# How far in advance do you plan your Lo's birthdays?



## Iveneverseen

So it's my 2nd childs birthday first, it has just past Monday there.
about 3 weeks before her birthday she decided she wanted a party.
so we booked a venue, I ordered cake and cupcakes to be made, decs ect and got her presents a couple days before her birthday.

she did decide this last min and I don't tend to plan her birthday far in advance as it is close to Christmas. 

Next birthday is my eldest, which isn't till the end of april, and then my youngest who is end of may. (1 month 1 day after my eldest birthday) so with their birthdays close together and having a bit of time im keen to organise/plan their birthdays now.

I wont be buying or paying anything yet as skint from dd2's birthday :haha:

how long far in advance do you plan your childs birthdays?


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## RachA

I tend to start planning in my head quite far in advance. My son's birthday is the middle of Aug and i'm making mental notes of places we could take him for his birthday.
I also make his cake so i will ask him what type of cake he wants and start mentally planning that.
I won't actually book anything though until 1-2 months before, if we are doing something that needs booking.


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## alicecooper

similar to Rach A really. I need to save up for birthdays so I make mental plans several months in advance and start putting money aside, but I don't book venues until maybe 1-2 months in advance (bouncy castle I would hire maybe 3 months in advance), and hand out invitations about 2 weeks prior.


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## JJKCB

my son just turned 5 and im already planning his 6th

but im OCD about lists and planning (even though im terrible at executing plans) so far ive never 'booked' anywhere really - just turned up on the day but hes had a 'bowling and soft play party' for his 4th and 'monster inc cinema party' for his 5th when he was little we just went on holiday instead as he had no friends yet


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## DonnaBallona

normally I would just leave it until about 2 weeks before; but my 'big two' are still fairly young and we didn't book anything as such, just paid for friends to come to soft play with us and had a birthday tea at home.
however, now they are slightly bigger, my daughter had her first actual planned birthday party at the end of January so I booked it a month in advance.

Bertie will be 4 at the end of April, and I booked his first actual birthday party last week for 2 days after his birthday. I wanted a specific date and was worried that they would go quickly as it falls in the Easter school holidays!

presents I buy about 2 weeks before. x


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## Tasha

I am starting to organise my eldest now, his is in April, because within one month and one day we have four of my five childrens birthdays and mine.


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## Noo

DS' is on 23rd. Done nothing yet. It's mine first


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## Rachel_C

I save money each month for birthdays and Christmas so there's no real planning for the financial side of it. Presents will be bought in the month before, but if I see a bargain I'll buy earlier. Normally I'd sort out what we're doing a week or two before but my oldest will be 5 just a few days after she starts school in September. I know she will want a party this year so I will be sending out 'save the date' type cards before the summer hols so she can have her party close to her birthday without it being too short notice for kids we only see at school.


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## mummy2o

I'm so envious of you all. My son doesn't want a party so I feel sad that he doesn't get one each year, minus having family over. He's been to other children's parties but generally wants to go after 10 minutes, so I think for him it would be a waste of money. So we just make sure the day is extra special in other ways and something he wants to do.


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## Iveneverseen

How old is your son mummy2o?

my 7year old had her first birthday party this year, kids tend to get interested when they are at school and their friends are all having parties. well mine did lol x


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## aimee-lou

earl jade his first birthday party for his 4th in October. it's the first time he's known enough people to justify one. i plan presents quite far ahead..... i'm already thinking what to get ds2 who is 2 in may but i don't buy until a month or sit before unless i see a bargain.


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## mummy2o

Iveneverseen said:


> How old is your son mummy2o?
> 
> my 7year old had her first birthday party this year, kids tend to get interested when they are at school and their friends are all having parties. well mine did lol x

He'll be 7 in April and at the moment wants to go to KFC and have some new dvd's as a birthday present. He's so easy to please at times its annoying!


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## EmziixBo0o

My daughters is 28th may the party will be the weekend after. I don't know wether to send a save the date to get definite yes and nos as it will be at soft play area and have to pay per head!

Would anybody else do anything similar to that? Is that out of the ordinary for a child's party to send a save the date?x


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## JJKCB

EmziixBo0o said:


> My daughters is 28th may the party will be the weekend after. I don't know wether to send a save the date to get definite yes and nos as it will be at soft play area and have to pay per head!
> 
> Would anybody else do anything similar to that? Is that out of the ordinary for a child's party to send a save the date?x

I sent out my sons invites before xmas as his birthday was the first saturday after school started and it clearly said 'all RSVPs need to be made by the 6th' which was the day before school started again (5 days before the party and 3 weeks after they got the invite) but we still got half of the parents RSVPing long after the deadline truly felt like saying 'you cant come now as your not booked and paid for' but I couldn't do that to the kid as its not their fault the parents are lazy but it created a tonne of extra work, it annoys me more because it was CLEARLY a party that was 'pay per child' instead of just 'rent a room' so how hard is it to send a text if you intend on coming (yes you can buy tickets on the day but we had booked a secton with a specific number of seats so people ended up sat all over because they got booked in late which was just loads more hassle) :growlmad: 

also felt bad as someone brought siblings (which the parent paid for) but we didnt have enough party boxes as we had no idea they where coming :nope:


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## seoj

Prob too far in advance! haha. I'm a planner though- I would say months prior (for both my 16 and 2yr olds) I start thinking of what would be fun- decorations- anything I can do on my own to cut costs- make a cake or buy... food... location... you name it. Then about a month before I get it all ordered and setup and invites made up so I can mail them 2-3wks prior :) 

Did I mention I'M A PLANNER? Plus I LOVE planning parties and get togethers. I even did it as a job for a bit when I was laid off at my work ;) Decided it wasn't for me to do as a business- Wedding planning is HARD work- but for fun, I still really enjoy it :)


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## Shey

I planned my sin's birthday in January and his birthday isn't until July


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## rosie272

I'm totally rubbish at party planning and tend to pull it all together at the last minute - that strategy seems to work best for me! I'm saving money for Charlie's 5th birthday now as he's having a proper party (superhero theme). I've planned ahead to the extent of knowing the venue, the theme and who's coming but I'll most probably be running around at the last minute doing stuff! It always works out good in the end :haha:


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## discoclare

It's DD1 birthday at end of June and I just booked the venue and kids food (though I can change numbers nearer the time) last week.


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## JASMAK

Several months at least


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## Kate&Lucas

I usually start planning around January (his birthday is May). This year I asked him what he'd like to do and he wants to go to the beach for a picnic instead of having a party. Gifts are going to be small because he pretty much has everything he wants within my budget so nothing has been planned as yet!
I'll pick up a few gifts this month, make him a dress-up outfit he wants, and get picnic stuff the day before. Dead laid back this year, I like it! Last year we threw a party then hired a coach to Drayton Manor (for Thomas Land), so it's nice to not have to entertain :haha:


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