Shay’s Tips for a Successful Party
Deep Frying
If you must fry food for the party, try to do it outside, or at a neighbour or friend’s house. When you deep fry before or during a party, the smell spreads and bothers. You also do not want your guests arriving into a smelly house.
Balloons and decorations
Decorating the house with balloons is always nice and is recommended. Please pay attention to where you put the balloons. Place more decorations in the area that will be the “stage” than anywhere else. It is the most viewed area and it looks best for the pictures.
Make sure you hang the balloons as high as you can. Otherwise, tall clowns may bump into them, and kids will try to jump to catch them. “Oops it came off the ceiling! Who attached them to the light fixtures??” Hang it high!
Helium balloons are a different story. In a lot of parties, people order tons of helium balloons attached to long strings. Every kid tries to take a balloon, or more than one, especially the younger kids. If you want to be organized, do yourselves a favour and tie all the balloons in one group. That way it will be easier to cut one balloon free to give to each kid leaving the party and avoid any kid getting more than one or missing out and getting mad.
His/Her day
Involve the kid in everything to do with the party: picking the theme, cake, invitations, and even the clown, magician, entertainer, animals or sushi eater… all based on budget of course.
On the morning of the party, wake him or her up with a birthday song. The whole family can stand by the bed and gently wake the birthday kid up. Only start singing after they are awake, so the kid does not jump to the ceiling. You can fill the room with balloons, a bouquet of balloons, or even surprise them with a nice, new bike in the middle of the room to make the kid happy and put a smile on their face for the rest of the day.
Breakfast should be different, even ice cream, anything that is unusual. A shirt that says “It’s my Birthday!” or “I’m 5 years old today!” with a picture of the kid will be cool and fun. Happy Birthday!
Bathroom and bath
It may seem weird, but it is very common to forget the little things, I mean, soap, hand towels and a few other things I will mention. I hope this doesn’t seem rude, but this is coming from my experience of what I have noticed at parties.
If you have guest washroom, make sure there are at least 2 rolls of toilet paper in the room, new soap (well doesn’t have to be NEW, but you know), a clean hand towel, and even air freshener. It is not nice to see guests drying their hands on their pants or having to ask for TP.
If you have a bath/shower in the washroom, make sure you shower on time! There, also put a new hand towel and all the rest. But most importantly, pay attention to all the small things you leave behind after you take your shower, bras, underpants, etc. During every party, your house is like glass, especially during parties for little kids when the parents stay with their kids. In this case, the aforementioned should be avoided in the double. Again, these are just recommendations. I bring my own hand towel from home, out of habit.
Outside big toys
If you have your party in a private back yard and have toys there, such as swings, slides, etc., do your best to make sure your guests do not have access to them. Tie the swing, flip it, or move the slide. All these toys might interrupt the party. A kid that is swinging may not get up to participate because he is worrying that another kid will steal the swing.
Loot bags: Those who give loot bags at the end (especially at family parties), try to find loot that is fitting for all ages, not different ones that you have to hand out individually. Buy more than you think will be enough, that way you will not be running out. You can always return what you did not use.