A party is always something special to do for your child for his/ her birthday. Everyone, adults including, love the joy of birthday party celebrations with the balloons, cake, presents and gathering of friends and family.
However, when it comes to throwing a birthday party, the question on many parents’ minds is: “Do I organize it myself or do I hire a birthday party planner?”
The convenient option is to hire a ‘one-stop party planner’ who will handle everything. This is a tempting thought, especially if you are busy at work and have a million other things to handle. The party planner’s job is to be responsible for the party from beginning to end, which generally lasts between 2 to 3 hours. With their experience and network of party support providers, these planners could easily book the busy parent the perfect venue complete with decorations and a cake, order food from the best caterers, and get a clown or a magician to come entertain your child and their friends. Of course, one can expect to pay a premium for quality, convenience, time and expertise.
Cost aside, there is a tradeoff, however. While you do have the final decision-making power, your choices of venues, caterers, places to get party decorations and gifts are generally confined to the party planners’ contacts. Naturally, due to personal and commercial reasons, their inclinations are to stick with people and venues they are already familiar with or have a business relationship with. This may prove to be limiting and frustrating, especially if preferences are dissimilar.
In addition, your child’s birthday party is a personal project and it is difficult for a third party to meet the expectations or vision that you might have. Miscommunication or misunderstandings may result in the planner’s delivery falling short of what you have envisioned.
The other option is not to hire a one-stop party planner but organize the party yourself. This is not as difficult as it sounds. The first step is to find all the information you can on organizing a birthday party from the Internet. Next, look for a good birthday party entertainer.
An experienced party entertainer will provide a great party entertainment package usually for about 30min – 45min long. A good entertainer can also package in games, balloon animals and host the cake cutting for an even longer duration. However, besides providing entertainment, the entertainer is also a valuable source of information and knowledge… for free!
If the party entertainer is an experienced one of high standards, he/ she would have a wealth of knowledge and contacts. The entertainer will be able to provide suggestions on venues, caters and bakeries. While you will ultimately have to make all the arrangements yourself, this insight from the party entertainer will definitely help you start off on the right foot with the eventual freedom of choice of vendors. So technically, you are getting almost the same professional expertise and advice that party planners may provide, at no additional cost.
Another positive point of just hiring a birthday party entertainer is that you are in direct contact with the party entertainer; you will be able to effectively communicate your child’s preferences and likes. This will ensure he/ she can customize the entertainment package accordingly.
Naturally, organizing the party yourself will take up your time and effort. However, your child’s party should be seen as a personal project and also a chance to bond with your child by involving him/ her in the party decision-making. The usual discussion between just parents can be transformed into a bonding session between the child and parents. And with your child’s inputs, not only do you empower him/ her but you will also be on your way to throw your child the perfect birthday party!
Source by Shawn Chua