How to have a great party… Our tips…

When you are booking your childrens party, there is so much to do, which is why at Serendipity Sam’s, we make the experience as stress free as possible.

Our top 3 tips for a great party…

• Book Early
  This will help you ensure you get the date and time you are looking for. If you are a member, it will also help you to save money on some of our party options (see Special Offers page for details)
• Send Your Invitations Out At The Right Time
  With all Serendipity Sam’s parties, we provide FREE invitations once we have received your deposit. It is vital you time sending them correctly, sending them too early will result in a poor response, and leaving them too late will only make you panic. Always try and send invites around 3 weeks prior to the party, this leaves people with enough time to get back to you, and not enough time to forget (in most cases). Always make a list of the people you have invited, as this will help you with our third and final tip…
• Chase RSVPs
  You want your party to be a hit, and that rests on having the right number of guests. We ask for final numbers due to attend your party, 24 hours in advance of the party. It is always a good idea to chase those people who you have invited, but you have not yet heard back from. Put a mark next to those who have replied (a tick for attending, a cross for not attending, and a question mark for maybe). Then send out reminders or notes to those who you have not heard back from at least 1 week before the party.

Remember, when you book a party with Serendipity Sam’s you only need to worry about cake, candles, napkins (for wrapping the cake), and party bag fillers.

You may also wish to provide party room decorations, due to the number of different age groups we cater for our rooms are decorated neutrally to make them suitable for both sexes and all ages. We allow party organisers to place decorations in our party rooms, but ask that in doing so they only use tack, not tape, and that decorations are removed prior to leaving.

Please remember to book early to avoid disappointment, you can book a Serendipity Sam’s party by calling 0845 450 7200.

Party Discounts… Party For Less

Don’t forget if you’re a Serendipity Sam’s member there are some very special discounts available for you to party with us…

Full information on our party options and discounts can be obtained by calling the Party Hotline on 0845 450 7200 or by clicking here to visit our dedicated party website.

Please remember the best discounts are available when you book at least 1 calendar month (or more) in advance. Discounts are only available to members with valid membership cards.

Members can also take advantage of our credit crunch special, the ‘Budget Buster’ find out more by clicking here…. or here

PS: If you’re not a member, joining for a one-off fee of £10 will entitle you to the fantastic discounts not only on our parties, but also on your visits to our centres. Most customers who join when they book a party, easily cover the cost of their membership and more in savings! Talk to one of our team now on 0845 450 7200 or find out more about membership by clicking here.

Win a party for you and 10 friends…

From Monday 8th March, when you visit our centre’s in Romsey or Christchurch you can collect  a FREE colouring competition sheet.

As part of our 10th birthday celebrations, we will be choosing a winner who will receive a party for them and 10 friends, including 90 minutes of play, hot or cold food and a private party room.

Simply collect the colouring sheet on your next visit, colour in and return to our centre before the 31st March.

Good luck….

Children’s Parties

This time of year we are always really busy taking bookings for children’s birthday parties. This year has been no different, so please do book early to avoid disappointment.

Please remember that members are entitled to discounts on some of our party options, but only if you (a) Have your membership card; and (b) You are booking at least one calendar month in advance. You can find out what discounts you maybe entitled to, as well as the range of party options we provide by visiting our party website just click here.

Remember we don’t just offer play parties, we also offer other exciting options including disco, laser and exclusive use – making us the ideal party venue for under 11′s.

We even have a ‘Budget Buster’ option exclusively available for our members, who are feeling the pinch. Find out more at our party website.

Booking a party is easy, all you have to do is call our Party Hotline on 0845 450 7200 and we can book everything for you over the phone. Once your party is booked, we will send you a confirmation letter and free invitations.

So if you’re looking for a really exciting party for your child call our team today.

The Party Hotline is normally available Monday – Friday from 9.30am – 3.30pm, and at the weekends from 11am – 1pm. If we are unavailable or our lines are busy, an answering service will take your message, and we will call you back as soon as we can.

Childrens Party Options – Fantastic Party

We thought we’d bring our blog readers some information on our popular ‘Fantastic Party’, we know that when looking to book your child’s birthday party it isn’t easy, there are many options available these days – but with 10 years experience, and regular ‘excellent’ markings on our after party questionnaires, we like to think (and believe those who have had a party with us, would agree) that we offer great parties that children of all ages enjoy. Our team understand that a child’s birthday party is a very important day for them, and invest heavily in ensuring that our party host team operate at our very high standard and monitor feedback through our after party questionnaires to ensure we are achieving this.

Serendipity Sam’s Fantastic Party is a great childrens party option at our big indoor play and party fun centres in Dorset & Hampshire.

Before the party

On booking a date and time for you, we will then take a deposit payment from you of £25 (in some cases we may require a larger deposit, for example- last minute bookings)

We will then provide you with a confirmation letter, detailing price, dates, times and any other important information. We will also provide you with FREE party invitations.

One of our team will then be your main point of contact, although using our computerised booking system any of our booking team can access and help you with anything related to your booking.

What happens?

When you arrive at our centre (Romsey which is near Southampton, in Hampshire or Christchurch which is near Bournemouth, in Dorset) you are taken to your own private party room, which is yours for the duration of your party. Our party host who will be with you for the party will explain to you what will happen, confirm important details, and register the children as they arrive. The children take their shoes off and leave them in the party room.

Now to the exciting bit…

The children are then let free for 90 minutes of fun in our fantastic indoor play space, they can climb up, slide down, run around, and of course make lots of noise. They love it out there, don’t forget that you too can be part of the fun as at all Serendipity Sam’s centres, adults (18+) are allowed onto the equipment to supervise their children. Please remember to have enough adults to supervise the children, we suggest at least 1 adult (18+) to every 4 or 5 children.

I’m thirsty!

After all of that running around, the party guests may have worked up a thirst – that’s why throughout the duration of the party, your party host will keep their drinks topped up – unlimited squash for all of the party guests, is included in the price of your party.

…can I have something to eat

Yes, included in the price of your party is either a Hot meal, or a Cold food buffet. So after the 90 minutes of running around, the children are called over our sound system back to their party room. For the hot meal choice, we take the childrens orders at the start of the party (as they arrive) so you don’t need to worry about trying to get everyone’s food orders in advance. The choices for the hot meal are similar to our ‘Favourites’ childrens menu, they can choose from Chicken Nuggets, Fish Fingers, Beef Burger, Sausages, or Vegetarian Fingers all served with chips and a choice of beans, peas or mixed vegetables (please note all options are subject to availability on the day) For the cold buffet we offer sandwiches (normally Ham, Jam, Cheese Spread and Marmite) along with carrot and cucumber sticks, crisps, chicken nuggets and cold sausages.

Happy birthday to you…

After the children have eaten we will start the cake ceremony, that’s a 1,2,3 – “Happy birthday to ….” we encourage all of the children to join in singing happy birthday to the birthday child (you will need to provide a birthday cake), once the singing finishes, we put out some biscuits whilst the cake is cut and put into party bags (see the note below about our party bags)

That’s a wrap

That’s the end of the party! We get the children to pop their shoes back on, and hand out party bags (please see the note below about our party bags). The children all receive an ice lolly on their way out, and all leave with big smiles on their faces

How much will this cost me

Just £9.00 per child, with a minimum of 10 children gets you a Serendipity Sam’s Fantastic Party. If the birthday child is a member of Serendipity Sam’s you could be entitled to a discount if you book a calendar month or more in advance – call our Party Hotline on 0845 450 7200 for details, please have the child’s membership card to hand.

Party bags

Our Fantastic party includes a party bag and discount voucher for each party guest. We do not provide any fillers for the bags (we only supply the actual bag itself alongside a Serendipity Sam’s discount voucher). You are free to add your own fillers to our bags, or to provide your own bags and fillers.

How do I book…

Please book early to avoid disappointment, for the best choice of dates and times book a good 6-8 weeks before the party.

To make a booking or to find out more about our parties call our party booking team on 0845 450 7200, the team are available to help you Monday to Friday from 9.30am – 3.30pm, and are also available at the weekends between 11am – 3pm. An answerphone operates outside of opening hours, and when the team are on other calls.

All information subject to change without prior notice. The managements decision is final in all regards. Terms apply, contact Serendipity Sam’s for further details.

Laser Tag for Childrens Parties at Serendipity Sams

Some of you may not know that you can have a Laser Tag party at Serendipity Sam’s in Christchurch (near Bournemouth, Dorset) or Serendipity Sam’s in Romsey (near Southampton, Hampshire).

It’s great fun! Check out our video below to see for yourself…

After closing (6.30pm), we turn our playframes into giant laser arena’s, turn down the lights and turn the music up. Our special effect lighting is then switched on to create a brilliant battle atmosphere.

The aim of the game is to score as many points as possible, by avoiding being shot, and by shooting your opponents. You can play solo (all against all) and team games (red vs green).

This is a great option for childrens 8th – 14th birthday parties. The minimum age for players is 7 years old.

Our laser birthday party package includes exclusive use of the centre, squash and biscuits for all of the guests and approximately an hour of laser fun for 10 children including a safety briefing prior to the games commencing. Laser birthday parties start from 6.30pm Sunday-Friday. The laser birthday party option is not available on Saturday evenings due to our disco party sessions “The Party Zone”.

The cost of the laser birthday party package is £100 for the 10 children for the party to start at 6.30pm and finish at 7.30pm.

You may include a cold food buffet at the end of the laser tag session for an additional £30,  this will include an additional 30 minutes in a party room where the food will be served. This also offers an ideal opportunity to sing happy birthday, and cut the birthday cake.

To check availability or to make a booking call the Party Hotline on 0845 450 7200.

Laser Tag isn’t just a great birthday party option, but is also great for groups such as Scouts and Brownies – call Jean, our bookings coordinator on 0845 450 7200 for further details.