A Buyer’s Guide To Party Items

There is a lot to think about when you have a party to plan. It might seem like a simple task to begin with but the more you think about it the more you realise how many items there are to buy.

That’s why we have put this guide together: to help you narrow down all the items you have to think about buying. So without further ado, let’s get started.

Party Items from our Featured Retailer

Balloons

There was a time when balloons were quite plain and only available in plain colours. But now there are all kinds of shapes, sizes and types available to buy if you need them.

Many websites have them available and dedicated to specific times of the year. For example there are seasonal balloons for Christmas that are in red and green among other colours. They may also have seasonal designs printed on the sides.

Halloween is another good bet for balloons. Orange and black balloons are very popular for this occasion, and you can also get ones which are shaped like ghosts, with a ghostly face on the front as well.

They are also available with messages on them for all occasions – weddings, christenings and birthdays. And you can have them printed up with your own message on them as well.

Party bags

These are ideal if you are hosting a kids’ party in the near future. Every child should have a party bag before they go home from the party, and they are ideal for filling with a variety of items – see the next segment below!

As you would expect they also come printed in various designs. Some are aimed at boys and others at girls, while some are firmly unisex and perfect for any child.

You can buy them very cheaply as well, and usually they come in packs of six or eight. It is typically the sort of item that is also available more cheaply the more of them you buy, so do look out for the bulk deals if you can. Many of them also have a space available for you to write the name of the child on them if you wish.

Party bag fillers

These are many and varied! There are dozens of different items available that you can choose from and there is plenty of choice for both boys and girls.

Lots of people try to get two types of party bags on the go when they have a kids’ party coming up. They will buy items that are specifically for either boys or girls, and then buy other items that are suitable for either. This gives a nice balanced feel to the party bags, and once the obligatory slice of cake is put in it gives them a nice selection of items to take home.

The variety of items available is quite amazing too. You can buy small face paints, jigsaws, handheld ball games, bubbles, perhaps a small pack of sweets, and plenty more besides. The good thing is that whatever you go for they are available to buy very cheaply. You can usually buy half a dozen items for a pound or two, which is very reasonable and it makes it easy to fill a number of party bags without it costing you a fortune.

Streamers

Once again, these are ideal for any occasion, celebration or time of year. The good thing is that you can buy them in lots of different colours, so it is easy to choose the ones you want that will fit in with all the other decorations you have.

For example if it is Halloween you can go for the traditional orange and black. Christmas looks wonderful with green, red and perhaps gold as well, depending on what effect you want to create. Birthdays can be livened up with streamers that are the favourite colour of the birthday boy or girl – or for younger children, blue or pink will always work well.

Cream, silver, white or any other pastel colour is nice for a wedding as well. So you can see that there are plenty of choices and possibilities for bringing streamers into the mix at any occasion.

Party hats

These are more often sold for children’s parties. But there is no reason why you couldn’t make use of them for a more adult party as well. In fact there are some websites which provide hats for specific adult occasions, such as hen parties for example.

They are a bright and inexpensive way to spice up any party though. They are usually made from cardboard so they can even be flattened and put into kids’ party bags if you are going to give the bags out before the end of the party.

They always come with an elasticated string that goes under your chin, keeping them in place easily and comfortably. Most of the time you will buy them in packs of six or more, and they may either come in different designs or in packs where all the hats are the same.

Party masks

Depending on which website you visit, you will see a variety of masks that are suitable for adults as well as children. The kids’ ones tend to be along the lines of animal masks, representing farmyard animals or wild animals for example.

The adult ones can be of famous people, Venetians or perhaps characters from fiction that are particularly well known. If you don’t want to host a full blown fancy dress party then these masks can be a nice halfway house.

Banners

Banners come in handy in lots of situations. There are the most common ones, such as Happy Birthday, Just Married and Happy Christmas, but you will find plenty more on offer as well.

When you are buying these banners you need to consider where you will put them before you buy them. Make sure you are aware of the size of the banner beforehand as it will help you to figure out where it can go and how many of them you will need.

Fancy dress costumes

If you have a favourite character from TV, cartoons or films the chances are there is at least one fancy dress costume available to buy for that character.

Many party orientated websites also stock fancy dress costumes because they are usually worn to parties. Websites that do stock them will often sell accessories for them as well. These include wigs, shoes, ties, false beards and moustaches, swords and all manner of other things as well.

Fancy dress costumes can be very expensive but the price you will pay will depend on the quality of the costume you want to buy. Some websites will sell well made and very expensive items as well as cheaper bargains that are made in a much more basic way.

You will also find you can get fancy dress costumes for children, and even for pets! Some websites – usually the ones that have the best ranges and specialise more in this type of item – will also sell fancy dress costumes for couples.

Inflatable items

This isn’t as common but you can still get inflatable items for parties. You could buy an inflatable item to help enhance a fancy dress costume – an inflatable scythe for a devil costume perhaps. In contrast you can also buy items that will help you to decorate a room to a specific theme.

A good example here is a pirate or seaside theme. You can buy inflatable palm trees, treasure chests (good for cooling your beer in) and even inflatable parrots! As you can see they can help you to enhance the party atmosphere and make the most of a particular theme.

Tableware

No one wants to wash up lots of plates, bowls, cutlery and cups after a party. Even if you have plenty of adults present it is nicer to use paper plates and cups, as they simply have to be binned at the end of the day (or night).

And as you would expect they have lots of different designs on them as well. Some have messages printed on them – suitable for birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, and so on – while others have picture designs instead. You can buy ones suitable for boys or girls as well. Fairy designs and football designs are both popular when a party consists of just girls or boys.

Face paints

Perfect as party bag fillers and also good for pure entertainment, everyone loves these. You can test your skills as a painter as well as painting the faces of all the kids who attend the party!

You can buy them in large packs which have lots of different colours and sizes of face paints, and they are also available in mini packs that are perfect to give away to each child attending a party.

Noisemakers

If you can stand the noise, these are wonderful to put on the table at any kids’ party.

Horns, hooters and blowers of all descriptions are readily available on these websites, so you can easily buy a few while you are buying the rest of the items on your party list.

Piñatas

You may not be familiar with these, but they are certainly growing in popularity. The piñata is made from paper and other breakable materials, and it usually comes in a nice design such as a cowboy boot or a flower or similar design.

You then fill it with your choice of toys or sweets, hang it somewhere accessible and the kids or adults at the party start hitting it. Eventually it will explode and the guests will be showered with all the treats inside.

This is a relatively cheap and exciting way to organise an event that everyone will want to get involved with! Most websites that sell the piñatas will also sell the piñata fillers. You can even buy a plastic mallet especially designed to hit the piñata with.

Party invitations

What better way could there be to alert people to your upcoming party?

When you are busily making a list of all the party items you need, make sure you search for your party invitations as well. These come in packs and you will generally find them in all kinds of designs also.

It’s a good idea to order ones that apply to the type of party you are having. For example if you have decided on a pirate themed party make sure you buy party invitations that have a pirate theme. There will be plenty of room on the invitations to include any special instructions for the party, so it provides the perfect way to let everyone know when the party will be.

In conclusion

If you thought party poppers were one of the main things you could buy for any party, you can see there is a lot more on offer than you may have thought.

Provided you have a budget thought out in advance, you can then go shopping and figure out the best combination of items to buy to have the best effect. Some items will be more essential than others, so make a list of those first and then see how much cash you have left for the rest.

The good news is that there are lots of websites that have plenty of different party items for sale. If you can’t find what you want on one website you will surely find it on another one.

Half the battle with buying all your party items is deciding what your theme will be beforehand. Once you have decided on that you will be able to go shopping with confidence and buy all the party items you need. And of course we have put together a great list of sources for all kinds of party items in our Shop Now section. So if you were wondering where to get started, why not visit the first website on the list and make your way down it to find the ideal site for you?