My friend who is a baker is reasonable, but I have worked with very well known bakers who charge up to $850 (£600) for something like a two-tier jungle themed cake for about 60 people. Cakes are also expensive, they can start from around $200 (£150) because the baker is also charging for their time. A basic balloon arch will cost around $500 (£350). They are one of the biggest costs and people still don't really understand that. Amongst adults, for gender reveal parties for example, there is a preference for a boho chic look.Ī lot of the budget actually goes into balloons.

My parties are very bespoke and typically Indian families I have planned parties for will want a lunch or dinner of Indian cuisine served at the party.Īt the moment, a jungle theme is definitely the most popular with parents, along with princess and superhero themes. If I am doing a party where there are about 50 adults and 25 kids, I would normally arrange the decor, all the catering, table scapes, the cake and a dessert table, an entertainer, party bags and the clean up afterwards. But there are clients who want to see sketches and plans.Ī party that costs $2,500 (£1,800) would cover basic decor. Most of the time they do not want to know. At the beginning I ask them whether they want to know what I am doing at every step, or not. So, I have two ways of working with clients. Kid's party planner Nalini Raman says jungle themed kid's birthday parties are the most popular request she receives. In the same way that there is this concept of 'bridezillas' with wedding planners, parents can get into that mode, wanting to know everything. You can go all out with a huge budget and people can still question what you spent the money on. I always tell clients that if they are paying me and worried, the whole point is lost. My parties start at about $2,500 (£1,800) and I tend to work with parents of children between one to five, but I cater to all ages as well as baby showers and milestone birthday parties. It's been a lot of word of mouth for me.īut I don't do parties with a $350 (£250) budget any more. I do a lot of my parties in London and just north of there. Looking back, it could have been better and might have been more striking in a nicer venue, but the parents and kids loved it.Īfter that, I began to get bookings from Facebook and through the Indian social media community in my region. I actually cried when I set up that first party because I thought it looked amazing. But even with all that, I paid £500 out of my own pocket in the end. I also met an upcoming photographer online who said he would shoot the party in exchange for a couple of beers. Another woman gave me 12 table covers for free. Of course, the cake was not part of my budget as my friend had been paid for it directly, but I bought cake stands and met someone through Facebook who sold chair covers and gave me a discount. When I explained it was the first party I was planning, one balloon artist told me she would supply them for a reduced rate. I could see the way I wanted the party to look, so I called a couple of balloon artists and they told me my balloon idea would cost up to £150. Read more 'I'm a Wedding Planner-This Is What It's Like Behind-The-Scenes' I also had absolutely no clue where to start. At the time I thought that was a lot of money. The party had a rainbow theme and a budget of £250. Coincidentally a good friend of mine, who was a baker, called me about a week later saying she had a client who wanted a party planned for her child and would I do it? Of course I said yes. It wasn't until 2018, following a chat with a friend, that I decided to create a simple Facebook page for a kid's party planning business. were already married with kids, so I had nowhere to start. I had always wanted to get into wedding planning but all my friends in the U.K.

It was tough doing that with children and I eventually quit in 2017. I always planned their birthday parties and people raved about how good I was with kids and how great my parties were.Īt the time, I was working in London in advertising. from India in 2009 and I had my kids in 20. We would host about 50 kids and after the party our family friends would come over for dinner. When I was little, I lived in a one-bedroom apartment in India with my family, and when we had birthday parties we'd invite all our neighbours, friends and school friends.

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