So you’ve picked out a theme, your entertainer is on speed-dial and the birthday child is raring to go! All you need now is the perfect location for your child’s birthday party. Once you have a list of how many friends your child wants to invite, you can start making a shortlist of suitable party venues. You can find basic information for most venues online. Try to choose places that are fairly central and easy for your guests to get to. Once you have your list, you are ready to call some venues and arrange a visit to check them out. We’ve put together some things you might want to think about when choosing your venue.
What is the capacity of the venue? You’ll want to make sure your chosen venue is about to accommodate all your child’s friends and, depending on the age of the children, their parents. Venues have different capacities depending on whether your guests will be seated, standing or a mix of both. You’ll also want to take into account the space needed for any entertainment. A bouncy castle, for example, will take up a lot of space and reduce the capacity as well as seating space.
How flexible is the layout of the venue? Are you able to swap the entertainment area with the seating area? Can you partition off part of the venue for the food table?
Is there space for all the activities? If you are having an entertainer, think about where the children will sit and how much space that will take up. If you’re having a disco you’ll need to give the children plenty of space to dance, away from all the food and tables. Think about the activities you plan to have and where they might go, making sure you give the children plenty of space to run around. You might also want to consider having some chairs set aside so children can have a sit-down and a rest if they get too hot and bothered or excited.
Top Tip! Check how much space your entertainer will need so you can plan your layout around them. You could even draw a plan of your venue and play with the layout – having a clear plan helps when setting up your party!
How child-friendly is your venue? Are there lots of steps which might be an issue for very young children? Is it easy to keep all the children in the designated party area or is it open to the rest of the venue/there are lots of doors?
Is the date you want available? Try to be flexible, for example, be open to holding the party on the weekends either side of your child’s birthday.
How much is the deposit? And what is the cancellation policy? It’s always a good idea to check the cancellation policy, just in case the birthday child comes down with chickenpox and you have to cancel last minute. Some venues even return some of the money you’ve paid as long as you’ve given them enough notice. Be sure to check what the conditions are with the venue.
What’s included in the hire price? Tables and chairs? Most venues have table and chairs included in the hire price but it’s important to check. Also, check whether the use of a kitchen or a fridge is included, this is useful if you are doing your own catering for the party.
Top Tip! Prepare as much of your party food as you can at home and transport it to your venue in Tupperware or takeaway containers. You can plate it up and make it look attractive when you get there!
Can you hang decorations? Some venues prefer you not to hang decorations, or have restrictions on how decorations can be hung, for example, no drawing pins. Always check what your venue allows before the party. If your entertainer uses bubble machines etc as part of their act, check with the venue that these are permitted and let your entertainer so they can make any changes to their act if needed.
Can I have access to the venue before the party? Most venues allow you access to the venue before the party to set up. Make sure you are clear on what time you will be allowed to access the venue from and to and let your entertainers know. You will also need to take this into account when setting a time for your party, make sure you leave enough time to tidy up at the end before you have to be out.
Are the toilets easily accessible? This is something people don’t always think about, but with 30 small children having toilets that are easy to get to is important, you don’t want to spend the whole of your child’s birthday party ferrying children through the building to the toilets. Ideally, the toilets should be as close to the party as possible, across the corridor or at next to the room, so that children need minimal adult supervision.
If you’ve got any queries about the suitability of your venue don’t hesitate to contact us for advice.
Looking for tips for a more grown-up party? Check out our blog post on questions to ask your venue on our sister site CF Entertainment.