If you live in an area such as we do in Western New York (we're in Rochester!) With beautifully warm summers and cold snowy winters, you will understand your options for your child's birthday party are largely dependent on the weather.
As an August baby, we always had little family parties outside at my house. But, with sons born in November and March, we're constantly left to book an indoor place for their parties, if we chose to have them that season. While those with kids with summer birthdays might appear blessed to have so many choices at their disposal, it can also often feel overwhelming.
While at Climbing Vines Cafe and Play we may be biased since we host indoor parties, I wished to discuss with you the 5 most common reasons we hear out of previous party clients to reserve indoor summer birthdays with us. To them, the stress-free nature of the indoor playground equipment summer party is a no-brainer, plus they are not looking back! After their initial indoor summer party, they keep hosting with us year after year.


1) NO WEATHER WORRIES


The most common reason for a customer to reserve a summer indoor party with us is they do not have to stalk the weather forecast for upgrades in the weeks leading up to the party. And if you've ever needed to cancel or postpone your kid's birthday because of weather, then you know how heartbreaking that can be.
We receive dozens of calls each summer a few days before someone's outdoor celebration is supposed to happen to find out if we have an open slot for them in our indoor party place due to weather woes. We can normally pull off this if the place is open, but hosts will sadly need to starve and let all their guests know of the change in place and probably shift in time, and also change all of their catering requests to accommodate their new party plan.
While of course rain is likely the biggest obstacle you may face, intense heat, unseasonably cool weather, and end may also pose problems for your food, decorations, and your guests' possessions. You will likely end up investing in a tent or some other weather barrier simply to ease your mind a bit, which are costly and require lots of precious time to prepare and take down. I will not even tell the story of this time my Dad set up a tent for a party in a windstorm and wound up with a insurance claim for 4 damaged cars when it withdrew (weights and anchors and all!) ...


Aside from the obvious weather worries you can avoid with a indoor party, there can also just be something really straightforward and lovely about a indoor summer celebration. Guests won't need to be worried about bringing sunscreen and towels and towels and swimsuits and changes of clothing and bug spray... you understand.
Sometimes it's wonderful to take a brief break from the outside, sip coffee in an air borne cafe, and have a real conversation with other adults while the children play, rather than chasing kids around trying to get their fur on them keeping them away from your in-ground pool. I am not sure about you, but I can never really relax at an outdoor summer birthday party with a two and a 4 year old. While they sure do have a good time running around, we usually leave at a daze or with a tantrum, unsure if we had time to chat or check in with everyone.
While I absolutely adore a good barbecue or summer grilling extravaganza, I also find it refreshing when we could take a rest in the same-old backyard celebration and spend a couple of hours in a relaxing, cool, and most importantly-- contained! -- air.
It's also freeing as a guest to have the remainder of the day to do as we want as a family, not need to be concerned about getting the children into a tub right after the party or stopping home to cool off and change clothes.
I guarantee that if you reserve an indoor celebration for your child, guests (particularly family) may appear a bit confused at first (why not just take advantage of the summer weather while we can, right?) But after hosting countless indoor parties I can tell you for certain that on the day-of, you and your visitors will realize how pleasant it can be to reunite within an air-conditioned private party for a few hours.

Speaking of how relaxing a indoor, air-conditioned celebration can be, can we discuss food for a moment?
At the moment, my sweet 4 year old boy is terrified of bees, and also the quickest way to send him into a tailspin would be for him to sit down to eat a cupcake or his meal and also have bees swarming around. Therefore, for our family, the food factor alone could be sufficient to warrant an indoor party.
Eating in peace without needing to find shade or a seat or a place away from bugs is one of these things that you do not realize can be so glorious until you attend your fourth or fifth outside summer gathering and after that get a break from them. Among the most common things we hear is how fine it is to just sit and eat and see the kiddos play with no any other venue-related cares or worries. This is going to be particularly important when you're going to be having older family members attend that can battle with being portable in the grass or mud and locating seating at outdoor parties.


While celebration aesthetic may not be a determining factor for each and every household, it sure is much simpler to make a themed extravaganza which lighting a child's face up as soon as the party's indoors. The decorations required are often less because the place is smaller and contained contained, and you won't need to be concerned about balloons and streamers blowing all about or procuring table covers .
Because we do host mobile events outdoors in Climbing Vines Cafe and Play, I will also speak from experience once I say the time it takes to install (and take down!) Decorations for an outdoor celebration compared to an indoor celebration generally ends up being at least double. Finding great places to hang banners, requiring two people to maintain and secure everything, and finding weights or other restraints for everything can be a true hassle on celebration.
And you will have enough to worry about that day, right?
Furthermore, if your pinterest planks are filled with adorable figurines, a candy bar, or anything that may be impacted by wind (or bring bees!) You will probably have to restrategize to get an outdoor soiree.
Not to mention decoration typically can only be utilized once if used outside, but repurposed again and again if used for an indoor event. Our guests that sponsor indoor occasions, especially those who invested significant money into decor or labored hard to make their own, are very happy to find they can usually make a large chunk of their cash back by reselling their materials on something such as Facebook Marketplace.

Speaking of cash, probably the greatest misconception I hear from customers is that they want to host a party in their house to save themselves the rental fee of an indoor area. I usually laugh at this because it makes perfect sense, in other words, if you've never hosted an outdoor celebration.
With all the"extras" like tents, chair rentals, extra decorations, weather reinforcements, cleanup provides, games and activities for the children (which you won't need to supply at a play place!) It's very possible you are going to end up spending MUCH more hosting a celebration at your house or an outdoor place than you would inside.
I'm not sure how other indoor spaces handle their equipment, but we only charge guests to get extra drinks and supplies and these on the day of the party should they wind up needing them, and we also allow parties to bring in their OWN food, dessert, and decor should they choose!
Money aside, spending countless hours cleaning prior to, during, and following the party can also have a toll. Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk into a sparkling clean space and depart with your guests when the party's over, not having to worry about the cleanup, trash removal, tent teardown, etc?
It's possible to just head home and relax with your loved ones (yes, maybe outside!) In a nice clean home that wasn't just trampled by party guests and all their sand, grass, and sunscreen.
Along with the time spent cleaning before and after the party, would not it ALSO be wonderful to not need to play"server" during the event? For clients that make their own food and decor, our dedicated celebration assistants set everything up, refill and fix food and drinks as necessary, clear dishes, cut and serve the cake, and then package up all of the leftovers at the end of the celebration!
After all, it is your child's special day and you wish to spend those precious hours making memories and seeing along with your guests-- not running about chasing your decorations or refilling the fruit bowl countless times.
So save everyone (and especially your family!) Lots of stress, time, and stress by booking your event with us summer time. We'd be honored to provide you with an easy, breezy experience which will leave your entire guest list feeling joyful, thankful, and full of love after spending a relaxing (yet fun-filled!) day together.