Planning a first birthday party on a budget
#tmmandbaby
Having a budget makes you have to work a little harder in scouting and dealing with the cheapest suppliers. But everything is easier now because everything can be done with just a mobile phone and a good data service.
When I was asking some of my acquaintances about first birthday parties, they told me that to throw a really good one in a good venue, it would cost about 150k and can go up to a million bucks. Excuse me? Wait, I have two kids, education, clothes, and food to think about.
I don't get how some people could spend a million pesos on a birthday party. I was told that that is actually the norm right now -aside from me thinking it plain ridiculous, I don't have a million bucks to spend for a first birthday party. Maybe more than anything else it's envy. Ha!
As much as I would love to throw a really big celebration to celebrate my children's first years, I just don't have that kind of money to throw around so having to throw a good and enjoyable birthday party on a budget is a must.
It took me a while to decide what I wanted to do for Maggie's birthday. I thought of just calling one of the more popular fast food joints who knew how to throw a mean children's party: McDonald's, Jollibee, KFC... but I wanted the kids to do more than just play indoor games.
I was Googling "birthday party ideas" and I saw that one mommy took her kids with their friends to The Fun Farm in Sta. Elena for her son's 5th birthday. It was perfect. At 11 months, Maggie adored farm animals and I just thought it was the perfect way to celebrate her birthday.
I only had a month to organize everything so I had to move fast. My First order of business was calling The Fun Farm and booking the big pavilion for the party. I remember seeing a big function covered area there when we went for Henri's field trip and I wanted the same venue.
I called, and good thing it was available it being so close to Christmas! Maggie's party was scheduled on December 23. I know.
I guaranteed 50 guests -I made a full deposit to guarantee my booking. Either adult or child, it is counted as a guest so I had to limit the number of yayas. I cannot eliminate them all together so I had to inform my guests via my Facebook e-vite page that the tickets are reserved for the mommies, the daddies, and the kiddies. They can bring as much yayas and a driver if they wanted, but The Fun Farm charges PhP 400/head for adults.
I called, and good thing it was available it being so close to Christmas! Maggie's party was scheduled on December 23. I know.
The package fee I paid for included feeding baskets to give the kids so they can feed the animals, free use of the big function hall, and all the other farm activities like fishing, boating, zip line, and Carabao ride. There are a lot of activities but I will get into that later.
Next was the food. I thought about ordering packed lunches from Pancake House but I was worried about having to pick up the food items and bringing it all the way to Sta. Elena. So my option would have to be booking a caterer. The catering services that are recommended online by other mommy bloggers are costly. I needed to find a caterer who did not advertise but provided excellent food. Plus, a caterer who won't charge an arm and a leg on out of town fees.
I asked around, and one of my friends recommended A. Magpantay Catering. I tried Googling about them but nothing much came up. My friend has been availing their services for a while for some family functions and shoots, so I just had to take his word for it. They were purely word of mouth.
A. Magpantay Catering did not disappoint. You can get in touch with them via email, and the chef and the owner responds right away. They can get pretty busy so if you plan to get them for your next event, i suggest doing so more than a month before. I am just happy that they were still available for the party!
They sent me these set menus after requesting for one for a birthday party:
I opted for menu 2: P385 per head plus 12% vat. I think that it was the most reasonable, and the food included sounded so good.
Dynamite Spring Rolls
Roast Beef
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Prawn Thermidore
Chap Chae
Mango Crepe
Steamed Rice
2 rounds of soft drinks or iced tea
Distilled drinking water.
I guaranteed 65 guests, and I ordered an extra party bilao of kiddie spaghetti from Amber so that Maggie can have some of her birthday noodles.
By the time I sent the down-payment to the caterer, I was really happy that everything was coming together. I sent the map of Sta. Elena to the guests, and I let them know about the ideal play clothes that their kids should wear so that they can be comfortable at the farm.
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| What your kids should wear to the farm. |
I did not bother with decorating the place by ordering streamers or balloons because that would just add up. Believe me, if I did have a bigger budget I would have decorated that place with lots of balloons and streamers. I also did not prepare games either or prizes, because what would be the point in being at the farm if the kids will be playing games? I just wanted everyone to enjoy their time at The Fun Farm the whole day, including the adults.
At the day of the party, it was unfortunately drizzling, but it still did not stop my friends to enjoy the farm activities with their kids. It was exactly what I wanted for everyone.
Maggie's giveaway included personalized hand sanitizers which was personalized by my brand Nekkid -attached to the handle of the eco-bag, anti-mosquito cologne (also by Nekkid), personalized bottled water, and healthy homemade snacks made with organic ingredients, stickers, notebooks, and a cute pencil with colorful erasers. I found the school stuff at Lazada.
My daughter Maggie, the birthday girl! She was dressed in farm clothes with matching farm hat. It was a really humid day, but that did not stop her from wearing her boots.
Of course, her kuya Henri is ready to have some fun at The Fun Farm as well!
There are activities for bigger kids too! They can enjoy the obstacle course, and a big field they can run around in. They spent most of the time at the obstacle course and at the zip-line.
As I have mentioned in the beginning, the A. Magpantay Catering did an excellent job. The food was really good, and the set up was so nice as well. They were at the venue early setting up!
Although their waiters did need a little bit more training in the service department, but otherwise, good enough. The spring rolls in particular was exquisite. Both kids and adults enjoyed the food!
After the kids and the adults ate lunch, they all went to enjoy the activities around the farm. Each family did their own thing around the farm which made everyone enjoy it!
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| Feeding the sheep |
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| Feeding and interacting with the ducks |
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| Pony rides! |
Even though Maggie was too small to join the activities at the farm, at least everyone else did. I wanted everyone to enjoy and not just the kids. It was just too bad that the light rain kept coming and going all throughout the day, but our guests assured us that it did not bother them.
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| Guests can enjoy boat rides too! |
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| Carabao cart ride |
The best part was the birthday cake! The birthday cake is actually a peek into what your child loves during that particular time. For Maggie? It was her love for farm animals, and that's why having her party at The Fun Farm was really perfect!
My sister sponsored Maggie's birthday cake, this cake was specially made by Marta's Cakes! That cow cake is just so adorable, and the kids just loved it.
The cute animal cupcakes was made by my grade school friend from Woodrose, and she is just so talented. I ordered 2 dozen of assorted animal cupcakes and she just executed them so well! It went very well with the cake. If you guys wanna get in touch with her for your cake needs, visit her Facebook page at Homespun Cakes and Pastries by Crissie Austria.
It was a really exhausting and yet fulfilling day for me. Yes, just me because let's face it, daddies just show up for the whole thing and take pictures! But everything was worth it once you see your kids and your guests enjoying what you have worked hard to achieve.
If Raul and I had a bigger budget, I would have gotten food booths like maybe a halo-halo stand, a juice stand, popcorn stand, and other food carts for everyone to enjoy, but the food that the caterer served was really good. We had tons of left over too!
Planning a first birthday party on a budget can be taxing. So the first thing you have to do is establish a budget and make it a point to stick to it. Talk it over with your husband and all you have to do is do your research. Part of the fun is the planning!
Next thing you should consider is if it will be fun for your child. I don't have anything against having parties in fast food restaurants because those are really fun for kids. But personally, I wanted an activity where the parents can enjoy too!
I did the same thing for Henri's first birthday party, but that would be for a different post. Maybe a part 2. I wanted to share my planning experience for Maggie's first because this was the most recent.
So as I have mentioned before, you don't need to spend hundreds of thousands of pesos to have a good and memorable party for your little one. Here's a breakdown on how much we spent:
BUDGET: PhP 50,000
Venue: The Fun Farm - PhP 15,000
Catering: A. Magpantay - PhP 26,950
Cupcakes: Homespun Cakes and Pastries by Crissie Austria - PhP 1,800
Additional Food: Amber Spaghetti (21-25 persons) - PhP 1,050
Giveaways: PhP 1,500
TOTAL: PhP 46,300
You must be wondering about pictures. Skip the photographer, and just ask your guests to take as much photos as they can and ask them to send them to you! Most camera phones now take really good photos! So don't worry about it, just ask your friends to help out with the photos and ask them to share.
I did not expect that I could pull everything off. It just takes a little patience and a whole lot of research so you really have to put in some time.
HAVE YOU GONE THROUGH
PLANNING A PARTY ON A BUDGET TOO?
GIVE US SOME TIPS!
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