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A bash with some help
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The brat's b'day is around the corner? Having a panic attack? Relax. There are party consultants who take care of everything, right from the invite to the cake, says TINA GARG
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WHEN YOU were young, birthdays were no big deal. Try telling your brat that all what you got for your birthday was a ten-buck note and a bag of sweets to be shared with your classmates and she'll be talking to her therapist 20 years hence about parental cruelty. Peer pressure is such that children have to have that birthday party. And it's getting fancier. Today's parents agree that in times of such tremendous stress, children also need a day of fun and frolic, a break from the burden of school. With plenty of party frills there for the asking, parents are willing to spend a packet to make the day special for the little darlings.
If birthdays are a party for kids, they can be stressful for the parents, particularly mothers. However, if they open their wallet there are professionals who will shoulder the burden themselves so as to obviate slogging for hours in the kitchen, and scrambling for return gifts that take days to be wrapped. Today, specialist party consultants take care of everything — games, trends, themes, invitations, décor, location, and not to forget, the cake itself.
Ritu Bhati, a mother, certainly believes in getting the birthday arranged. "The idea is to do stuff that you can't do at home, and do it in less time. Working mothers would love this. Moreover, the comperes and party consultants ensure that children of all age groups get to have a nice time." Ms. Bhati does all the party planning while husband Deepak makes sure he co-hosts. They invite not only the children, but parents too. Says Ms. Bhati: "It is a nice way to get in touch with friends you may not have in a long time." It is not really uncommon, then, to find children' parties postponed to weekends over lunch or dinner to ensure everyone who matters is there.
Party consultant Geeta Jethani says games and a host of easily won prizes make such parties a big hit among children as well as accompanying mothers.
She arranges parties at restaurants and clubs that have ample space for children to play around. She co-ordinates the entire party — organising the food, arranging decorations, liaisoning with waiters, ordering cakes, and buying and wrapping gifts. All the parents need to do is to catch up with the other parents as the party moves on.
And the best part is that Ms. Jethani does not charge the parents a penny for her services! She, like other consultants, gets her fee (in the form of percentage cuts or monthly retainers) from the hotel or restaurant where she hosts the party.
Cake and gifts do not a party make. So there are games, gimmicks, and other forms of entertainment that make the birthday colourful. Tattooing, face painting, jumping bags and castles, pony rides, merry-go-rounds and mini ferris wheels, jugglers and magicians, fire-eaters, rocking machines, bubble makers, helium balloons, cartoon characters, puppet shows, and cotton candy and popcorn machines give the children all the fun they want. Even if the amusements cost the parents anything from Rs. 600 to Rs. 3,500, most mothers gladly opt for one or the other to keep young, hyperactive guests occupied during the party.
Says Sunaina Sood, who organises everything at her child's party herself: "If there is one thing I can't do, it is children's games. It is handy to have gimmicks." She likes to invite the parents too as, like Ms. Bhati, the party give her an opportunity to make new friends and catch up with the old.
If games and amusements make for a great part of birthday parties, themes are not far behind.
You won't be surprised to find character-based themes such as Cinderella, Pokemon, Power Puff Girls, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, and those from the Jungle Book and Lion King, besides colour-based themes such as Denim, Black and White, Red Riding Hood, Pink for Girls, and Blue for Boys. Like all trends these are also very dynamic and short-lived. Spiderman and Tweety may have been in a year ago, but Pokemon and Noddy are the flavour of the day. The theme of the party takes over everything — invitations, return gifts, balloon colours, cakes, and the games. And if one can have a person walking around in a character costume too, why not?
Return gifts are an essential element of parties and you become a social outcast if you don't take care of that. Shekhar of Gopal Krishna Enterprises, who has been in the party business for 18 years, says the gifts can comprise water bottles, lunch boxes, pen stands, photo frames, tumblers, and bowls, priced anything from Rs. 6 to Rs. 100.
Rajan Godfrey of Ken's, another consultant, charts out the birthday plan, and gives parents a cost estimate upfront, while consultants such as Ms. Jethani ask for their budget and head count in advance and then fit things in for them.
Party food and venue are now very different from what they used to be.
The food can be a mix of the modern and traditional, depending on where it is served. Mini burgers, cup cakes with Smiley faces, canapés with fillings, mini pizzas, jelly cups, chaat counters, pasta stalls, and mini puffs totally jell with dosas and baby idlis, leaving plenty of space for innovation. Caterers who make these are much in demand.
You can party without a care if you contact the right people
However, if your little guests are fairly compliant, they could jam at Jamba Jungle, Pizza Corner, Pizza Hut, Domino's, KFC, Amoeba, Mega Bowl, or even Speed Zone, where they get to eat from a readymade menu.
So it's hats off to mothers who still host parties at home and actually manage to pull them off with élan! If they need a bit of help, they can contact Geeta Jethani: 5286342; Rajan Godfrey: 36790900; Graffiti Inc.: 5275054; Master Karun Krishna: 5485223; Gopal Krishna Enterprises: 5550516; and Deepak Mehtani: 5301178.
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