House party or location party? That is often the first question you have to deal with when planning a birthday party. After a year hiatus from birthday parties, we opted for fun family experiences instead, that was the first issue my soon-to-be seven year old and I had to figure out. Once we decided that Winter birthdays are just too tough to do at home due to the uncertain weather we decided we’d do her party outside of the house this year. Lucky for us an American Girl store with a bistro had just opened here in Charlotte! If you’ve ever thought of having a birthday party at an American Girl Bistro Party Charlotte here is a brief overview of what you can expect. (This is not a sponsored post I am just sharing my experience since I had no idea what to expect!)
If you have ever been to an American Girl store or just shopped online for one of their adorable dolls you are well aware of their pricing. That’s a nice way to say that they are on the pricey, ok, very pricey side of things. However, I thought that you do get a lot for your money at the bistro party. They have 2 different size parties at the Charlotte Bistro – 4 and under out in the main bistro or the deluxe party in the private room for up to 10. I decided on the deluxe party so that my daughter could have more than 1 friend.
The price for the party includes invitations (I designed my own but the ones they sent were really cute, much better than most places that include fill-in invitation), a full meal including appetizer and entree, personalized cake, ice cream, craft, games, and party favor bag for each girl.
Every guest is invited to bring their own American Girl doll but fear not, the bistro had plenty of dolls on hand to borrow so no one would feel left out during the party.
Each place setting includes a matching doll setting of a plate and mug, which you get to take home. The girls had plenty of giggles feeding their dolls while we decorated sparkly purple skirts for their dolls and waited for our food. Each girl got to order her own appetizer and entree – since it is a drop off party it would be recommended that you know if the girls have any allergies before their parent leaves. All the girls enjoyed their meal and felt really grown up and important making her own food decisions. It was cute to watch them and listen to them interact with each other.
While they were finishing up with their entrees the party hostess came in and played games with the girls. Hangman was their favorite. In fact, my daughter said it was her favorite part!
As you can see the room is ALL PINK so getting a great photo of the cute cake was a bit tough but as you can see the delicious cake that comes with the party is very nice and already included the correct number of candles.
After a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” the girls got to dig into their cake and ice cream and then we opened presents.
I wasn’t sure what the party favor bags would include when I signed up for the party so I ended up making these cute little mason jar favors with some nail polish, candy, and nail stickers. However, the included favors were very generous and I don’t think the girls cared too much about the mason jars! With our party each girl got to decorate their own skirt for their dolls and the favor bag included a doll t-shirt, doll party accessories, stickers, and a book. One of my daughter’s friends said, “This is the BEST birthday party I have EVER been to!” when she saw everything included in the favor bag.
I would say that the party was a huge success and I am glad that we did it. I didn’t know what to expect going in but I would say that we got what we paid for at American Girl – great service, excellent theming, and wonderful quality. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience for my daughter and will make for fabulous memories for years to come. Oh, and besides the mason jars, which weren’t needed, I put in ZERO effort for the party once invitations went out, which to me was well worth it!
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