I threw a birthday party for my 6 year old and 10 friends, ages 5, 6 and 9 at the Mt. Laurel NJ location. The actual painting portion of the party went well. Unfortunately, there were many things that went wrong - and I will never host or attend another event here.
If you are looking for kindergarten aged party - I would not recommend based on attention span - the younger children painted for only about 30 min - and had a tougher time keeping up with the instructions - which in hindsight I should've expected. The older children, the 3rd graders, loved it and it was perfect for them - and they painted for about an hour. I would think 2nd grade and older would be about the right age to do one of these parties.
--The issues I had--
I booked the party in mid-January for early March. There was a deposit and then a contract I briefly read. The contract was no longer available to me on the internet site the day after the party to follow up on what was said on party day. I was verbally told the day of the party that contract said only 5 adults were allowed to stay. I was told 5 minutes into the party.
Any additional adult that stayed - there is a required to pay a painting fee on the spot.
The limit on adults was not brought up in the conversations or planning. If I had realized - I would have never booked a party for a 5/6 year olds where I would have to ask parents to leave their kindergarteners in an unfamiliar environment with adults they don't know.
I was told that they limit the adult spectators so that the children are not distracted by their parents. However, there was a painting class in the back room, and ~20 people at different intervals walked though my child's painting instruction time, which caused distraction.
Other things that went wrong:
1. Front desk woman, was rude and unhelpful. She was annoyed when I asked questions. She did not introduce herself, just was overly unwelcoming and annoyed that children were there.
2. When booking I was told I could come early to decorate the space - however, you are NOT allowed to decorate on the walls - save your money and do not buy any banners.
3. I booked a time frame (1-3) so that I wouldn't have to serve lunch. I discussed this when booking. Party was to start at 1, painting did not start until 1:30. I was told by the Front Desk Woman that I was supposed to be feeding the kids between 1-1:30.
4. I found out the real reason that the party didn't start on time because there was not an artist to lead the class.
5. A new artist made it - and the class was awesome - but the artist to showed up also didn't introduce herself. It turns out it was the owner, I did not find this out until after tipping and mentioning I'd be writing a poor review but appreciated how well she ran the class on no notice. She then informed me who she was.
6. I did not ask, but I also was not refunded for the 30 min the party was delayed because there was no artist. The party that was supposed to be 1-3, was 1:30-2:45 - including cake time. I originally paid an extra fee to have the party for 2 hours - which proved to be unnecessary in the end.
After finding out the art teacher she was the owner, she did calmly listen to my complaints at the end.
I have suggested that she informs people beyond the contract about the adult limit - especially for younger aged parties.
Would I throw a party at this location again?
No, because of all the miscommunications.
However, the actual painting portion of the party - the kids (all ages) all enjoyed it very much.
Update:
Response to the comment left by the owner below. I believe I gave a fair account of what happened, and even stayed positive and gave credit that the painting went well. If anything, during the "5 adult" issue - I kept my voice down to stop the other parents from finding out they would have to leave their children. I was actually in tears trying to avoid confrontation, rather than screaming. The other parents at the party were able to pull it together for me and figure out who would be allowed to stay. (It takes a village)
I don't have a copy of the contact, and I went to review it to see how much at fault I was the day after the party, and my party paper work was no longer available. I wanted to take accountability as needed. But not everything that happened was related to the contract.
The party started 30 min late because no artist was present - at the time I did not ask for a refund (as stated above) - but it's not out of the question that one should have been offered because the missing artist (regardless of reason). And, I did tip the artist that did show up late (the owner). I believe I was fair.
I am glad that parties are for 8 and up now - no one should have to ask parents to leave 5/6 year olds - and yes, my language was to "kick" them out because this is how it felt to me. Thank you for adjusting your policies so future parties can run more smoothly. read more
