More to kiddies party than cake and candy
You can spoil them with a mini spa treatment
It’s not your birthday until you pose with those number balloons on social media – or so it seems. In recent years, there’s been a shift in how people celebrate their birthdays, many choose elaborate dinners that rival wedding receptions. Who can forget Bonang Matheba’s pink soiree of two years ago?
The demand for unique and elegant celebrations is very high. So it only makes sense that this decadence would filter through to even children’s parties.
Gone is the one-size-fits-all recipe of just balloons, a cake and a clown. Children’s parties have gone from just buy anything Mickey Mouse to pamper parties. These parties often provide a spa experience for your little angel and her friends. They get to be primped and everyone feels like a princess for a day. It’s proven to be a burgeoning business and individuals such as Zanele Rambau, the owner of Mini Spa For A Girl Child, are filling the gap in the market.
The mother of one started her business in December 2016 after realising that her daughter, who was four at the time, enjoyed getting her nails done. “Lately if you can notice, us parents we want everything for our children and another thing what I see other parents doing, they are having a different way of birthday for umtwana unlike back then when we had jumping castles.
“Now it’s something that the child can enjoy and talk about. I realised that if you can just decorate nicely and have the kids eat it doesn’t mean that much to them… but if you do something with them or to them they’ll be like, ‘ooh mummy, I got my nails done’. It’s something that they are able to talk about, parents want the best for their kids and I see it’s something different,” Rambau says.
Her clients are between the ages of three and 16 years old. You do the party and she supplies all the spa equipment – the foot spa, towels and robes. She offers a foot and hand massage, a neck and shoulder massage, manicure and pedicure and they also provide the little ladies with fruit cocktails and goodie bags to round off the experience. Rambau takes on a minimum of five children, the maximum depends on the parent. She charges R80 per child, depending on location. “Business has been very good and you know when it’s quiet I appreciate it because I get to spend time with my family. But when it gets busy it does get to the point where Saturday and Sundays I am working. “I’m getting positive feedback from clients via social media and word of mouth.”