By Chiara Sbrizzi – Party4Purpose founder
If you’re a parent, you probably don’t need me to explain why we become slightly obsessed with weather forecasts when organising an outdoor birthday party.
Because when you have 15, 20 or more kids coming to a party, there is one very important question:
Where are they all going to go if it rains?
And let’s be honest, who has a house big enough to fit 20 sugar-fuelled seven-year-olds running around?
And even if you do have a house that could accommodate them all, why would you punish yourself like that? 😂
We live in Australia. The weather is almost always beautiful. (Melbourne parents may strongly disagree with this statement.)
So naturally, we love an outdoor party.
The problem with outdoor parties?
There is often no Plan B.
The weather forecast becomes your new best friend (or enemy)
After many years of hosting and attending kids’ parties, I’ve witnessed pretty much every level of weather-related parental stress.
In the best-case scenario, your child’s birthday falls in the middle of a glorious stretch of sunshine. The forecast is perfect, the grass is dry, the BBQ is ready and you can finally relax.
But what happens when the forecast changes two days before the party?
Mostly cloudy becomes heavy rain.
Or worse, it still says “mostly cloudy” and you wake up on the morning of the party to torrential rain.
And then there is the ultimate nightmare:
The party starts with beautiful weather and gets hit by a summer storm halfway through.
I have a live example of this one.
The beach party that went down in history
A couple of years ago, my youngest was invited to the birthday party of one of his oldest friends. They had known each other since childcare.
This family always puts on the most amazing outdoor parties at the beach.
There are lilos and floaties for the kids to jump off and play with, boat trips, loads of activities, delicious food and, basically, the kind of party that makes your child come home and spend the next hour telling you how much fun they had.
Anyway, back to that particular November Sunday.
It started beautifully.
Everyone arrived at the beach. The kids were having an absolute ball.
Then, suddenly, the wind picked up.
Black clouds appeared on the horizon.
Within about five minutes, it was almost as dark as dusk.
The birthday boy’s parents went into emergency mode.
Paper cups and serviettes were the first to take flight, followed by decorations and tablecloths.
It was mayhem.
Everyone started trying to rescue the food while desperately looking for somewhere to shelter. Beach towels were recruited. The toilet block suddenly became the most desirable real estate on the beach.
And then someone remembered:
THE PRESENTS.
There they were.
Bags of birthday presents sitting in the middle of rapidly forming rivers of rainwater.
Some had already started making their way towards the shore.
Fortunately, nothing was lost. But the beautiful birthday cards?
Let’s just say they ended up looking like wet, colourful toilet paper.
Reading them was no longer an option.
Thankfully, as often happens with summer storms, it passed relatively quickly.
The sun came back out.
The party resumed.
And somehow, everyone went back to having an amazing time.
The party we still talk about
To this day, that party still gets mentioned whenever we talk about kids’ birthdays.
It was epic.
And I’m sure plenty of parents reading this have their own outdoor-party-weather horror story.
Because when you’re organising a birthday party, you don’t just check the forecast once.
You check it in the morning.
You check it at lunchtime.
You check it before bed.
You check it again when you wake up.
And then you check it one more time, just in case the Bureau of Meteorology has suddenly changed its mind.
Party planning: 10%. Weather anxiety: 90%.
At least one thing you don’t have to worry about
Unfortunately, we haven’t yet figured out how to control the Australian weather at Party4Purpose.
But we can take one little bit of stress out of organising a party.
The presents.
With Party4Purpose, instead of ending up with 15 individual presents, unwanted toys or gift cards that never get used, guests can contribute towards one meaningful gift the birthday child actually wants, while also supporting a charity chosen by the host.
And all those guest contributions and messages?
They stay safely stored in your Party4Purpose account, ready for you after the party.
No frantic present-opening logistics.
No trying to remember who gave what.
No gift cards mysteriously disappearing into the bottom of a drawer.
And, importantly, no birthday presents floating towards the ocean.
The presents are sorted.
Now if only we could do something about the weather… 🌧️😂
Until then, keep checking that forecast!
