I love party planning but can’t say the same about the stress and anxiety that comes with it lol! I also have no patience to DIY decor supplies or cooking or baking the actual party food but I am obsessed with pinning ideas about the theme and the decor so when it comes to the execution part, I suck really badly. I usually opt for ready made decors, catered foods, store bought desserts, etc. to simply the process and of course to keep the overall cost low. So after throwing my daughter 4 somewhat Pinterest worthy parties I took a break for her 5th birthday last year and just rented a play place where the owners took care of the decor, food, setup, cleanup- EVERYTHING and all we had to do is, show up! I absolutely enjoyed the stress free experience and my daughter and her friends had a blast at the play place BUT the decor was very tacky. Guess I kinda regret that decision time to time. So I told myself, I will try again this year without overexerting myself by arranging a simple, hassle free party. I was kind of forced to host the party at home this year also because it happened to fall during the lockdown this summer. Another aspect that’s key to party planning for me is being budget friendly. I can never justify spending too much on little kids’ birthdays when they barely care about the decor except for the balloons, presents, games and the cake, I know many of you may disagree but I’m just a frugal person through and through.
My daughter turned 6 this year and she wanted a Unicorn themed party and after pinning many ideas, I gave up and as always went for a short cut! I found a party supply set on Amazon which pretty much had everything and I just added some desserts and we had a decent looking Unicorn themed party! The only thing that I’m upset about is that the day of the party, it was scorching hot and due to extreme brightness, all the photos came out really bad with super high contrast. So please excuse the quality of the photos in this post. I still hope it serves as a useful guideline in case you want to throw a similar party on a budget.
Here’s a breakdown of the things I used to set this party up and the costs related to them:
Party Decor
- Unicorn Party Supply set cost $44.99 from Amazon which included:
- Unicorn Backdrop
- Happy Birthday Banner
- Unicorn balloons
- Unicorn Tablecloth
- Plates, cups, napkins, straws, spoon/forks for 16 kids
- Favour Bags, Hats for 16 kids
- A Unicorn headband
- Unicorn Cake Topper cost $13.99
- Some old dessert stands, 2 flower vases and some faux flowers which I already had at home. cost $0
Total decor cost $59.
Games & Party Favors for Kids
- Unicorn Pinata cost $22.99
- Candies/goodies for the Piñata from Dollarama cost $15
- Ladder Ball Game from Dollarama cost $4
- Ring Toss Game from Dollarama cost $4
- Goodies for the favour bags from Dollarama and Walmart included play dough, slime, activity books, crayons, party glasses, bubbles, etc. Total cost $30 (for 7 kids only)
- Musical chair and freeze dance – cost $0
Total games and favours cost $76.
Food
- Beef Kefta cost $10 home made from 500g lean ground beef
- Naan $10
- Cold Pasta Salad cost $5 home made
- Seven Grain Salad from Walmart $6.99
- Potato Salad cost $0 homemade
- Fried chicken & Coleslaw from KFC cost $50
- 3 Large Pizzas from Pizza Pizza cost $45
- Chips and Dips $10
- Pop and Juice $10
Total food cost $147.
Desserts
- Birthday Cake from Metro cost $20.99
- Unicorn Pink and Blue Cookies from Walmart by Kimberley’s Bakeshop cost $7 (2 packs)
- Unicorn cupcakes from Walmart cost $7 (2 packs)
- Sugar Donuts and Classic donuts & Cinnabons from Walmart cost $10
Total dessert cost $45.
Imaan’s Outfit
Her outfit and the white scrunchy was $19.99 from Winners.
The Unicorn headBand came with the Party Set from Amazon.
Grand total cost for EVERYTHING: $347!!!
Total decor cost $59
Total games and favours cost $76
Total food cost $147
Total Outfit cost $20.
Total dessert cost $45.
The food cost may seem high but I ordered little extra because I wanted to have some left over for the next day at least. There could be some other places where I could cut cost but I was a little lenient this year as Imaan was celebrating birthday without many of her friends and I wanted her to feel extra special. For even more budget friendly party idea, check out my post on $100 Tropical Themed Birthday that I did for Imaan on her 4th birthday.
If you found this post helpful, don’t forget to let me know in the comments section.
Until next time!
love,
Nawrin
DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you decide to purchase through those links at no extra cost to you.
Awesome breakdown Nawrin!
I love staying on budget!!! This was beautifully put together
Thanks so much Sahiya, I’m so glad you found this post helpful.
Awesome job Nawrin! You are so creative and what a lovely way to organize in such a budget friendly yet very beautiful and special event for her! I am sure Imaan absolutely loved it! Kudos to you and thanks for mentioning everything so clearly for us to organize future! ❤️
Thank you so much for going through this long post, I was worried I’m adding too many details but I’m so happy that you appreciate those info! Again, I appreciate you leaving such an encouraging and thoughtful message for me here. Much love. 💗