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Ride On Time Party Diary – Miles Of Smiles on the Road
by Justin Taylor (Co-owner of Ride On Time) – 21st April 2024
10 top tips – how to make sure you enjoy the party too!
Planning a birthday party can be fun but it can also be a bit stressful. After 7 years in the party industry, we have seen every size and type of party and dealt with lots of scenarios. So
Here are a few tips to make it a great experience that you get to enjoy!
- Decide what scale the party is, how many children will attend, and keep it manageable.
- Decide on a venue. Book at least two months ahead if not more. Venues get very booked up. If you leave it too close you may need to have flexibility about the time of your party and date. If you have fixed ideas you’ll need to plan ahead to ensure you get the date and time you want. If your party is in the garden, will you have a wet weather option? Ensure you know what the cancellation policy is for the weather with any entertainment you book, especially bouncy castles as they are restricted by high winds.
- Most parties are 2 hours long. That’s plenty of time for under 5’s.
- When choosing a venue they will charge an hourly rate. You should allow plenty of time either side of your party to set up and clear away. This means it’s not stressful and you have enough time to get everything ready.
- Make sure you know the arrangements for access to the hall. Will someone open up for you, is there a key code? Make sure you have any relevant information, contact numbers to hand for the day of your party.
- Get plenty of helpers. Recruit family and friends to help you so that it’s not all on your shoulders to do everything. It also means you can watch your child having a great time and be part of the celebrations!
- Send invitations out about 6 weeks before. Set an RSVP date. Provide your mobile number for people to text a response. A response isn’t always guaranteed so do keep in mind these children may still appear!
- For ideas and inspiration places like Pinterest are great to give you lots of brilliant ideas to create a theme or Wow factor.
- Try not to feel under any pressure based on peer groups or expectations. The most important person you want to please is the birthday boy or girl and as long as everything is for them that’s the key element.
- Get other people to take lots of photographs so you don’t miss out on capturing great memories!
27th/28th April – Tip Tip Tip Dig Dig Dig
4th/5th May – Will it or Won’t it…..Rain??
11th/12th May – Far and Away the warmest weekend of the year so far.
18th/19th May – Back closer to home this weekend
Cheap Transport Days Out
If you have a little one obsessed with transport and things that move, here’s a few ideas for cheap, easy a fun activities to do! There’s always something to see out and about and if you find the right spot it can keep young ones very happy.
Always pack a snack or picnic as the combination of good food and great things to spot is a winning formula!
Even just going for a walk and finding a safe bench where a road is visible, you can talk about all the different types of vehicles you see & play games like count the red cars.
Obviously our list is local ideas for Oxfordshire but all these ideas can be applied for places near you.
If you have any other great ideas we can add to our list get in touch!