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What to Book Now for a December Kids' Party

December weekends are the first dates on our calendar to go, and every year the calls start in October. Here is the honest list of what to lock in now for a Hanukkah, Christmas or Noon Year's Eve kids' party — and the long list of things that can comfortably wait.

Every October the same thing happens at the atelier. The Halloween deliveries are going out, the leaves are turning on the shore roads, and the phone starts ringing about December. Not Thanksgiving — December. A Hanukkah night for the cousins, a Christmas-week birthday, a Noon Year's Eve countdown for the preschool class. The families who call in October get the Saturday they want. The families who call the week after Thanksgiving get what's left.

So this is the October list: what to book now for a December kids' party, what can wait until November, and the small things that can wait until the week of. The photo above is a good reminder of why the first item matters — those are our natural rattan bentwood chairs along a long kids' table at a party styled by the family's planner (photo by @rachelbawabehphotography). We're not the party planners — we rent the kids' tables, chairs, high chairs and dessert carts. The planner does the rest, and the planner needs to know what furniture is coming before anything else can be designed.

Book now: the date itself

December has four weekends, and this year Hanukkah runs from the evening of Friday, December 4 through Saturday, December 12 — which takes the first two of them for a large part of our Lakewood, Teaneck, Brooklyn and Five Towns calendar. Christmas falls on a Friday, so the weekend of December 19–20 is the last clear party weekend before it, and the week between Christmas and New Year's is wall-to-wall family gatherings. Add school winter-break birthdays and the result is that a December Saturday afternoon is the single scarcest slot of our year.

If you know the date, reserve it. You don't need the guest count, the theme or the colors yet. You can hold your date online in about a minute, and the hold comes off your rental when you confirm the pieces later. If you're choosing between two dates, hold the one that works for the grandparents — December parties are family parties, and travel decides more than the theme does.

Book now: the kid-sized tables and chairs

This is the one that catches people. A kids' table isn't a bakery order; there is a fixed number of each chair in the atelier, and the pieces everyone wants in December are the ones that go first. In order of how quickly they disappear:

• The Atelier Rattan collection. Natural woven chairs and bentwood frames look right beside winter florals, candles and linen, so they are the first request for Hanukkah and Christmas tables. Our rattan chair page shows the pieces; reserve them before anything else on this list.
• White and ivory tables. A white kids' table takes any holiday palette — blue and silver, red and green, black and gold for a countdown party — which is exactly why the white ones book out first.
• Long tables for big families. Two kids' tables end-to-end seat twelve to sixteen children, and December parties skew large. If the cousins are coming, say so now.
• Colors from the Classic collection. Red, green, blush and sage carry a theme on their own. They go a little later than the neutrals, but by mid-November the popular colors are spoken for on the big weekends.

How many seats? Count the children you actually expect, not the families invited, then add two. Our quantity guide has the full formula, and the heights-by-age guide tells you which size chair fits a two-year-old and which fits a seven-year-old. If you're not sure of the count yet, book the larger number — we're happy to trim a reservation a few days before the party, but we can't always add to one in December.

Book now: high chairs for the babies

Holiday parties have more babies in the room than birthdays do. Every family brings the newest one, and the newest one needs somewhere to sit for an hour while the adults eat. Plan one kid-sized high chair for every child under about eighteen months, and if the party is a first birthday that lands in December, the birthday baby's chair is also the photo stage for the cake. Our guide to where the birthday baby sits walks through that part. High chairs are a small inventory, so they go on the October list, not the November one.

Book now: the dessert cart, if you want one

A dessert cart is the piece that turns the sufganiyot, the cookie-decorating station or the countdown treats into the center of the room. It is also the single piece we have the fewest of. If a cart is part of the picture, reserve it with the chairs; see the dessert cart page for how it's used. The baker, the cookies and what goes on the cart can all wait — the cart itself can't.

Book now: your planner and your venue

If you work with a party planner, October is when good ones fill their December calendars, and a planner can only design the table once they know which furniture is reserved. Share your rental confirmation with them and let them take it from there. If the party is at a venue, a restaurant's private room or a clubhouse, confirm the room now and ask one question: what time can the furniture come in? Our delivery team sets up before guests arrive and picks up the next day, and venues in December often have another event booked right behind yours.

What can wait until November

Here's the relief: most of the party can wait, and waiting makes it better.

• The theme and the colors. Once the white tables and rattan chairs are reserved, the palette can be decided in November when the holiday décor is actually in stores. A countdown party, a cookie-decorating party and a cousins' Hanukkah night all sit on the same furniture.
• Invitations. Three to four weeks out is plenty for December; families already know they're coming. Our planning timeline has the week-by-week sequence.
• Food, cake and the baker. Order two to three weeks ahead. Bakers in December take holiday orders first, so this is a mid-November job, not an October one.
• Favors and paper. Place cards, menu cards and favor tags are a two-week job. The Paper Atelier prints matching sets, or make your own — the keepsake handprint ornament doubles as the favor and the activity.
• The activity. A latke toppings bar, a cookie station, a letters-to-Santa table: all of it is a week-of project once the seating is settled.

What can wait until the week of the party

Final head count, the seating chart, the playlist, and the weather plan. December parties are mostly indoors, but if yours is in a tent or a heated porch, read our backup-plan guide the week before. For apartment parties in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Hoboken, our indoor winter party guide covers the layout; the kids' table goes against the longest wall and the adults get the rest of the room.

A simple calendar from now to the party

• This week (early October): pick the date, hold it, reserve the tables, chairs and high chairs. Tell your planner.
• Late October: confirm the venue's timing, decide roughly how many children, add a dessert cart if you want one.
• Early November: choose the palette and theme; order invitations; book the baker.
• Mid-November: send invitations; order or make the paper goods; plan the activity.
• Late November: final count to us; favors assembled; a quick look at our winter party ideas for last details.
• Party week: seating chart, playlist, backup plan. We deliver and set up the kids' tables and chairs; you host.

Where to start, by holiday

Each of our holiday pages has the table ideas, the seating numbers and the quote link for that occasion: the Hanukkah kids' party page for the cousins' night, the Christmas page for cookie-decorating tables and kids' corners at family parties, and the Noon Year's Eve page for a countdown they'll be awake for. The holiday hub ties them together, and Thanksgiving has its own page if the kids' table is coming to dinner first. Send your date and a rough count through Get a Quote and we'll confirm availability the same day.

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