Not everyone has the cash – or desire, for that matter – to host their kids party in an upmarket hotel or at a city-centre climbing wall.
Sometimes it’s easier and more accessible for all concerned to use the village hall or local scout hut. And that’s why, in this article, we’ve come up with 10 fab ways to transform a pretty plain place into a party palace
- Get out some fairy lights and make those walls sparkle. For older kids use strobe lights. Use flickering LED candle lights for tables to add atmosphere.
- Every village hall has a stage so use it as a focal point for the party. Set a throne up there for the birthday boy or girl. Use it to present prizes to winners of party games.
- Out of season fabric or coloured paper can be draped from the ceiling or walls as streamers to add interest, colour and create a more intimate ambience. Or, cut into triangles, string up and use as bunting.
- Set the chairs and tables in a circle rather than in a conventional ‘lining the walls’ look. This way no one has the chance to feel left out either since they’ll all be facing one another.
- Hay bales as seating is a lot more fun for kids than chairs. They’re also fab for a cowboy or farm-themed village hall party.
- Colour is a fab way of injecting fun into any venue. Make sure your paper plates, straws and plastic beakers are all bright and funky. Maybe add a polka dot or stripey design too.
- String up plenty of balloons in bunches with staggered heights. They’re colourful, fun to burst when they fall and their very presence screams ‘celebration.’
- Instead of simply setting out the food on individual plates for your young guests, use it to create a display instead. Have a buffet with each main food category arranged beautifully or imaginatively.
- Use inflatables. Blow up seats, tables and even the odd blow-up boat or two can be great fun and work well for a beach themed party. Just add deckchairs, straw hats, colourful juice cocktails and ice creams.
- You can go the whole hog with the inflatables idea and hire a bouncy castle for inside the hall. Just make sure you’ve plenty of adult supervisors to help out.
As you can see from our Top 10 Ideas list then, decorating the local village hall or scout hut doesn’t have to be expensive or stressful. In fact, it can be fun when you get into the right mindset. We’re sure the kids will love all your hard-work too.
And, if money is an issue or you are working to a tight budget, then heed the words of financial planner Lynn Beattie @MrsMummypennyUK: “Other good ideas I have seen are shared parties. Hire a hall with three children with birthdays at about the same time. Although the invite list becomes massive, at least the costs are split three ways.”
Look around our website for more venue dressing and party tips.
