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Typical cost for a kids birthday party? (1 Viewer)

When we take the lad and 3/4 of his friends to a movie and then home for a sleepover with pizza it runs about $100.  When we had a cookout in the local park with a pinata, ballon toss and marmallow shooters it cost may 20-30 bucks more.

 
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Usually comes to about a rack.  $400 to rent a place, $100 pizza, $100 on goodie bags, $60-ish on a cake, and another couple hundred on the random crap by wife buys for it.

 
Depends...

Are we talking small backyard party or champagne room at the chuckie cheese type party?

 
cstu said:
Usually comes to about a rack.  $400 to rent a place, $100 pizza, $100 on goodie bags, $60-ish on a cake, and another couple hundred on the random crap by wife buys for it.
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This is about right for NYC.  It's ends up being about 60-70 per kid for what always seems to be about 15 kids.

 
Sammy3469 said:
This is about right for NYC.  It's ends up being about 60-70 per kid for what always seems to be about 15 kids.
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The best part is my daughter comes home with 20 presents we don't have room for.  The party is her gift, we don't buy her anything else.

 
Wife just said 300-400 in burbs here. 150 to rent a place (ice skating, splash pad, roller rink type level) plus food and goodie bags. 

 
Growing up my parents spent exactly zero..instead of just a cheese and pepperoni pizza I got to add a couple of items.  For my daughters my wife used to get a hotel suite attached to and local mall for them and

6-8 friends. Usually ended up 3-4 hundred.

My wife and I never had squat growing so it was worth doing it for them.

 
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Holy ####, what happened to a Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake, a gallon of ice cream, paper hats and balloons?

LOL @ spending a rack on the party, but no gift. That'll teach her to never be spoiled!

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Holy ####, what happened to a Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake, a gallon of ice cream, paper hats and balloons?

LOL @ spending a rack on the party, but no gift. That'll teach her to never be spoiled!
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It's just what's done in NYC.  No one has room for a party in their apartment, so at best you are renting your community room for $250, spending $150 on pizza, $50 on cupcakes, $100 on decorations/favors.  That's $550 and about as cheap as I've seen anyone be able to do it once the kids are in preschool.  

You can get by cheaper with toddlers, but that ship has sailed.

 
Probably going to do a party for my kids 5th in March.   We usually just go to Disney.  Planning that crap is a pita.  We still do like a small party with the cake & all, but just family.  I'm dreading invitations, goody bags, cake, presents, etc.  

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
Holy ####, what happened to a Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake, a gallon of ice cream, paper hats and balloons?

LOL @ spending a rack on the party, but no gift. That'll teach her to never be spoiled!
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She's not even aware that she didn't get a gift from us, there's so many after the party that she doesn't even notice. 

What happened to it is the city of Los Angeles and hell no are we inviting 20 kids and parents to a birthday at our house.  We did it once, that was enough.

 
A rack?  WTF?  A tour of your local pro stadium should be free, have the wife sweet talk the promotions dept into letting her use a suite (don't ask, don't tell), and maybe $100 on cake/food.  Racks should only be involved when discussing hot chicks and gambling losses. 

 
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Typically about 300. I think I've figured out the trick. 

Now that my kids are making new friends outside of the neighborhood, I like to rent public places.  Hosting is cheaper, but then you run the risk of crappy parents either hanging out for several hours or dropping their kids and coming late to get them. 

Host it from 1-4pm.  Serve cake and finger foods. Let parents know if they leave their kids, you HAVE to leave by 4:15 or so in order to make the family dinner birthday party. 

So thats about $150 to rent a place, $50 on a present from the parents and another $100 or so on cake, snacks, decorations and some cheapo party gifts. 

 
James Daulton said:
A rack?  WTF?  A tour of your local pro stadium should be free, have the wife sweet talk the promotions dept into letting her use a suite (don't ask, don't tell), and maybe $100 on cake/food.  Racks should only be involved when discussing hot chicks and gambling losses. 
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So when discussing hot chicks, we're talking $1000, but when it comes to your wife free things are expected.  Noted.

 
Couple hundred was typical.

Wife does the cake (and does well...her mom has decorated cakes and taught decorating for years...tastes way better than most store or bakeries too).

This year was about 8 kids at Dave and Busters for my son.  Not a bad deal getting food and game cards for his friends.  Though, that place is a total rip for those damn ticket games all the kids love.  He has done that...best one was a party with like 4 friends at a bowling alley.  Place was dead...had a few lanes and pizza and stuff and they hung out and all brought change and I gave them a ton of quarters to play video games.  That wasn't too expensive either.

Daughter has done Pump it up (inflatable place...the damn chuck e cheese...)

Goodie bags may be the dumbest things ever though.  Waste of money for the parents throwing the party and kids just end up going home with a bunch of crap their parents don't want them bringing home anyway.

 
cstu said:
Usually comes to about a rack.  $400 to rent a place, $100 pizza, $100 on goodie bags, $60-ish on a cake, and another couple hundred on the random crap by wife buys for it.
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What kind of random crap?

how much is actually useful to the party?

 
Max Power said:
Typically about 300. I think I've figured out the trick. 

Now that my kids are making new friends outside of the neighborhood, I like to rent public places.  Hosting is cheaper, but then you run the risk of crappy parents either hanging out for several hours or dropping their kids and coming late to get them. 

Host it from 1-4pm.  Serve cake and finger foods. Let parents know if they leave their kids, you HAVE to leave by 4:15 or so in order to make the family dinner birthday party. 

So thats about $150 to rent a place, $50 on a present from the parents and another $100 or so on cake, snacks, decorations and some cheapo party gifts. 
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Yep.  Last year a did a big involved party package at a kids place thing, I was close to RACK status by the time that was all said and done.    

This year we're doing exactly what you said above.  Pavilion rental for 3 hours in the park, playground, pizza, cake.    .2 racks.   

This year > last year

 
Everyone parents differently and each kid has different tastes but mine stay under $100. 

For my oldest two, born on the same day (2 years apart) we take them and a friend or two to a minor league hockey game or movie and get some snacks.  That probably runs less than $100 total.  #3 has a neighborhood pool party and the last couple years has taken a friend to a local place similar to Chuck e' Cheese, around $100 total. My youngest was born just before Christmas and loves trees and decorations, so we take him to see the different decor around the city, ice cream and cake, easily under $100.  

 
Like $300 over the past couple of years. I think this next birthday will be pizza with a couple of his friends. 

 
pizza and pinata and cake for kids. beer and wine and pizza and cake for the adults. hosted in our backyard. couple hundred bucks at the most. 

 
Just had the kid's 1st birthday party at my house.  About 15-20 people.  200 tops.  Cake, some food(lot of people brought something, shark move here for so many reasons), and a couple cases of beer on ice. 

If you spend more than that you are an idiot, and if you go to a party expecting more than that you are an azzhool

 
My 2 y/o's birthday party is in 2 weeks.  We've spent around 300. ~50 to rent the neighborhood clubhouse.  ~50 for bbq. The rest is on Cake/Decorations/random crap.

 
I think age matters also.

We have 20 kids dp skyzone for my then 10yeard old is different than a 2 year old

 
mr roboto said:
Wife just said 300-400 in burbs here. 150 to rent a place (ice skating, splash pad, roller rink type level) plus food and goodie bags. 
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This is about what it is in the New Orleans metro, too (except no ice skating :D  ). There are ways to do cut-rate bowling or laser-tag type parties with a lot of the frill cut out ... but it cheapens the experience.

An example of "cheapening the experience" was my daughter's last birthday party. We had a bowling party. Don't know how it is other places/communities, but around here ... pretty much all the parents stay for birthday parties -- there is no more "drop kids off and pick 'em up in three hours". That dies in the 1990s, I hear.

Anyway, we had all the kids who wanted to bowl on two lane -- and a bunch of want-to-bowl adults (including me :) ) sitting around bored. So we picked up a third lane + shoe rentals for another $140, I think.

Also, the stock food options for a lot of these parties are very skimpy, so you either have to look like a cheap-arszze or order another hundred buck worth of food for the crowd (again, tons of adults). So, for example, the "sticker price" for these parties might be $235 ... but the real cost will go north of $400.

Places where you're allowed to bring your own food can make the party substantially cheaper. Our local skating center is like that ... one of the better kid-party deals in town, actually.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Holy ####, what happened to a Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake, a gallon of ice cream, paper hats and balloons?
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Since those days, well, let's see ... we've elected six more presidents :D .

But yeah, I remember those simpler parties. Some of my friends started having skating parties or parties at the brand-spanking-new Showbiz Pizza ... that stuff started roughly 1981-82 for my crew. But even then, expectations were lower -- no buffet line for the adults (what adults?), for example.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Lol at those on each coast that have to keep up with the Jones' and spend a rack. 
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My wife is a real estate agent who focuses on the area where my daughter's school is.  Part of the cost of these parties I chalk up to advertising.

 
Don't know how it is other places/communities, but around here ... pretty much all the parents stay for birthday parties -- there is no more "drop kids off and pick 'em up in three hours". That dies in the 1990s, I hear.
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Parent would be considered a monster here if they did that.

 
sho nuff said:
Goodie bags may be the dumbest things ever though.  Waste of money for the parents throwing the party and kids just end up going home with a bunch of crap their parents don't want them bringing home anyway.
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Yes, indeed ... unless it is filled with edibles.

But a lot of the cheapie plastic toys Party City and Dollar General sell for "goodie bags" ... yeah, huge rip-off.

 
mr roboto said:
cstu said:
Parent would be considered a monster here if they did that.
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Wow. It's routine here. In fact many invitations say that you can drop off and leave. 
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no kidding - same here.  As our kids are getting older, its becoming more common for parents to just drop and leave.  

A monster? :lmao:   Not the kind of crowd I'd want to run with, if true.

 
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cstu said:
Parent would be considered a monster here if they did that.
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"Monster" if they stay and pig out on the meant-for-kids party food? Or "monster" if they leave their kid and come back later?

Around here ... you invite ten non-family kids, you're feeding a minimum of 20 non-family people for sure (customary for younger siblings to be allowed without asking ... I know, totally verboten for some people).

 
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We rented a spot at one of those bouncy castle places with 12 or so kids.  Between that and cake/drinks/decorations a total of $200 or so.

 
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