We had our daughter s first birthday party at Putn...

We had our daughter s first birthday party at Putnam Pantry this past weekend. The planning process was simple and painless. They gave recommendations for food based on previous experience and assured me we would not be low on food. For what we did, we were able to offer food and trips to ice cream counter for under $500.

We did the party as a 3 hour room rental for 30 people with catering by the cafe. We ordered sandwich wraps, salad, and were able to bring our own cake with permission. If you order the wrap platter, ask for more of the Thanksgiving wrap and veggie. Our guests LOVED them! The only ones we had left over were roast beef.

We decided against the ice cream party option and I am glad we did. We ran an ice cream tab at the counter and our guests just had to put it on the room tab. I feel like this was better option because everyone who wanted ice cream was able to order what they wanted and some even got sundaes.

The sunroom is definitely tight on space and I would say it works best for around 20ish guests with the amount of furniture and size of the room. We only had the birthday girl for children and I feel it wouldn t work if there were more kids running around. We ended up rearranging the room to better serve our needs so guests weren t shuffling around tables. There also was a small party of people in the room adjacent. We were nervous with volume but it was no issue once our guests started arriving.
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Only two cons I wish there was a dedicated person available for the room for soda refills, chips, or packing up the leftovers. I had to go to the counter a few times to ask for things and felt like a bother. It was SO busy on Saturday and I could tell they were swamped with other customers.

Many customers were actually annoyed we had reserved the room and made comments about how disappointed the room was closed within our earshot and even gave some of our guests dirty looks! I know Putnam advertises on FB a lot and it may be beneficial to announce the room is reserved for a private party to avoid frustration of some customers who check their page or on North Shore Eats.

Overall it was a great BUDGET FRIENDLY experience for a small party and I would highly recommend it for a birthday party!