4 ways to celebrate your child's birthday, honour God and not break the bank

The celebration of a birthday brings excitement, anticipation, and lots of fun. Celebrating a child’s birthday increases their self-esteem, sense of belonging, and overall well-being. But are parties now becoming too expensive to host given the current climate? A recent article in The Times suggests they are, with many parents delaying parties—leading to a dip in the party industry in the UK.

The cost of a party has been a topic of conversation long before my children were small. The financial crash of 2008, the Covid-19 pandemic, and now the cost-of-living crisis have all meant that parents have had to prioritise household essentials over extras like leisure and parties. As a result, hundreds of articles and social media posts have offered advice on how to reduce the costs of birthday celebrations—from DIY at-home events to small, intimate gatherings. One thing is certain: the trend for celebrating hasn’t stopped, but the way we throw parties in the UK is changing. With the average cost of a child’s birthday party reportedly at £524, many are trying to find ways to bring that cost down.

There has also been a significant rise in online shopping through platforms like Shein and Temu. When I was planning a wedding 18 months ago, my social media feed was flooded with videos showing how to throw an ‘extravagant’ party for a fraction of the cost using these sites. Despite ethical concerns about buying cheap goods from China, Temu has become the fastest-growing app in recent years. It reported a monthly increase of 53% in users during 2024, equating to 9.9 million people in the UK using the app regularly. This growth is largely due to Temu’s ability to sell to the UK market without paying import tariffs, keeping product costs low.

Celebrating life’s milestones is part of what it means to be human. Yet birthday parties as we know them today—with cake and candles—didn’t really begin until the 18th century. Over my lifetime, birthday parties have evolved from inviting a few close friends over for tea and cake at home to hiring out trampoline parks and inviting the entire class—regardless of whether they are close friends or not.

The rise of social media in the past decade has also influenced how we plan and host parties. For some, throwing an ‘Instagram-ready’ party can seem more important than the person being celebrated. Creating perfectly curated, aesthetically pleasing images in a dreamy location to share online often defines the perceived success of a party. Perhaps we need to reevaluate the meaning behind the celebration. Has the focus shifted from centring the celebration on the child to centring it on the host? I would suggest that it has. This shift has created a pressure to outdo the last party, placing an enormous burden on families who are already struggling with rising household costs.