Inexpensive Birthday Party Ideas for Your Event
Are you looking for inexpensive birthday party ideas so that you can save money while having a great time? Unfortunately, money doesn’t fall from trees, and parties can be very expensive. We are here to help you have an affordable event with our 20+ years of party experience. There are several ways for you to have a great birthday celebration without your wallet taking a blow. Save money, have fun, and follow our guide for all the best inexpensive birthday party ideas.
How to Throw a Cheap Party
The total cost of your party will be greatly influenced by the number of attendees present. The more people you invite, the more expensive it will be. Make a guestlist to determine the number of people attending your event. Your list will not only be valuable in determining how big your event will be; it will also allow you to keep track of who you’ve sent invitations to and who is there once people arrive. Create a budget to get an idea of how much your party will cost after you've decided how many guests you'd like to invite. Include food, beverages, decorations, staff, rentals, and anything else you need to buy for your event when comparing costs to your budget. Once costs have been estimated, decide what aspects are most important for your party and plan accordingly based on what you can afford.
How to Save Money with a Fundraiser Event
Generally, the larger the crowd, the more expensive it will be to accommodate everyone. What if there was somehow a way to throw a big party without it costing a lot of money? There is a way, and you can do this by throwing a fundraiser event. Fundraisers are a great opportunity to gather people together in support of a charitable cause. To attract more people to come to your fundraiser, choose a charity that you and your community are passionate about helping. Charge guests an admission fee upon entry that contributes towards setup costs and the cause of your choice. Fundraisers bring everyone in the community together for an inexpensive event. To learn more about throwing a fundraiser party, check out our fundraising guide with great advice on how to throw your own fundraiser movie event.
Planning an Inexpensive Birthday Party
Choose a Theme
Every party needs a theme, whether it's for a birthday, school celebration, church gathering, neighborhood event, or any other occasion. The theme of your party should be fitting for the audience and something that guests would enjoy being immersed in. When deciding on the best theme, the time of year and audience preferences should be highlighted. For example, having a carnival with candy apples, fair games, colorful balloons, face paintings, and an evening showing of "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" at a children’s party would be a great choice during the fall. For the most captivating experience, coordinate all aspects of your party with the overall theme. Shop at your local dollar store to find cheap decorations and party supplies. If you plan on catering food, buy cheap utensils that match the theme of the party. Your party can be both affordable and have an amazing theme.
Pick a Location
In order for your guests to have a good time, the comfort of everyone at your party should be of the utmost importance. Make sure the location of your party is suitable for the expected crowd size, along with any additional equipment. Proper seating is important to have so that guests are not fatigued from standing for too long. If renting chairs or tables is too expensive, tell guests to bring their own lawn chairs and blankets to sit on. Encouraging guests to bring their own seating will save you both money and time. If you want to have your event in a public setting such as a park, school, or any property that is not your own, be sure to ask for permission to hold your party there beforehand. Remember to abide by local noise ordinances and purchase movie licensing if you plan on having an outdoor movie event.
Do I need movie licensing?
For almost any outdoor film screening held in a public area, a movie license is required. Movie licensing is not required when holding an event in an intimate setting on private property; this includes places such as your backyard or home. Depending on the film, obtaining a license may be quite expensive. An alternative solution to avoid paying for licensing is to host a movie party in a private setting. Smaller events typically cost less than larger ones, in large part because they don't require a license most of the time. Beware, a sizable fine could be imposed for failing to obtain a license when it is necessary. See our "How to License a Movie" blog for more information, and learn about buying a license from our licensing page.
Send Invitations
Once you’ve completed the planning for your birthday party, it's time to send out invitations. Throw your birthday party on a Friday or Saturday if you want the most guests to arrive. The start of the weekend is a great time to throw parties due to people generally being free from work or school. After choosing the best day and time, send your invitations digitally to save money. Printing and mailing letters to each of your guests will cost more than simply sending them an email, text message, or social media post. Within your invitation, include an RSVP notice for guests to confirm if they can arrive at your party or not. RSVP notices will help you plan accordingly for the expected crowd size. Visit our party invite page for downloadable invitations or contact us for custom designs.
Prepare the Area
Prepare the area before guests arrive after you’ve chosen the best place to hold your event. Sprinklers and nearby lights coming from lamp posts should be turned off if your birthday party's at night and outdoors. If you’re renting a projector screen, the area should be as dark as possible so that the screen is most visible. At your location, confirm that trash cans and restrooms are available. Both are essential to have. Placing several trash cans where guests can easily spot them will minimize the after-party cleanup. Having clean and open restrooms with a proper amount of soap, toilet paper, and paper towels is vital so that guests don’t have to leave the party to go to the restroom.
What if I need to reschedule my party due to weather?
If you’ve booked an event renting our excellent audiovisual equipment, then it is important to know that we offer free weather-related rescheduling on the morning of the party day. High winds (above 15 mph), rain, snow, or any sign of hazardous weather that makes it unsafe to set up our equipment will require a reschedule or cancellation for the safety of you and your guests. We suggest having an indoor location as a backup in case the weather is bad and your party must be held on the scheduled day. It's never fun for us to have to cancel a party due to bad weather, so we'll do our best to work with our customers to make sure the fun can continue on another day. Contact your local FunFlicks® office if you want to reschedule your party due to weather concerns.
Cheap Birthday Party Activities
Live Sports Watch Party
Get your game face on for a live sports watch party. Encourage guests to arrive in their gameday apparel and bring on the rivalry for such an event. Live sporting events are inexpensive to show on our screens due to movie licensing not being required to view them in public.
Video Game Tournament
A video game tournament is an amazing birthday party activity to compete in against your guests. As long as your console is HDMI-compatible, then we can display your gameplay footage on the big screen. Such an activity is inexpensive in that movie licensing is not required for public display.
Silent Disco
Dance the night away with a silent disco! We offer affordable wireless headset rentals in select locations across the nation. If your local noise ordinances require quiet at a certain hour, then a silent disco is the perfect choice. Our event technicians will bring the equipment and play any music you’d like to listen to at your party.
Karaoke Night
Test your vocal skills with a live karaoke night. We have microphones for singing and high-definition speakers for listening. If you’d like to view sing-along lyrics, we can display those on any of our screens. Such an activity is perfect for your birthday party celebration at your home, bar, church, or place of work.
Inexpensive Screen Rentals
Affordable Fast-Fold Screen Rental
Our fast-fold screens are the most affordable projector screens available to rent. Event technicians will arrive at your location and have everything set up in less than an hour. High-definition speakers and movie theater-quality projection are included with your fast-fold screen rental. In your living room, at the park, in a conference hall, or wherever you are wanting to have your screen, it can most likely be done with our fast-folds due to their exceptional compactness. Contact your local FunFlicks® to learn more about fast-fold screen rental.
Affordable Inflatable Movie Screen Rental
The FunFlicks® inflatable screen has been a staple of the business since the beginning. Our screens have pioneered the way films are enjoyed by audiences around the United States and have been tried, tested, and improved upon since 2001. The variety of screen sizes range from the tiny indoor inflatable screen that can fit in your home to our gigantic screen, which is one of the largest in the world. Generally, the larger the screen, the more expensive it is to rent. Contact your local FunFlicks® to learn about prices and rental opportunities.
Affordable LED Screen Rental
For the highest quality experience that can be enjoyed at any time of day, rent our LED trailers or LED modular walls. The pixel pitch density of our panels allows for a bright display in any place. If you’re looking to save money, then you should know that LED screen rentals are a lot more expensive than our projector screen rentals. Like our projector screens, the cost to rent is generally higher the larger the screen. The quality of the picture in any setting is excellent, unlike any other screen rental that you can find elsewhere. Contact your local FunFlicks® to see what LED screens are available in your area.
Screen for an Outdoor Evening or Indoor Party
Our fleet of inflatables is the best quality of screen that you can rent at an affordable price. Whether the party is going on in your backyard or in a stadium, there is an inflatable screen for everyone to enjoy. Our assortment of inflatable screens have a seamless viewing surface and can be blown up in minutes. We’ll be sure to get everything up and running before sunset. At every event, we bring high-definition speakers that will knock your socks off and a theatrical projector with a crystal-clear display. For optimal viewing, an inflatable event should take place in a setting with minimal lighting and winds of under 15 mph.
Backyard 16'
12x7 display
100 guests
20 cars
Premiere 21'
16x9 display
250 guests
50 cars
Blockbuster 26'
20x12 display
500 guests
75 cars
Elite 32'
26x15 display
750 guests
100 cars
Epic 40'
30x17 display
1500 guests
150 cars
Xtreme 50'
40x22 display
3000 guests
250 cars
LED Display Screens
If you want a screen that can display day or night in almost any environment, renting an LED screen is the best option for you. Using electroluminescent technology, our LED screens generate light safely and effectively at any time of day. Hence, it isn’t a problem if you want to watch a movie in the morning or at night on our LED screens. Our panels and trailers are rated IP65, which means they are both rain and dust proof! All of our mobile LED trailers have onboard generators used to power the display. Therefore, no power supply is needed. Similar to our inflatable screens, our fleet of LED screens come in a variety of dimensions for a variety of crowd sizes. Event technicians across the country are available to bring our LED trailers anywhere for you to enjoy the 2023 Oscars on.
MAX Light
8x5 display
MAX 127
12x7 display
MAX 158
15x8 display
MAX 1710
17x10 display
MAX 2313
23x13 display
