한국어
Liam’s 5th Birthday Party 🎉
How to Plan a Kids’ Birthday Party in Australia
How Birthday Party Invitations Work in Australia
In Australia, it’s pretty common to send out birthday party invitations about a month in advance when planning a kids’ party. The invitation usually includes the date, location, and an RSVP deadline so parents know when to reply.
Most people give about two weeks for guests to respond after sending the invite, so there’s plenty of time to figure out who’s coming.
Of course, if the party is being put together last minute, you might not be able to send invites that early—but generally, people like to plan ahead. It definitely makes things easier when you know how many kids to expect and can prep accordingly!
Inviting Liam’s Friends to the Party
Liam turned five this year and started school. Since his birthday was right at the beginning of the school year, we didn’t expect him to have close school friends just yet. So at first, we were planning a small party with just two or three of his close friends he already knew well.
But as the first term went on, we noticed he had made more friends than we expected—and he was really enjoying spending time with them. It was so lovely to see that we decided to invite his new school friends too, hoping these would be the friendships he carries with him for years to come.
That’s how Liam’s 5th birthday party turned into something much bigger than we originally planned!
Just as we were about to start handing out invitations, a big storm hit Brisbane. Schools were closed, work was put on pause—everything came to a halt. Once things settled back down, we finally sent out the invites about three weeks before the party and started getting replies.
Booking the Party Venue
The venue we were looking at had a minimum booking of 12 kids, and we figured around 15 would end up coming. So even before we got all the RSVPs back, we went ahead and booked it for 15 kids.
One of the hardest parts was actually choosing where to have the party—especially since the kids are still so young.
A play café would’ve been the easiest option for us parents, but we didn’t love the idea of the kids just mixing in with all the other families who happened to be there. We wanted something a bit more personal—just Liam and his friends, playing together in one space.
That’s why we ended up choosing a place called My First Gym, where they run physical activity classes for kids. We could rent out the whole space, and there was a staff member who ran the activities. They set up a ninja-style obstacle course that was perfect for their age, and the kids absolutely loved it.
The only downside? No catering. So we had to handle all the food ourselves!
Getting Ready for the Party
Party Room Decorations
I ordered Pokémon balloons, a birthday cake topper, table covers, and a backdrop from AliExpress about two weeks before the party. I was a bit worried they wouldn’t arrive in time, but they showed up just under 10 days later, thankfully!
Balloons
The colored balloons and the number 5 were ordered in advance from Big W.
Cake & Cupcakes
Since we had a lot of guests, I ordered the main cake from Costco and did the decoration myself. For Liam’s name, I used icing and food coloring from Woolworths to create the colors. I also made Pokéballs using cake pop techniques—shaping the cake into a ball and covering it with icing.
I tried reaching out to a few places for a custom cake, but either the prices were way too high or communication was poor. In the end, I decided to do the decorating myself.
For the cupcakes
I bought mini muffins from Woolworths, cut the tops slightly to adjust the height, then added colored cream. I printed out Pokémon images, cut them out, and stuck them onto toothpicks to make little toppers.
I didn’t have a ton of time, so the decoration wasn’t super detailed, but once everything was set up, the colors came together really nicely, and the table looked great!
On the Day of the Party
The party was set to run from 2:00 PM for two hours. We were told we could start setting up the party room 15 minutes before, but anticipating that we’d need more time, we arrived 30 minutes early. Luckily, they let us in early, so we were able to decorate the room and set up the food quickly as guests started arriving.
In the morning, I picked up the balloons I had ordered from Big W, and since it was an afternoon party, I kept the food simple with some light snacks. I made mini pizzas and fairy bread, and arranged the rest of the snacks I’d bought in a nice display.
As the kids started arriving, they had a blast playing for about an hour, then spent 30 minutes enjoying the food I had prepared. We also had a birthday celebration time, and it took about 30 minutes to cut and eat the cake. Thirty minutes was more than enough for everyone to eat, and the last 30 minutes were spent letting the kids play freely before we wrapped up the party.
During the birthday celebration, Liam couldn’t sit still, and the kids in front of him were just as excited, running around and causing a bit of chaos. Haha!
\
As soon as the birthday song ended, the cupcakes were gone in a flash. ><
I didn’t expect it, but the cupcakes I decorated were a huge hit! I almost wish I had made the birthday cake out of cupcakes instead.
There were so many presents, just like there were so many friends invited!
As soon as we got home, Liam was busy unwrapping gifts and was completely overwhelmed. Interestingly, almost all of the gifts were LEGO sets. ><
After a while, he got so good at shaking the presents to figure out the sound that he could tell it was LEGO before even opening them! I had no idea how much Australians love LEGO until now.
The two hours of the birthday party flew by in no time. It felt like I spent the whole day just preparing for those two hours.
Liam seemed to enjoy the attention at first, but after a while, he started making excuses saying he was scared, and it turned into him wanting more attention. It was a bit tough, but in the last 30 minutes, the party ended on a high note as everyone had fun.
I don’t think I’ll do a big party like this again. After a year in school, I’m sure Liam will have a few best friends. Next year, I think it’ll be nice to just invite a few close school friends and keep it simple!
