When planning a party, it is pretty standard practice these days to source excellent entertainment, cakes, food, party bags and decorations. Styling and décor is a crucial part of any party and helps transport the children in to their chosen fantasy setting. However, the excitement and anticipation for the big day can start a lot earlier.

Bespoke Save the Date cards and Party Invitations have been the norm in the wedding industry for many years; but now they are just as prevalent in children’s parties and sourcing the right design can be the first exciting piece of your larger party picture. With what feels like a never-ending stream of children’s parties to attend throughout the academic year, it can often feel challenging to make your child’s party stand out from the crowd. Delivering entirely bespoke party invitations is one of the many ways in which you can do just that!

Imagine the excitement at school when all of the children receive a bespoke party invitation! These can be colourful, quirky, three dimensional, incorporate sound and touch or even be in the form of a bespoke item! The beauty of children’s invitations is that the styling options are endless.

Here at Bedazzled Parties, we work with a beautiful team of artists who are on hand to design, create and deliver your unique invitation and save the date. We have someone to suit any theme, style, or request and can tailor make a package to suit your personal budget. Once we have decided upon a concept, our team will get to work designing your unique stationary, which can be as elegant or extravagant as your little one requires! Our capabilities extend as far as your children’s imaginations and our artists thrive on a challenge.

Logistically, we also offer a full RSVP service in order to fully manage your guest list for you. This allows you to enjoy the build up to the party alongside your birthday Prince or Princess!

From talking teddy bears, to kooky comic strips, super sketches to elegant envelopes, make your child’s party truly unique from the outset with our Bedazzled Parties Invitation service.*

* As featured in our Party Planning Service

Arranging your first child’s birthday party can be a daunting experience. With such an array of activities, decorations, themes, entertainers and packages on offer, it can often be difficult to know where to start. Long gone are the days where a quick game of ‘pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey/ Dad’ and a pass the parcel wrapped in newspaper are enough to capture the children’s imaginations.

The children’s party industry is a varied and ever expanding beast, which upon first glance, can seem impossible to tame. So we have put together our top 5 tips, to ensure a successful, enjoyable party experience for you and your family!

1) I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!

Do not underestimate the magnitude of the job in hand! Arranging a party involves a fair amount of planning and you want to be sure that you allow yourself enough time to do justice to your wonderful ideas. At least 12 weeks before the party, start your research. Start exploring themes, venues, entertainers, or party planners if you would prefer. Even if you would like a party planner to arrange and deliver the party for you, please contact them as early as possible to ensure the most comprehensive service. Booking of venues and entertainers is recommended at least 8 weeks before your party date, particularly during busy times such as summer, Easter and Christmas.

2) Choosing the right entertainer.

The success of your party will largely hinge upon the entertainer. A great entertainer will enthral the children from start to finish, allowing you to chat to the parents, arrange the lunch and possibly even enjoy the party yourself too! Make sure that all entertainers you speak to have their own Public Liability Insurance and an up to date CRB check. They should also speak confidently on the telephone and be able to answer any questions that you may have about the show. Do ask them any questions you may have about their professional background too. Ask what the company/ individuals rules are on breaks, start times, finish times and when they will arrive on the day of the party. Also be clear on their policies for cancellations, deposits and how to confirm your booking. If you are booking through an agency, or a company who employs multiple entertainers, do check the employers knowledge of the entertainer that they are sending to you. Has the entertainer been trained in-house and if not, how well does the agency know the act? The agency should be able to speak in detail about their act and reassure you about the level of show you should expect to receive. Sometimes, a picture speaks a thousand words, so do check the gallery pages on each company’s websites, as well we any managerial biographies they may have.

3) Choosing the right venue.

Venues, much like entertainers, do book up in advance. So make sure that you enquire early to ensure success. When booking, make sure that you allow at least one hour before and after the party for your set up and break down and be clear upon who is responsible for cleaning the room after the party. Also check if there is an extra charge to use the kitchen and outdoor areas. Popular party venues are church halls, social clubs, community halls, hotels, arts centres, nurseries, school halls and theatres. For more illustrious venue options, do ask your party planner.

4) RSVP

The modern parent is so super busy, that getting all of your RSVP’s back in good time can often be challenging. This is particularly tricky when your children are very young and you are not familiar with all of the Mummies and Daddies at the nursery. To best overcome this, send out your invitations in plenty of time and make sure that you include a range of contact details (telephone/ mobile/ email/ twitter). If you can hand out invitations face-to-face, this is also great, as you can collect each parent’s return details on the spot. It is also fine to state a date to respond before, say, two weeks prior to the party. Many top party planners will also manage your RSVP list for you, simply state that you would be interested in this service upon enquiry.

5) Added extras!

Bespoke details will really add the ‘wow’ factor to any party. Below is a list of popular party extras that you may like to consider when organising your party:

* Birthday cake
* Party bags
* Table favours
* Centre pieces
* Face painting
* Personalised party invitations
* Decorations
* Table wear
* ‘Parents’ area (food/ canapés/ drinks/ a safe haven!)
* Cake and present tables
* Soft play/ area for very young children
* Costume for the birthday child!
* Photographer/ videographer

Finally, make sure that you bring the following with you on the day (because when there are 30 children running around, you can never be too prepared!):

* Candles
* Matches/ lighter
* A Pen
* Blue-tack
* Sticky tape
* Board pins
* Extra cutlery/ napkins
* Balloon pump
* Sharpe knife for cutting cake and extra plates
* First aid kit
* Baby wipes
* Emergency contact numbers for each child
* Money in appropriate format for all entertainers/ caterers etc
* Mobile telephone
* Emergency venue contact details

Above all else, enjoy this party planning period! You will be amazed at how creative you can be and there are always dedicated professionals, such as Bedazzled Parties who are on hand to advise you at any stage.

I hope that this was useful for you! Remember, if this still all seems like a minefield, there is always our Party Planning service on offer to you.

Thank you for reading and have a dazzling day!

Love and sparkles,

Charlotte xxx

Hello Bedazzlers!

March is here, spring is in the air and the Bedazzled Parties office is a hive of activity!

All of our new entertainers are now out on the road delivering beautiful parties and their feedback has been 100% exceptional. We really do feel so proud of our entertainments team and so privileged to work with such a talented bunch of actors!

We have also launched a number of new themes, all of which have been incredibly well received. Spiderman, Dorothy (Wizard of Oz), The Fat Controller (Thomas the Tank Engine), Indiana Jones, Rosetta (Disney Fairies) and Rapunzel (Tangled) have been Bedazzling young audiences all over the country this week and with great success. On a personal note, I am completely and utterly in love with Rapunzel. There is something truly magical about three foot long glowing blonde hair, even at the ripe old age of twenty-six! Whether of not the hair will fulfil its promise of eternal youth is still up for debate; I will let you know in a few years time whether or not the crows-feet have multiplied! Even if she cannot turn back the hands of time, she really is a magical character and the children are certainly incredibly fond of her. One Mum came up to me on Saturday after the party, amazed that her twin boy and girl who were usually “very sceptical” of party entertainers, so whole heartedly believed that the “real Rapunzel” had come to the party!

With our new Baby Signing Parties now live, we anticipate even more first time parents contacting us. In light of this, next week’s blog will be in the form of a ‘How to Arrange a Child’s Birthday Party!’ guide. Come and join us next week for a party planning master-class! If you have any advice you would like to include in the survival guide, do let us know either via Twitter @bedazzledpartie, Facebook or via email info@bedazzledparties.co.uk.

That’s all for now folks! May your week be sparkly and filled with laughter!

Charlotte x

This week has been one of the most exciting in the history of Bedazzled Parties! Working in partnership with the beautiful Baby Signing Mummy, we have launched Baby Signing Parties!!

We are the first and only company in the UK to offer Baby Signing Parties, which will be aimed at babies and young children under three years old. Baby Signing Parties will include a dazzling range of song, music, dance, imagination games, balloons, magic, bubbles, and sensory stimuli to fully engage the tiniest of Bedazzlers! The shows will be forty-five minutes in duration and will be delivered by a Bedazzled character of your choice.

Only two days after we went to press with Baby Signing Parties, we have already received our first booking.

We are also performing an adaptation of a Baby Signing Party for the amazing children at Beaulieu House this summer. Beaulieu House is a respite residential unit for children with severe learning disabilities or health issues. Many of the children use Makaton and British Sign Language as their primary method of communication. Baby Signing Mummy uses a combination of Makaton, BSL and the Baby Signing Mummy Method to create their accessible signs. We will therefore combine our Baby Signing Mummy expertise with our regular Bedazzled Parties shows to suit this wonderful audience.

If you have a child with special educational needs and would like us to include signing in to their party, please do let us know and we will be more than happy to help! We believe that every child deserves the party of their dreams and we will do our utmost to ensure that this happens!

In the press! Read the IWCP press release online now! Click here- Baby Signing Parties.

Hello Bedazzlers!

We hope that you are having a fabulous February and making the most of the unseasonably warm weather. It has been a mad month for us at Bedazzled HQ! Firstly, we hired two new gorgeous entertainers to join the existing Bedazzled Parties Team!!! Magical Marie and Lovely Louise will be performing their premiere parties this weekend and after weeks of hard work and glitter, we are certain that they will be fabulous! We will be posting entertainer profiles over the coming months, so you can meet the team and learn a fascinating fact or two.

We have also launched a number of new party themes. Rapunzel and Spiderman are now available to book and are already proving very popular. All of our Princess and Fairy dresses are handmade and are so beautiful, I must confess, it’s hard to take them off at the end of the day! Housework is that bit more exciting when dressed as a princess after all…

This Friday we are also thrilled to complete our training with Baby Signing Mummy! This means that Baby Signing Parties, aimed at pre-talkers and very young children, will be live and launched extremely soon! We are the only children’s party company in the UK to offer Baby Signing Parties, in association with Baby Signing Mummy, so please do contact us for more details.

Finally and perhaps most exciting of all, I have just found out that I have not only been nominated for a Mumsclub Business Award; but that I’ve actually now been short listed too! This is the 4th annual Mumsclub Business Mum’s Awards, as sponsored by MyFamilyClub. This really is such an honour and I am so very grateful to everybody who was kind enough to vote. Bedazzled Parties was nominated for a ‘What’s on 4 Junior Award’ in January of this year, so to receive a personal nomination from Mumsclub as well is truly overwhelming. The winners of the Mumsclub Business Awards 2012 will be announced on International Women’s Day, which is March 8th. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody involved the best of luck and I look forward to connecting with lots of wonderful new business Mums as a result of the awards.

That is all for now folks. More exciting news to come very soon I am sure, but for now, I must try and get this wee baby to bed!

Night night x x

We are thrilled to announce that we have been nominated for a national award! We have been nominated in the ‘Best Children’s Entertainment’ category of the highly prestigious ‘What’s on 4 Junior Awards 2012′ in association with Konfidence!

Thank you so so much to everyone who has already voted. We truly love what we do and to be recognised for our life’s passion is such an honour.

The next stage of the awards is the live ceremony in June 2012. We would love to be present, so to ensure that we are, we need your help!

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to visit www.whatson4littleones.co.uk/awards.asp and vote for us as your ‘Best Children’s Entertainers/ Entertainment’ 2012! Every vote counts and if we get enough of your gorgeous votes, we may even be in with a chance to qualify as finalists!

Thank you so much in advance for helping to support our growth and development.

Love and Sparkles, Charlotte x x x x

This week we would love to share this fabulous video with you, from some very dear friends of ours; Baby Signing Mummy. What a beautiful sign to share with your little ones… ENJOY! x x

Happy New Year to all of our friends!

As we look forward to another exciting new year, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our friends, clients and supporters for what can only be described as an incredible 2011! The response to our parties and events all over the country has been consistently superb and that is all thanks to you wonderful parents out there and of course, your ever fabulous children! Please find below a few of our Bedazzled highlights…

* 23/1/11 Sandown, Isle of Wight: Woody’s first ever appearance on the Isle of Wight! (With a heavily pregnant ‘not-so-little’ Bo-Peep as his sidekick!)
* 29/03/11 Baby Oliver Brisco is born and joins the Bedazzled Team! 9 days later, Oliver attended his first party, in the company of Minnie Mouse!
* 6-11th August Cowes, Isle of Wight: Cowes Week 2011 ‘The Buskers’. Here the Bedazzled fire team, storytellers, magicians, musicians and children’s entertainers wowed the crowds, contributing to a record breaking Cowes Week!
* 28/8/11 Robin Hill: Harry Potter appears at ‘Cinema Under the Stars 2011′.
* 25/09/11 West London: Fantastic Johnny English Party and the start of our working relationship with The Tabernacle.
* 27/11/11 Lake: Our first Children’s Christmas Party for Morrisons!
* 11/12/11 Ryde: Our first Children’s Christmas Party for Tescos!

We would also like to thank Rookley Country Park, The Isle of Wight Pearl, Spotlight IOW Ltd, Fairway Holiday Park, Appuldurcombe Gardens, Isle of Wight Radio, The Tabernacle W11, Caterpillar Music, Robin Hill, Morrisons, Tescos, The Isle of Wight County Press, Island Life Magazine, The Beacon, The Co-Operative, Shanklin Theatre, That’s Service Party Shop, The Bridal Showrooms, Circus Circus London and everybody who contributed to our many successes this year!

A massive thank you as well to all of our fantastic and ever enthusiastic Bedazzled Entertainers! Your commitment, hardwork and beautiful parties make us smile everyday and we are so very grateful for all that you do!

We are incredibly excited for 2012 and look forward to seeing both old friends again and making lots of new ones too!

Thank you again and wishing you all every happiness for the forthcoming year and beyond.

Love and Sparkles,

The Bedazzled Team x x

We hope that you are all well and starting to feel VERY festive!

It was another fantastic weekend for the Bedazzled Parties Team. Santa’s Elves were spotted at the Tesco’s Christmas Party in Ryde; Woody was rumoured to be partying on down in Newbury; Ben 10 was wowing the crowds in Chandlers Ford; Supergirl flew over to Wellow and there was a pirate invasion just outside of Swindon!! All parties were a roaring success and we are very pleased to share some of our feedback from the weekend below…

“The party was fab. Daniel was great and the kids loved him. The party bags went down well too. Definitely booking again. Thank you; fantastic day!” (11.12.11 Newbury)

“Thanks to Emily for a great day, Ptolly loved it. One Mum came up to me today and said her 6 year old told her that it was the best party she had ever been to! Well done, will definitely recommend you.”(11.12.11 Wellow, Isle of Wight)

We have an extremely busy week ahead of us and will be visiting St Margarets, Newbury, London, Twickenham, Salisbury, Fareham and the Isle of Wight to name but a few destinations!!!
Thank you again for your continued support and custom and keep visiting us for the latest Bedazzled Parties news!