Ggn’s avg budget for tot’s b’day: A lakh!

With angry bird games, princess cots and balloons worth `30,000 taking the cost of birthday parties to a lakh or more, Gurgaon’s baby bashes are no child’s play
Birthday celebrations at pizza and burger places are now passé, and passing the parcel and musical chairs are so 90s! Gurgaon babies’ birthday parties are now celebrated in farmhouses, five stars and villas, and no, we aren’t confusing them with the grown-ups’ parties.These posh gatherings are for toddlers who lisp happy birthday for their friends and have just taken their first steps. According to the people of the millennium city, age should be no bar for luxury or fun. From masterchef baking contests and real-life angry bird games to princess cots for cutting cakes and personalized return gifts, birthday parties for children are offering it all, but at a price only the crème de la crème can afford.
Gurgaon spends rationally, unlike Delhi
“We organize about 12-15 birthday parties a month, and the prices can range between `15,000 and `1.5 lakh,” says Anjali, co-founder of a birthday planning company, Birthdays ‘n’ More. Simple Jindal, owner of Toylibz, a toy library on Sohna Road, tells us how she expanded her business into birthday planning. “All my clients are corporate professionals. For some of them, the expenditure is between `40,000 to one lakh.”
But Gurgaonwaasis don’t top the list when it comes to birthday party expenditures. Surbhi Nayyar, founder of Elves and Angels, who arranges parties in both Delhi and Gurgaon, says, “Gurgaon’s crowd is usually professionals, so that is their primary reason to outsource birthday planning. They are price conscious and know where to spend. It is far more expensive in Delhi because it has a business crowd and a showoff culture. People in Gurgaon like to spend justifiably and not overdo it while Delhi people want to have lavish parties just for the sake of it.” She adds, “The price of only décor and other activities in a Gurgaon party would be somewhere between `10,000 to `30,000, and in Delhi the same expenditure would go up to `70,000.Then there are some add-ons, that is catering plus hotel or banquet charges, and so on.”
Dealing with a mix of low and high budget parties, Robin Holkar, owner of Birthday Party Arrangements, says, “I do parties for children between ages 0-16. Packages normally range between `4,000-35,000, and that can include food and venue too. Agar poora farmhouse decorate karna ho toh aur paise lagte hain. Corporate NRIs like those who stay in DLF Phase V, Western Heights and Trinity Towers spend a lot on their children’s birthdays and we automatically know that they have budgets beyond `25,000 or `30,000.”
First birthdays cost up to `1.5 lakh
Anjali tells us about the hype of first birthdays. “We have just taken two bookings for the month of August where the budget of the party is `1.5 lakh. Both are first birthdays. Such parties usually have a gathering of 250 people. Also, first birthdays usually have adults, relatives, friends of the parents and toddlers accompanied by their maids or moms,” she says. Simple says, “A child’s first birthday or a welcome party is usually the most expensive one with themes like moon, star, angels, etc. The parents tell us to focus on décor and spend up to `30,000 only on balloons.” Surbhi agrees, “First birthdays are usually the extravaganza party where parents spend up to a lakh only on décor.” Roshni Kashyap*, a housewife, who recently celebrated her daughter’s first birthday, says, “I had my daughter’s first birthday a few months ago at a five star. It was like a welcome party too because we hadn’t thrown one when she was born, so our relatives from all over India had come for it. The party had to be a grand affair. First birthdays of a child are like a wedding, so if you don’t call someone, they feel bad about it. Even though we called the closest of close relatives and friends, the gathering ended up being of 150 people, and it cost us `1,250 per plate. There was a pasta station, live tawa, Burmese, Lebanese and Chinese. The expenditure came to nearly a lakh. It was more than we had planned, but the party was a huge success, so I think it was worth it.”
Games, tattoos and animal rides
“Activities can include a bouncy castle, tattoo artistes, puppet or magic shows, art and craft corners, and so on,” says Anjali. “Chocolate tattoos, Disney characters and elephant and horse rides are also popular. The rides come with professional helpers and cost `5,000 for three hours,” says Robin.
About her daughter’s party, Roshni says, “We had team quizzes, nail artistes, hair braiding professionals and portrait makers. We also had a DJ with a dance floor, because adults make up 80% of the party and the kids, only 20%.” A pool is also a hot favourite. “We celebrated my son’s second birthday as a pool party in a rented villa, and there were 18 kids and 16 adults. We had personalized candy bars, cake pops and, since my son is a Mickey Mouse fan, we also had a Mickey cake. There were also props, like wigs and cool chashmas. I am working full-time, so I outsourced the planning, food and venue. I ended up spending `45,000 on this party, which was a little more than my budget, but it was totally worth it,” says Bhawna Bhatia Verma, a management professional.
Everything has to be theme-based
Abhilasha Sen*, a teacher, tells us about her five-year-old son’s birthday party that was organized at a farm on Sohna Road. She says, “Our theme was Angry Birds, since my son is obsessed with playing that game on his iPad. We had a giant Angry Bird costume section where the kids could get clicked. There was also a gaming area, where we had a plastic structure and stuffed pigs, like in the game, and the kids could throw a toy Angry Bird and score points. That was a big hit with everyone, including adults.”
Besides Angry Birds, Cinderella, Princesses, Chhota Bheem and Doraemon are other popular themes.
“Themes also mean a cake table design. If it’s a baby girl’s princess birthday, then we also keep a princess cot next to her cake table,” says Robin.
Balloons worth `30,000
Besides food and venue, balloons, too, come in various price ranges. Anjali explains, “The latex and polka-dotted balloons cost between `3.5 to `4 per balloon, while the helium ones are for `30 onwards.” Surbhi adds, “The foil balloons start from `150 and go up to `500-600.” There’s also the ‘imported’ category. “Malaysian balloons cost `5 each, and are more round, have more life and come in many designs,” Robin says.
When bought collectively, balloons turn out to be a massive expense. Simple says, “For lavish parties, the parents mostly tell us to focus on décor, and they spend up to `30,000 only on balloons.” About the balloon expenditure on her son’s party, Abhilasha tells us, “If I break up the costs, I think we spent around `15,000 on balloons, because we wanted foil balloons. Since we had foil balloons with cartoon characters on them, it enhanced the décor by miles. A lot of my friends told me that they hadn’t seen better décor at any other birthday party.”
Return gifts should be branded or personalized
If games and décor are theme-based, why should return gifts be left behind? “The return gifts have to be according to the theme, for example, a Doraemon school bag. We also give it a personalized touch by embroidering the child’s name on it. It costs between `300 to `1,000 per gift,” says Surbhi. Having had a theme-based party, Abhilasha tells us, “Our party’s return gift was an Angry Bird bag filled with chocolates and goodies. Our budget was `500 for a gift and we had about 30 kids. But we stretched it to `600 per gift when our planner suggested this idea. All the bags have name tags of the children, which made it special for them.” Besides customization, brands are also important when it comes to return gifts. Simple tells us, “Nowadays, everyone wants either branded return gifts or customized ones. So, sometimes, what we do is have a ‘photo booth’, where the kids can take their pictures, and we frame them in personalized photo frames. For kids who are slightly older, the gifts tend to be branded. For toddlers, the gifts range anywhere between `300-700. Sometimes, for close cousins, the price goes up to `1,000.” But where to spend more is entirely up to the client. “Lower budget parties usually choose gifts between `80-100 while more lavish parties have them priced anywhere from `150-450. Clients can choose where they want to spend more – food, return presents, décor or activities,” Anjali explains. Separate gifts for boys and girls are a common feature. “Our return gifts were pink Barbie purses for little girls and blue backpacks for boys. I don’t like the idea of giving cheap gifts back to the kids after a grand party. It matters to me that they remember the occasion with a souvenir and that it is of some use to them. Nahi toh pade rehte hain kahin bekaar gifts. The purses I bought were for `500 each, while the blue bags were for `450 each. There were only 25 kids, so it wasn’t that big an expense,” said Roshni.
(*Some names have been changed on request)