If You Don't Indoor Playground Now, You'll Hate Yourself Later
As an August baby, we constantly had small family parties out at my residence. However, with sons born in November and March, we're constantly left to reserve an indoor place for their parties, if we chose to have them that year. While those with children with summer birthdays may seem lucky to have so many options at their disposal, it can also often feel overwhelming.
While at Climbing Vines Cafe and Play we might be biased since we host indoor celebrations, I wanted to share with you the 5 most common reasons we hear out of past celebration clients to book indoor summer evenings with us. To them, the stress-free temperament of the indoor summer party is a no-brainer, plus they're not looking back! Following their first indoor summer partythey continue hosting with us year after year.
1) NO WEATHER WORRIES
The most common reason for a customer to reserve a summer indoor party with us is so they don't have to stem the weather forecast for updates in the weeks leading up to the celebration. Nothing can derail a fun party quicker than having to cram all your visitors within your home, waiting for a storm to pass. And if you've ever needed to cancel or postpone your kid's birthday due to weather, then you realize how heartbreaking that could be.
We get dozens of calls each summer a few days before someone's outdoor celebration is supposed to happen to see if we've got an open slot for them within our indoor playground sale celebration place because of weather woes. We can usually pull off this if the place is open, but hosts will unfortunately have to scramble and let all of their guests are aware of the change in venue and probably change in time, and also change all of their catering orders to accommodate their new party program.
While of course rain is likely the largest obstacle you might face, intense warmth, unseasonably cool weather, and wind can also pose issues to your food, decorations, and your guests' possessions. You will likely find yourself investing in a kayak another weather barrier just to ease your mind a bit, which are costly and take a great deal of precious time to prepare and take down. I will not even tell the narrative of the time my Dad set up a tent for a party in a windstorm and wound up with a insurance coverage for 4 ruined cars when it withdrew (weights and anchors and all!) ...
Besides the obvious weather concerns it's possible to avoid with an indoor party, there may also just be something really straightforward and lovely about a indoor summer party. Guests won't need to worry about bringing towels and sunscreen and towels and swimsuits and changes of clothes and insect spray... you get the picture.
Sometimes it's wonderful to take a short break in the outdoors, sip coffee in an air-conditioned cafe, and have an actual conversation with other adults while the kids play, rather than chasing kids around trying to get their fur on them keeping them away from the in-ground pool. I am not sure about you, but I could never really relax at an outdoor summer birthday celebration with a two and a 4 year old. While they sure do have a good time running around, we typically leave in a daze or using a tantrum, unsure whether we had time to chat or check in with everyone.
While I absolutely love a fantastic barbecue or summer grilling extravaganza, I find it so refreshing when we could take a rest from the same-old backyard bash and spend a couple of hours in a relaxing, cool, and most importantly-- contained! -- air.
It's also freeing as a guest to have the rest of the day to do as we wish as a family and not need to worry about getting the children to a bath immediately after the celebration or stopping home to cool off and change clothing.
I guarantee that in the event you book an indoor celebration for your child, guests (particularly family) may seem a bit confused at first (why not just take advantage of the summer weather while we can, right?) But after hosting countless indoor parties I will tell you for certain that on the day-of, you and your visitors will realize how nice it can be to kick back in an air-conditioned private party for a few hours.
3) EATING IN PEACE
Speaking of how relaxing an indoor, air-conditioned celebration could be, how can we talk about food for a moment? Not only are food choices limited with an outdoor party because of heat, but it can be hard to keep food covered and keep the bugs, bees, and other debris away.
Right now, my sweet 4 year old boy is terrified of bees, and also the fastest way to send him into a tailspin is for him to sit down to eat a cupcake or his meal and also have bees swarming around. Therefore, for our family, the food factor alone would be enough to justify an indoor party.
Eating in peace without needing to find colour or a seat or a place away from pests is just one of those things that you don't realize can be so magnificent until you attend your fourth or fourth outside summer gathering and after that get a break from them. One of the most common things we hear is how nice it's to sit and eat and watch the kiddos play without having any venue-related cares or worries. This is going to be especially important when you're going to be having older family members attend who can battle with being portable in the grass or mud and locating seating at outside parties.
Plus, when was the last time you attended an outdoor summer party with a complete espresso bar and cafe available for guests to enjoy now they don't need to worry about running around chasing their kids in the warmth?
While party aesthetic may not be a determining factor for each and every household, it sure is much simpler to create a themed extravaganza that lighting a child's face up when the party's indoors. The decorations demanded tend to be less because the place is smaller and contained contained, and you won't need to worry about balloons and streamers blowing about or securing table covers down.
Since we do host cellular events outside in Climbing Vines Cafe and Play, I will also speak from experience when I say the time it takes to set up (and take down!) Decorations for an outside party compared to a indoor party generally ends up being at least double. Finding great places to hang banners, needing two people to maintain and secure everything, and finding weights or other restraints for everything may be a genuine hassle on party day.
And you will have enough to be concerned about that day, right?
Furthermore, if your own pinterest boards are filled with adorable figurines, a candy bar, or anything which may be impacted by wind (or bring bees!) You will probably have to restrategize to get an outdoor soiree.
And of course decor typically can only get used once if used outside, but repurposed again and again if used for an indoor event. Our guests that sponsor indoor occasions, especially those who invested significant money into decor or labored hard to make their own, are pleased to find they could usually make a large chunk of their cash back by reselling their supplies on something like Facebook Marketplace.
5) YOU MAY ACTUALLY SAVE MONEY
Speaking of money, probably the greatest misconception I hear from customers is they want to sponsor a party in their house to save themselves the rental fee of an indoor area. I usually laugh at this because it makes perfect sense, in other words, if you've never hosted an outside celebration.
With all the"extras" such as tents, seat rentals, extra decorations, weather reinforcements, clean-up provides, games and activities for your kids (which you won't need to supply at a play area!) , pool toys, etc.... It's very possible you are going to end up spending MUCH more hosting a party at your house or an outside place than you'd indoors.
I'm not sure how other indoor spaces manage their equipment, but we only charge guests for additional beverages and supplies and these on the day of the party if they end up needing them, and we also enable parties to bring in their OWN food, dessert, and decor should they choose!
Money aside, spending countless hours cleaning prior to, during, and after the celebration can also take a toll. Would not it be nice to walk into a sparkling clean space and leave with your guests when the party's over, not needing to be concerned about the cleanup, trash removal, tent teardown, etc?
It's possible to just head home and unwind with your loved ones (yes, possibly outside!) In a nice clean house that was not just trampled by party guests and all their mud, grass, and sunscreen.
In addition to the time spent cleaning before and after the celebration, wouldn't it ALSO be nice to not need to play"host" during the event? For customers that make their own food and decoration, our dedicated celebration assistants set up everything, refill and fix food and beverages as needed, clear plates, cut and serve the cake, and package up all the leftovers in the end of the party!
In the end, it is your child's special day and you wish to spend those precious hours making memories and seeing with your guests-- not running around chasing your decorations or refilling the fruit bowl countless times.
So save everyone (and especially your family!) We'd be honored to provide you with an easy, breezy experience that will leave your entire guest list feeling refreshed, grateful, and filled with love after having a relaxing (yet fun-filled!) day together.
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