Did you notice how most kids celebrate birthdays at Jollibee? That seems to be a trend these days (at least to most people I know). We initially didn’t want to jump in the bandwagon because we’re planning a princess party for our daughter’s first birthday at an event’s place however, we changed our mind a few months before Allyka turned one.
Here are the reasons why we opted to celebrate at Jollibee:
- Practicality wise. You’d be able to save money since Jollibee is more affordable than celebrating at a fancy restaurant or renting a venue and a caterer. We already spent so much on Allyka’s baptism when she was two months old so it was just wise not to splurge this time around.
- Less effort. Let’s admit it. Parties at home are fun but are super tiring too! You cook food or find someone to cook for you, wash the dishes, entertain, decorate and clean the house after! My husband and I are both working so we honestly don’t have the time to handle a party at home. At least at Jollibee, Eat and Run ka. 😂 I mean, you just go there to celebrate and then you can leave the venue after.
- Less preparation needed. Jollibee will handle the food, venue, decoration, invitation, program and they can even handle the giveaway, cake, and others. You only have to worry about the clothes you’ll wear and the people you’ll invite. (unless you want to be sooo extra and make some DIY projects like I did 😂)
I guess the only con of celebrating at Jollibee is the time limitation since you only have two hours for the actual program proper. But believe me, when I say this, kiddie parties are so tiring because of oh well, kids. So, 2 hours is just enough to make them happy. Besides, restaurants and other party venues have time limits too.
Anyhoo, here are some helpful factors you should consider when planning your Jollibee party.
1. The Capacity of the Venue
They’re all the same, right? Nope. Different branches mean different venues. So what should you know? Ask them about the capacity of the party venue. We’ve checked 3 Jollibee branches, some of them can only handle 80 guests so we opted to the one with a larger party area that can handle 110 guests even though it’s a bit far from our house.
2. Date Availability
Once you find the perfect branch. Approach a Jollibee Party Coordinator to check the availability of your preferred date and time. You can pencil book your preferred date and time however reservation requires a 3k downpayment. That’s really all you need to pay since you will handle the rest of the bill after the party. Tip: We booked their first party of the day so we had time decorating the party area in the morning. The interval between parties is just mostly an hour so that can be a challenge if you’re planning to decorate the place because you have to wait for the first party to end before you can start decorating.
3. Food
This one’s a little bit tricky because they will give you a list of packages for the food but don’t choose just yet.
The trick here is that their party food packages are actually more expensive than their regular packages but you don’t have to order everything from their party packages. You are only required to order at least 5000 pesos from their party packages then, you’re free to order from their regular packages with the exception of super meals (if I remember it correctly)
Here’s a sample breakdown to give you an idea on how we maximized our food expenses:
(Set Meal 2) 214 pesos x 24 kids = 5136 Pesos
We were expecting 40 kids to attend but we only ordered 24 set meal 2 and we just ordered the same meals on their regular menu. Here’s the breakdown:
- (C3 Meal) Chicken Joy with spaghetti and soft drinks is 131 Pesos
- Sundae is 30 Pesos each
- Regular Fries is 40 Pesos each
- Total Cost per Meal is 201 Pesos (Cheaper than the set meals by 13 pesos)
201 Pesos x 16 kids = 3216 Pesos
So, we spent 5136 + 3216 = 8352 pesos for 40 kids.
We were able to save 208 pesos by doing this. (Pang breakfast na din ang 200 ah!)
For the adult meals, were able to choose from their regular meals since we already met the 5000 pesos minimum spend requirement on the party set meals. Here’s a breakdown of our meal:
- Chicken with Fries and Drinks – 101 Pesos
- Regular Yum Burger – 40 Pesos
- Cup Vanilla – 10 Pesos
- Total cost per person is 151 Pesos.
In summary, we just ordered at least 5000 from their party packages and ordered the rest of our meals from their regular menu. Just a friendly advice from a former math teacher who’s married to a math teacher, Always do the Math! 😂
Additional Tip: You can pay as much as 10,000 Pesos using your Happy Plus so take advantage of that! That’s 200 happy plus points for you (another pang breakfast hihi)
4. Party Fee
The party fee of 1500 pesos is a mandatory fee that includes:
Here are a few things to remember:
- Game prizes – They will only prepare a few prizes for four games. Two games for the kids and two games for the adults. Ask them ahead of time to if it’s possible to have more games for the kids and let them that you’ll bring prizes for the additional games.
- Party Set – Party Hats, Tray liners and Invitation (15 pcs) are included in the party fee but you can add more of this set by paying 7 pesos per set. We paid extra 175 pesos for the additional 25 kids.
5. Cake
Jollibee can provide the cake at a fee for your convenience or you can bring a cake. Depending on how strict or lenient the Jollibee branch is, they follow certain rules regarding the cake. We have talked to a branch who reminded us that they don’t allow Disney themed cakes since that’s a trademark of a competitor. Another branch also told us that we can bring in cupcakes but they can’t be eaten in the venue. Well, as for the branch where we celebrated, our guests were able to eat the cupcakes during the party without an issue.
We got our cake from Mhy Cakes and Pastries at Valenzuela City which I discovered on Facebook. We got this pretty Princess themed cake and 24 cupcakes for just 1500 Pesos. What a steal, right? The cake looks so pretty and our guests loved how moist the cupcakes are so I highly recommend them.
6. Party Favor
Jollibee offers Lunchboxes with pencil and coloring book as party favors for just 65 pesos each but my hubby and I made party loot bags instead.
Aside from the kids’ loot bags, we also gave away simple souvenirs to our guests.
I’ll share more information about my DIY projects for Allyka’s birthday on a separate blog post since this will be too long if I include that here.
7. Venue Decoration
Being somehow a crafty person, I wanted Allyka’s birthday to have a pretty dainty princess vibe so I chose their Fairytale land theme. The above photo, by the way, shows the only party themes they offer. Jollibee doesn’t allow/recommend you use a different theme especially when it involves known cartoon characters.
As per the decoration, they follow a pretty standard style. Their backdrop tarpaulin, balloon pillars if available, and balloons on the ceiling and decors depending on your chosen theme.
To upgrade your decor, you can hire always hire a stylist to decorate the venue. The most cheaper balloon decor package I saw was just 1,200 pesos. But since we were trying to save money, I decided to just decorate the place myself. I mean, I made some DIY decors, explained it to my sisters and had them do it for us ❤ Thank you Nanay Zenedina who made the table cloth and to ate Maricar and Jetjet who made the balloon pillars.
Here’s the outcome:
My mommy heart is soo happy. The balloon pillars aren’t perfectly made but hey! We only spent 200 pesos + labor of love for that. Again, I’ll share details about my DIY on a separate post so I hope you subscribe to my email list to be notified when I publish that article 😉
8. Invitation
Jollibee‘s invitation is a pretty standard invitation so I edited an invitation on Canva and shared that to our friends through social media. Yun na kasi uso ngayon electronic invites 😅
9. Photographer
This is important. Don’t forget to have someone take photos during the event because you want to be able to have a picture you can show your child in the future. Capture the moment. We hired a photographer for Allyka’s baptism for just 2000 pesos and it was worth it! He gave us a ton of beautiful photos but that same photographer was no longer available for Allyka’s birthday so instead of hiring another one, we just asked my niece to take decent photos using my husband’s phone during the event. A little editing on Snapseed and Lightroom and the photos turned out good. Saved us 2k! 😁
10. Pre Birthday Photoshoot
I feel you mommy. We all love capturing photos of our baby’s milestones so I know we all want a photoshoot for our baby. Luckily, a lot of photographers offer services at an affordable rate now. You can hire a photographer for just 1000 or less to shoot your baby’s photos. You still have to deal with your baby’s outfit, costume, and props of course (unless your package with your photographer already includes free props).
Allyka already had a free mini photo shoot from StorkStudio and Little Heartbeat Photography so we weren’t really planning to give her a separate photoshoot but.. we still went ahead and did our own photo shoot with Allyka two days before her birthday 😅
I’ll share some tips on how we were able to take awesome photos using our mobile phone on another blog post (Ang dami ko ng utang na blog post haha)
Lastly, have fun!
You are your baby’s source of strength so relax and have fun! Let your baby feel your happiness and love towards her on this special day. Don’t stress yourself out on tiny details. My husband and I had fun together with our guests all thanks to the fun games, the lively host of Jollibee and the delicious food from our favorite fast food so I hope you have the same level of fun too when you celebrate at Jollibee.
Thanks for reading this lengthy post, I hope you learned a thing or two and leave a comment below if you have any questions or suggestions.
Love,
