Turning 30 in the Fast Lane

A milestone celebrated with pizza, sun and Mercedes Benz

Some people might say I’m lucky.
“You’re so fortunate,” they tell me, “Your husband doesn’t spend all his time glued to a PlayStation 5 or parked on the couch watching endless football matches!”

And sure, at first glance, it does sound like a win. No FIFA marathons. No fantasy football drafts. But here’s the thing: I didn’t dodge the obsession – I just swapped genres.

Instead of World Cups, our weekends revolve around Formula 1 races. Instead of PS5 controllers, we now have hydraulic car ramps, socket sets, and a growing graveyard of “necessary” car parts in the garage. Our version of a romantic Saturday? A shopping spree in Halfords.

My life now involves pretending to understand the appeal of engine remapping, and endless alloy colour changes while waiting an entire day for Chris to finish detailing every minor smudge on the paintwork. But I should count my blessings and be grateful that I don’t need to take a second glance if my engine light comes on. Just walk though the door and throw my keys in Chris’ hands.
And let’s be real – he’s lucky too. Because while he can rebuild a brake system blindfolded, he’s got a wife who’s more than happy to dedicate hours of her time planning a DIY, car-themed 30th birthday party – all on a budget.

Martha Stewart meets Motorsport, if you will.

The Brief:

• Location: Tamworth
• Dates: Saturday 28th or Sunday 29th June – daytime
• Activities: Something to keep the kids happily entertained & a pool table for Chris
• Vibe: Super relaxed and chilled – no stress, just good times
• Food: Chris specifically requested Pizza Hut
• Aesthetic: Mercedes Benz CLK63 AMG – Chris’ pride and joy
• Guests: What started as a cozy 10 quickly revved up to a lively 35 guests
• Parking: Plenty of spots available for friends and family coming from near and far
• Extra: MUST be dog friendly! – We can’t have a party without Henry.

This whole party idea kicked off because Chris’s friend messaged me back in April asking if we had plans for his 30th. Naturally, I took that as official pressure to plan something – because hey, I’d be a terrible wife if I didn’t! Thanks, Steve. 🙃

1. The Pit Stop:
2. Setting the Scene:
3. The Cake:
4. The Fuel:
5. Fun for the Little Ones:

The Pit Stop:

My mission in finding the perfect venue included a private function space, a play area for the kids, a pool table for Chris to show off and most importantly – CHEAP. After all, I’m definitely not the main bread winner in this family…
This party started off as a surprise – but anyone who knows my husband knows he’s not a surprise kind of guy. He wanted to know what he was walking into, so I let the secret slip after about 24 hours.

I dove into my event manager mode – stalking Google, Instagram, and Facebook like a pro. I even posted on our local Facebook group for function space recommendations. I checked out a few spots, but most places in my budget were dark and dingy and the cleanliness was questionable. Not exactly the party vibe I was after!
Chris came along for the final pub on my list – The Tam O’ Shanter. I wasn’t holding out much hope since there was hardly any info online about its function space, but the name kept popping up again and again during my research so it was worth a shot!

As we walked in, first thing we saw was a pool table – check one!
Next, we were shown a cozy little room off to the side with its own private bar – check two!
Then outside, a massive bouncy castle and sandpit for the kids to enjoy in summer – check three!
The owner confirmed the entire pub was dog friendly – check four!
And best of all… the function space was FREE! Check check check.

If you are looking for a function space on a tight budget, don’t be afraid to check out your local pubs. You’ll find a lot of them offer free function rooms and is the perfect spot for a low key, casual gathering.

The room was fairly snug but had plenty of tables and chairs to make use of and we were banking on the weather being good as it usually is on Chris’ birthday so guests would sit outside in the massive garden. The decor was a bit dated but basic enough to not be noticeable and there wasn’t much natural lighting but was kind of feeling the casual vibe. Honestly, as long as Chris had his pint of Coke and Pizza Hut, he wasn’t going to care about the small windows and tartan carpet! We’re not fancy, and since Chris had never had a party like this planned for him before, he had nothing to compare it to anyway.

We locked in the Saturday, with access from 11am to get set up. They offered some catering options but said we could bring our own food, which was perfect for my pizza-loving husband. I communicated with the owner via Facebook messenger and she swiftly replied to any questions I had.

I told myself I’d wait a few weeks before sending out party invites… but nope, off I went straight to Canva to whip something up. Honestly, it was a masterpiece – Henry with a party hat included. Move over, Picasso!
Invitations were messaged out a week later – so no excuses about not getting enough notice! I also printed a few to hand to my parents and our next-door neighbours, plus kept an extra one as a nice keepsake.

Price Breakdown:

• Venue – £0.00 (Gillway Tam O’ Shanter Pub)
• Invitations – £0.00 (Canva, please sponsor me)
  Total – £0.00

Setting the Scene:

The decorations were a no-brainer – anything car-related: tyres, chequered flags, and all the speedway vibes. Since Chris is a total ride-or-die Mercedes Benz fan (if you hadn’t figured that out already), I decided to go all out with the F1 Mercedes Benz team colours for his balloon arch.
While I have dabbled in DIY balloon arch adventures myself, I’m lucky to have a good friend, Erin, who just started a balloon business after her maternity leave – and she kindly offered to create the balloon arch for free! All I had to cover was the cost of the balloons and luckily, I already had a backdrop stand she could use. I knew Chris couldn’t care less about a balloon arch or photo ops so this was really just some entertainment for myself.
About a week before the party, Erin and I took a little trip to a party warehouse in Birmingham. It my first time there, and I was blown away by how massive it was. Row after row of balloons in every shape, size, and colour you can imagine. And I’m not exaggerating, there were four full aisles dedicated just to birthday cards, plus loads of gifts and knik- knaks too. It was party planning heaven!
I dropped my backdrop stand over to Erin’s a couple of days early, and she pre-inflated some balloon clusters like the pro she is. She rocked up to the pub at 11am and had the whole display set up in under two hours – and wow, what a fab job she did! It really is who you know.

The warehouse was really cool but bare in mind you have to register a business account to make purchases here – I used Erins.

All other decorations came courtesy of Amazon – The real MVP of parties on a budget!
I found some tyre shaped foil balloons and chequered flags to use as centrepieces. I already owned some small, black, glass vases to put the flags in, having ‘borrowed‘ from odd jobs throughout the years.
One of my favourite finds was a pack of 100 tyre-shaped napkins – no one else was nearly as impressed as I was, but I thought they were absolutely perfect!

Price Breakdown:

• Balloon Arch Balloons – £52.18 (Budget Greeting Cards Ltd)
• Foil Curtain – £0.00 (already owned in my party box)
• Banner – £4.99 (Amazon)
• 6 x Foil Tyre Balloons – £3.79 (Amazon)
• 6 x Balloon weights – £0.00 (already owned in my party box)
• Lightning McQueen Balloons – £1.80 (Budget Greeting Cards Ltd)
• 100 x Tyre Napkins – £7.49 (Amazon)
• Chequered Flags – £6.99 (Amazon)
• Vases – £0.00 (already owned in my party box)
• Backdrop Stand – £0.00 (already owned)
• Helium Canister – £25.00 (Asda) – someone please let me know where I can find cheap helium!
  Total Decor – £102.24

The Cake:

The pièce de résistance!

I returned to my tried and true cake makers at Quality Cake Company in Tamworth. The same lovely ladies who made our beautiful wedding cake in 2023.
I didn’t go into this purchase with a cost in mind but I knew this wouldn’t be cheap so I definitely wouldn’t file this under cakes on a budget. It will hurt my heart a bit to share the total price of this purchase at the end…

Even if we weren’t throwing a party, this was something special I knew I wanted to do for Chris. Naturally, my inspiration was his cars. I found a few fun ideas on Pinterest, but then I struck gold on Quality Cake Company’s own Facebook page: a red Mini Cooper cake with a little man figure working under the bonnet.
It was perfect! Just swap the Mini for a Mercedes and voilà, it’s basically what I see every time I look out the window on Chris’ days off.

I emailed Quality Cake Company with the photo from their Facebook post, along with loads of pictures of Chris’ CLK at all different angles, even the engine! They sent me a quote that made my stomach do a little flip… but I had to remind myself I was expecting it. This was definitely going to be a big job and a lot of detailed work for the bakers.

I requested Chris’ favourite flavour, red velvet, and even gave them the specifics on what colour clothing and shoes to put on his little cake figure (pics included). I also sent a shot of his show plate from when he displays at car shows, just to get every detail on point.

I picked up the cake at 11am the morning of the party with my mom on hand to help open doors. When the lovely lady from the shop came down the stairs carrying the cake, my jaw actually dropped – this thing was HUGE! I might as well have climbed inside the cake and driven it to the pub myself. Thankfully, I have some experience carrying large wedding cakes in my career but I didn’t know how I was going to fit through the doorframe with this in my arms. With the help of my mum and the shop staff, we cleared out the boot of my car and carefully got the cake loaded in. I managed to get it to the pub in one piece (miracle!), but there was one small problem… it was way too big to fit in any fridge.

Sunshine, heat, and cake don’t exactly mix well but thankfully, the aircon was blasting, so we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best! Erin was on cakesitting duty while she put together the balloons that morning!

As guests started to arrive, I couldn’t help myself – I sent everyone straight over to admire the cake masterpiece I’d ordered. I was absolutely thrilled with how it turned out, and most importantly… Chris loved it! My dad insisted we should seal it in a display cabinet instead of cutting it.
The cake lasted well, even in the heat but when it came to singing Happy Birthday and cutting the cake up, it was quite soft so my cake cutting skills were struggling. It was pretty messy but still delicious!
Shockingly, despite the size of the cake, we still managed to get through the majority of it to feed 35 guests with only the bonnet of the car remaining. Just enough leftovers for us to take home and enjoy for a few more days!

Price Breakdown:

• Cake – £250 (Quality Cake Company) – I know, I know it’s crazy! But worth every penny.
• Silver ’30’ Candles – £4.60 (Hobbycraft) – I did get teal ’30’ candles from Amazon but they arrived broken so I wouldn’t recommend getting candles that need to be posted.
  Total Decor – £254.60

The Fuel:

While I would have chosen an option more fitting with the theme, Chris specifically wanted Pizza Hut, and who am I to deny the birthday boy?!

I simply walked into my local Pizza Hut and spoke to the fab manager, Ash, who helped me place my order at the best price. My husband is a man of simplicities and would happily live off of just plain margherita but we do have to cater to other, more refined palettes within our families.
For 35 guests, I had planned to order about 10 pizzas but after a conversation with my mom, she somehow convinced me to order another 5! I pre paid that day for collection a few weeks later on the afternoon of the party.

• 6 x margherita
• 4 x Pepperoni
• 3 x Chicken & Bacon
• 2 x Vegetarian

The morning of the party, my mom and I popped into Aldi to pick up some salad leaves and my dad’s favourite crème fraîche potato salad plus a couple of bags of crisps. Just some extra bulk and picky bits.
At 1pm, I rocked up to an empty Pizza Hut Delivery – just me and my two trusty hands. But the legend that is Ash came through once again! He threw in two extra pizzas, extra dips, and three bottles of Pepsi on the house. As if the freebies weren’t enough, he even hand-balled the entire order into the boot of my car, insisting I didn’t lift a finger. Absolute hero!
Pizza Hut proved to be a hit with our friends and family – but really, that was no surprise! I already had a box full of reusable plates and utensils at home and as mentioned earlier, I found those really cool tyre napkins on Amazon.
By the end of the party, we still had a few boxes left (plus a secret deep pan margherita I kept in the car on Chris’ request). Enough leftovers to last us a few more days since I spent all my money on his cake.

Price Breakdown:

• 15 x Pizza – £149 (Pizza Hut Delivery)
• Extra foody bits – £8.90 (Aldi)
• Reusable Plates & Utensils – £0 (Already owned)
  Total Food – £157.90

Fun for the Little Ones:

We had four younger guests (aged 5 and under) attending so I didn’t want to host a boring, old person gathering they’d have to sit through. Plus, we wanted some fun for the kids so the parents could still enjoy themselves, knowing their children were happily distracted.

We hit the jackpot with our function space. The pub we chose had a massive garden out back, and in the summer, they set up a giant sandpit and a bouncy castle – it was like stumbling into party-planning gold. It was the perfect setup to keep the kids entertained, with plenty of tables and benches outside for the adults to soak up the sun while still keeping an eye on the little ones.

My little nephews had a blast digging in the sand and building castles, while our friends’ girls wasted no time diving into (sometimes quite literally) the bouncy castle. And yes, they even managed to drag the birthday boy up there! The kids were happily occupied for hours, which meant the grown-ups could finally relax, sip their drinks, and actually have a conversation without being constantly tugged at.

My mom taught me, “You can’t have a party without party bags!” So, as a bit of extra distraction magic, I put together four party bags for my nephews and our friends’ girls. Each bag was packed with fun, age appropriate goodies like a colouring book, crayons, bubbles, a bouncy ball, a fidget toy, a Fruit Shoot and I made up some different sweet cones and treats depending on their ages. And of course, Henry and his best buddy Reggie got their very own doggy party bags too filled with treats and a new toy each!

Price Breakdown:

• Bouncy Castle – £0 (Pub owned)
• Giant Sandpit – £0 (Pub owned)
• Party Bags – £0 (Found some in my party box)
• Sweet Cone Bags – £1.50 (Asda)
• Selection of Sweets & Snacks – £5.50 (Asda)
• 4 x Colouring / Activity Books – £4 (Home Bargains)
• 2 x Jumbo Crayons – £1.98 (Home Bargains) These were split and shared between the bags.
• Pack of 4 Bubbles – £1.29 (Home Bargains)
• Pack of 5 bouncy balls – £0.99 (Home Bargains)
• 2 x Fidget Toys – £2.98 (Smyths)
• 1 x Mini Princess Belle – £2.99 (Smyths)
• 1 x Mini Toy Car – £1 (Asda)
• Pack of 4 Fruit Shoot – £1.98 (Asda)
  Total Kids Entertainment – £23.21

All in all, the day was a big success – sunshine, a happy birthday boy, well-fed guests, and I get to keep my event organiser reputation within the family! We managed to keep 35 guests (and two dogs!) entertained, fed, and smiling, all for a total of £537.95. Bear in mind half total went on the cake! But hey, if you’re going to splash out, it might as well be on dessert, right?
It just goes to show, you don’t need to spend thousands on a fancy hotel function room and a three-course dinner to celebrate your loved ones. Sometimes, all it takes is a sunny garden, a stack of pizzas and the people who care about you most to make the day feel truly special. Simple, fun, and full of heart, exactly how a birthday should be.