All the 'Rave' #4 in a series
Oct 24 '00
Let’s Get Loud!
A mini-rave for your pre-teen or teenager!
#4 in a series of Kids’ Birthday Party Ideas.
It gets tougher, that’s all I can say about birthday parties for older kids. Everyone is trying to outdo one another, or have a party at the ‘newest’ and ‘coolest’ place! My kids are sick and tired of roller rinks, bowling alleys, arcades and McDonalds. They are sick of the “Pottery Party” the “Bead-Dazzled” party and the requisite girls’ sleepover party. (Ugh, have you ever had a sleepover party with about ten 11 year olds? It’s horrible!)
My idea this year, was to give my daughter and her friends, the first ‘real’ party of their burgeoning teen years. And to do it frugally. (Maybe some of you know my girls are April and may babies, and two parties in a row usually wipes me out financially!)
My daughter Jacey likes ‘rave’ music, or dance music. She likes all the stuff associated with dancing, and ‘clubbing’ although she is only 11. So, here we go. (Don’t worry, I survived it!) It was a blast, and the kids in her school still refer to it as the best party they ever went to.
I started out by deciding on a location. I called our local firehouses, and found that one of the companies had a rather nice hall for rent. It helped that I knew someone on the Fire Department, and I only paid $25, but the normal cost is about $60-$75 for the three hour night. The hall was great, and had two bathrooms, a kitchen to use, and large garbage pails. They also provide you with tables and chairs, which I had to set up and put away myself, but was free to use.
I then asked my nephew, who owns some ‘DJ’ equipment, if he would mind Dee Jay-ing the party. He said yes, and I confirmed him for that night. (An amateur DJ can be had for about $10-$20 per hour or less- Put up flyers at the local high school, or ask around. There is always a kid or two in town who owns this stuff!) If a DJ is out of the question, then use your own stereo equipment, and cart it over to the hall for the night.
My invitations were specific, as they always should be. Never leave times open! It’s asking for trouble! I made the invitations like those that are given out to club-goers for events. A card, with cool animated graphics, and text. Our graphic was the 80’s cartoon character, ‘Rainbow Brite’, lookin smooth in her platform rainbow boots and mini-dress. I gave the date, the address, and the time, 7-9 PM. Two hours was certainly enough time. I added that Pizza would be served.
We invited 45 kids to the party. Yes, 45. I know, I am nuts, but I figured I could take it! Of those, about 36 confirmed, and showed up. In that case, I ordered 6 pizza pies, at about $8 each, and had them delivered. (The kids didn't even finish all 6 pies!)
The theme for the “Rave” was ‘Rainbows’, therefore, I decorated the hall with multi-colored balloons, and streamers, and there were 7 tables, which I put 7 different colored tablecloths, (the disposable plastic ones from the party shop). I placed bowls of pretzels, and chips on the tables, as well as M&M’s. A table at the rear of the room was set up with a cooler of ice, cups and bottles of cheap, store brand sodas. We also scattered balloons all over the floor.
My daughter insisted that we buy ‘glow sticks’ and ‘glow necklaces’ for the guests to wear while dancing. From the great party favor supplier, ‘Oriental Trading Company’, these were purchased at the lowest possible cost; less than $1 each.
Our piece de resistance, was our party favor. This was a LOT of work on my part, and took the greater part of two weeks of evenings to complete, start to finish. We have a CD-RW drive on our computer, and we decided that the perfect parting gift, was a CD, with all the most popular ‘pop’, dance and ‘rap’ music on it.
I burned 36 CD’s, and printed out the paper insert card (cover), with the aforementioned Rainbow Brite graphic, the date of the party, and the title “Jacey’s Party Mix”. On the back cover, was the list of songs, which included, remixed Nsync, Eminem (edited version), Mariah Carey, and many more. The kids and the parents oohed and aahed over this, and I didn't stop hearing what a great idea it was, for months!
The birthday cake, for 36 kids plus a few parents, and such, was not too difficult, as I made a two layer half sheet cake, and iced it with white icing. I placed it on a ‘cake board’ I purchased at the party shop. I then used my Wilton cake decorator and after mixing all seven (!!!) colors, made a big rainbow on the top of the cake. it was really very pretty! My daughter loved it!
The kids danced, laughed, ran around, made a mess, had a ball, ate, drank and were very, very merry for two solid hours! The ‘dance’ atmosphere worked very well for the boy/girl thing, and although there were some girl huddles, and at one point over 10 boys in the restroom, it went very well.
Myself, and my sister, my niece, her boyfriend, and my husband cleaned the hall up in about an hour, and left it all behind. It was great! My daughter felt so special, and the kids had such a great time, at their first night time party, all for them, that this year Jacey said, “Mom, we can’t top last year’s party. What are we going to do?”
I’ll have to let you know, I’m still thinking!!
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Epinions.com ID:
BadtzGirl
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Member: Jennifer
Location: New Joisey
Reviews written: 70
Trusted by: 27 members
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