher. Since that’s were my kids play sports and I work out, we are facility members. I spent very little—they do everything and provide just about everything, and have a lot of options being a big club with tons of different activities. Lots of people think I spent $100s. I did not.

When DS7 turned 6, he had it at a big, expensive pizza place. I negotiated a (much) lower weekday rate. Our district didn’t have school the next day so it was like having it on a weekend. I paid less than half of what the published price was; they were just happy to have the business on an otherwise dead night.

DS4 last birthday seemed like it should have cost a fortune too. Sorry, but I have a childless friend who rents out those bouncy things and she let me have one to use. We then rented the $50 community room with kids’ gym that had a great climbing structure and video games. The cake was homemade to look like a castle, but most thought it came from a bakery. I had heard people talking about how much I must have spent. I laughed; if they only knew. Even the goody bags (not the junky type) cost me under $20 for 18 kids. $80 for the whole whopping party, including the meal and paper goods for kids and adults!!

I also know my sister has had some big ones for her kids that cost her $5. Yup, she won a raffle with the one ticket she bought. She also has done some silent auction/tricky tray ones for charities that she has one. I don’t think she has ever spent more than $75 for what might otherwise be $500 party. You never know what someone spends.

Every birthday party is fun. I, personally, just believe in giving my kids what they want. I can afford it (or it wouldn't happen) and I don't spend anywhere near as much as most people think. I don't do it because of what other people do, I do it because it is what *MY* child wants. It's the one day a year that is all about them and making their wants come true.

 

[Ellester]

This year we are giving each of our kids a $150 budget for their entire party. DS4 had his party at our gymnastics' gym. They provided the cake and all the paper goods. I think we had 10 kids total for the $150. We didn't do goody bags. My DD10 decided she wanted a pirate themed party at home so she could invite more people. She spent her money on plates, napkins, a party CD and goody bags. She and DH came up with a scavenger hunt, they played limbo, bobbed for donuts, did the Cha-cha slide and just ran around like crazy. All the food and everything was included in her $150. It was a great budgeting exercise for her. DD6 has her birthday in August. She is busy debating whether to have 8 kids total at Monkey Joe's or be able to invite a few more to a party at home.

A good friend was thinking of renting a local water park for her dd's party (they have plenty of money) but ended up buying a slip-n-slide, water guns and balloons and a few other outside water toys and the kids had an absolute blast. She made PBJ's and snocones and called it a day.

 

[Elmo888]

im glad to see im not crazy

i dont think im on the spot about asking her what she wanted cause DD is SO easy going & she would be happy if it was just me & her...the friends would be a bonus.

i think what i might do is take her & a friend or 2 to the pool/water park & around 4pm take em for pizza & depending on what ive spent & other stuff....a trip to the movies!!!!
I can manage that with coupons to save & im sure she will have a blast

I completely agree that parties are out of hand. Even if they were less expensive, how much quality time do 19 guests spend with the birthday child over 2 hours? It just seems like quantity over quality. And if an at home party cost seems equivalent to renting a facility (whatever it is), it is probably due to the number of kids. That, I think, is where the facility parties seem attractive - the cost per kids is low, but we just never invite that many kids. It is just too chaotic to me. At home parties are usually less expensive in general because (my) home can't accommodate 20 children. And I don't want to manage a party with 20 children.

I am all for keeping it small. I stick to the rule of the max number of kids equals the new age, i.e., if DD is turning 7, she can invite 7 people. This is a max, and I've been having her pick her guests since her 5th birthday (1st, 2nd and 3rd birthdays were family only, and her 4th birthday was very informal with just cupcakes during playgroup at a park.) For DD's 8th birthday, I took her and three friends to the new AG store. It wasn't cheap (I paid for lunch at the bistro and $10 gift certificates for her three guests), but it wasn't $400 like the AG "birthday package" either. And it was so special since she hadn't set foot in an AG store before this birthday outing.

In addition to the cost, the other problem in my opinion is setting expectations. How will a huge party be topped next year or the year after?

My DD sounds like yours - it doesn't take much for her to have a good time. She'd be thrilled with a few friends at the pool and then home for pizza and cake.

My only rec to your plan is to have your DD invite either 1 or 3 friends - with girls, it is best to stick with even numbers. If she invites 2 friends, then there are three girls, including your DD, and that often doesn't go well.

I would do whatever works for you - don't worry about what others do.