Planning a Teenage Party. Top Tips

11 Jul Planning a Teenage Party. Top Tips

Here at Bumble Events we’ve been getting loads of questions on planning teenage parties, so we thought that with summer on it’s way, it would be timely to provide some hot ‘what to do and not to do’ when planning birthday parties for the brats…..cough cough angels.

1. Remember it’s not your party! You may decide that they should have a Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtle themed party…….but that ish is not the ‘in thing’ so ask them what they would like……and try to provide it. The DJ that you used for your 10th wedding anniversary is not necessarily going to play the music that the youth wanna get down with. Ya dig?
   Working with one client recently, his first words were ‘I don’t want to turn up but my mum does’. For the less urbanised, put simply, this means he wants a simple party with computer games and some nice fun and his mother wants an all out bashment / rave / soiree.  It’s his party and I agreed with mum that she can have a little lounge area where her and her friends can get wild but they would be out of sight so as not to ’embarrass’ him. Win-win.

2. Community spaces, think church halls, community centres, library rooms offer well sized reasonably priced spaces that won’t break the bank. They are also ideal for teenage parties as most bars and restaurants do not hold licences for under 18’s past 8/9 pm.

3.Think MTV’s Super Sweet 16…now whilst a custom hot pink Range Rover and performance by Justin Bieber isn’t an option (for most of us regular folk) a little surprise here and there will keep the birthday girl or boy happy and their friends impressed. Maybe a pair of customised Nikes, driving lessons or tickets for a group day out paintballing or even to the hottest concert are a great gift to present in front of their friends.

4. Monitor who exactly is coming to the party. Chances are that your child’s friends are all innocent little cherubs like your own spawn HOWEVER you know how it goes. One friend tells one friend who tells one friend who tells the local …lets say ‘less well rounded’ child who invites a few more of these types. You can end up with a full on, out of control rave, items broken, alcohol being drunk etc…..which brings me onto my next point.

5. Alcohol. NO ALCOHOL FOR UNDER 18’s. SIMPLE. no rule bending on this one. If you choose to allow your under 18 teenager a little tipple then that is up to you but under no circumstances should you extend this to kids that you have not born. Ok, I sound over dramatic, I know, but parents are trusting you to keep their kids in a safe environment so keep an eye out for any wayward kind trying to sneak a swig here and there.
6. Younger siblings. Oh how I hated my brat of a younger sister when I was in my teens (we are best friends now, you’ll be pleased to hear). And at no point would I have wanted them anywhere near my 16th birthday bash.  Test the waters with your teen as they may be a much nicer child than I was and actually want to socialise with their siblings. BUT, if like me, they’d rather pretend your other offspring don’t exist then find someway of offloading said offspring to some other location for the evening.

Hope this is helpful. Send us your ideas on party planning!