Sharing the cost on parties

Your child’s birthday party can end up costing quite a bit after the celebrations have passed. There’s the hall hire, the food the presents, and of course the Mr Ozzy Wizzpop fee. If you’re anything like me you’ll be wanting to make this cheaper without compromising on quality and making sure that your little one still has a special day. A great way to keep the costs down would be to have a joint party with another child to get a cheap kids parties. This is something that I am increasingly seeing at my children’s parties. I think it’s a great idea. I get to entertain children and give them a great time when previously I may not have had this opportunity. However this is from my point of view, is it a good idea from the parents perspective?

A typical problem could be that both parents would like different parties. For example one may prefer a themed party and the other may prefer a children’s magician. One parent may want something catered more towards the girls such as a princess party where as the other parent may require something for both boys and girls. To complicate things even further, your child may want something completely different to what you envisage.

A problem with shared parties could be that one parent may have to compromise more than they wished to do so from the outset. Additionally there may be difficulties that arise from sharing out the workload for the party. Things may have been forgotten which could lead to a problem on the actual party day. By the end of the party the parent may well have wished that they did the extra work themselves to ensure that the children’s party was to their liking and that the shared responsibility may not have been such a great idea. However this may be extreme cases. I would imagine that on the whole most parents would be fairly organised.

The best solution would be to share the party with somebody of similar interest. For example a child in their class. The benefit of this would be that the party numbers do not suddenly double as the group of friends is more than likely similar. Less party bags to prepare! It’s important that both parents have a similar idea of the party they require from the outset. Decide upon a budget together and set about to organise the best party can.

I have seen numerous children’s birthday parties organised together with two different parents. From my experience they seem to work well and everyone involved is happy. Sharing the workload equally can ensure the party is a lot less hassle. Also two brains make better than one so the party may well be improved with the expertise of two people. The question is do you have two birthday cakes or just one massive cake? That’s easy, have two massive cakes!

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