Easy as 1...2...3! Party Planning Made Easy (Part 2)

Are you in charge of the company party this year? The semi-annual church get-together? Family reunion? or little Jane's birthday party? Well, FatCats is the place for you!!!

FatCats is always happy and willing to take on the stresses of your party. All it takes is a phone call to your location's Events Manager. Before you call, you should already have in mind:

1. Your Budget. FatCats can work with any budget!

2. How many people will be at your fabulous party!

(Make sure you give FatCats a 72 hour notice)

Depending on your location we can do balloons, themes, welcome signs, goodie bags, decorations and SO much more!!! A party at FatCats is easy on the wallet and your sanity. 


You can always have the party at your house BUT, let's face it...that's a lot of work! You'd have to:
~Spend the day in the kitchen preparing the food 
~Use the dining room chair to stand on to hang all the streamers and balloons
~Create a bunch of games to keep the party guests entertained
~After the guests have spilled soda on your sofa and broken some furniture (on accident of course...) you have to get out the mop and broom and clean up.


Now imagine a world where you still get to have your party but, someone else does all the above... Hmmm, sounds like you are at FatCats!

What we do:
Plan your activities
Reserve the lanes
Provide the food
Greet & host your guests
Set up & CLEAN UP!!!

What you do:
Show up
Bring the birthday cake
Have fun!

Provo- 801.373.1863

SLC- 801.262.9890

Ogden- 801.627.4386

Rexburg- 208.359.2600

Westminster- 303.466.7515

For more party info visit our website (click here)

"Ooooh, back to school, back to school--to prove to dad that I'm not a fool"

The last weeks of summer are quickly disappearing. School is almost here! As a child, I looked forward to going back to school. A new year, new clothes, brand new (still sharp) crayons & that Barbie lunch box I just had to have. Looking back, I robbed my parents blind. Although my school supply list said "crayons", I neglected to tell Mom & Dad that I still had the box from last year. The crayons inside were all different sizes and weren't sharp anymore--I just wanted new stuff. School shopping doesn't have to be like that. Here is a list of budget friendly tips for back to school shopping!

1. Take Inventory. Rummage through last year's supplies. If your child says they don't know where their last year's trapper keeper is, they are lying. I always hid my old ones, ha! After gathering all of last year's school supplies, you should have a pretty good idea of what you do and don't need to buy at the store.

2. Hold a swap meet. If your now 7th grader has out-grown the perfectly good Transformers lunch box, call in the friends, family and neighbors and have a swap party. Bring gently used clothes, shoes, back packs, & school supplies. This is also a good way to keep the clutter levels down. One man's garbage is another man's brand new lunch box. 

3. Keep your budget in mind. Don't get all crazy at the store. "Oh! Little Johnny would LOVE this pencil sharpener that flashes when you use it!" Chances are it is double the price of a regular pencil sharpener and anything that flashes is never a good idea in a classroom. 


4. Separate wants from needs. This includes setting your child's expectations. 


5. Make a list. Don't head into Target blind. You'll end up with too many red pens, glue sticks and lined paper.



I am torn about when to go school shopping...Some say to do it all through the summer and find the good deals. Others tell you to wait. In my house, we always waited for the teacher's list. That means we'd have to wait until school actually started before we could stock up on our new supplies. This tactic seemed to work for my mom. 


During all the back to school adventures, make sure you get your child involved! Invite them to the swap meet to sort through new clothes. Have them help you take inventory, set a budget and set expectations. Soon it has become memorable family time. 


After finally gathering all of the necessities (plus some) for back to school, get on over to FatCats to relieve some stress! Our Kids Bowl Free program goes until the last day of  August. If you haven't taken advantage of this yet, it's not too late! (click here)

You're Invited! Party Planning Made Easy!

Everyone at some point in their life wants to have their birthday party at a bowling alley (FatCats!!!) For me that "point" was for my 4th, 9th, 13th & 18th birthday parties! 


Although I had many bowling birthdays and I went out with family and friends all the time, I have only broken over 100 once... Needless to say, I will NOT be instructing how to bowl. Parties? I definitely know parties!


Through a series of blogs I will take you through the steps of a perfect FatCats bowling party. 


FatCats can provide an awesome time for birthdays, corporate events, team building, social events, company parties, school events...you name it, we'll do it!


The first step in planning the perfect FatCats party is to call our fun center and speak to an Events Manager.

Provo- 801.373.1863

SLC- 801.262.9890

Ogden- 801.627.4386

Rexburg- 208.359.2600

Westminster- 303.466.7515

Our Events Managers are there to help you every step of the way - making party planning fun and easy! After you've scheduled the perfect time and day, you'll need invitations!


If you have too much on your plate and don't have time to make your own invitations, don't worry! On the FatCats website you can print "fill-it-in" party invitations. Click here

BUT if you are a do-it-yourself/way too much on your plate/want to do it all (Ahem, MOM!...), here is a super cute idea for your bowling party invitations:


Items needed:
color CD sleeves                 colored card stock
scissors/paper cutter           pencil
marker (black/white/red)      ruler
glue stick

Step one. Cut card stock into 4 3/4" diameter (makes a square to fit inside your CD sleeves)

Step two. Use a pencil to outline finger holes, name of person invited and their address (if mailing). If you are hand delivering, use wording instead. example:  "Let's have a ball!" (for more ideas, see bottom of blog)

Step three. Trace over pencil marks with dark marker. Use a white tipped marker on black paper.

Step four. Cut a different colored card stock for the invitation info (back) into 4" diameter

Step five. Write party info on 4" square then glue onto the front card stock paper. 

Step six. For a decorative touch, use white paper to cut out a bowling pin and glue onto invitation (use red marker to draw red lines)

If you plan to mail your invitations, extra postage may be required (due to size and shape of CD sleeve). Make sure to put your return address on the back.

Invitation wording ideas:

Hope you can SPARE the time to STRIKE up some fun at (Name)'s 10th Birthday! Don't STRIKE OUT RSVP today!

Please SPARE an afternoon and SPLIT to a party as we celebrate the Queen Pin (Name) will be turning 5. So in your SPARE time, come to FatCats! Don't be a sleeper, say you'll be a TURKEY and be there. Call ....... to RSVP by ..........

Have a ball

Bowling into another year

Let the good times Bowl!

Meet you in the Alley!

Party in the Fast Lane!

(Name)’s birthday party is right up your alley!

(**wording I used for my invitations)

The King Pin is turning 10! 

Strike the date (give the date),

Spare the time (give the time),

Bowl on over to (give name&address of party),

Get in the frame and RSVP to (your phone number & email address)

STEEE-RIKE! Now Bust a Move!

Seriously people, free bowling for one year! As an employee, I am unable to participate. If I wasn't, you better believe I'd have the coolest video ever! My video would look something like this....

(clip from Grease 2)

I've always wanted life to be like a musical! 

As FatCats Facebook fans, you have the chance to be as creative as you want! 

How to Enter:
1. Post your awesome video to your location's Facebook page
Provo ~ SLC ~ Ogden ~ Rexburg ~ Westminster


How to Win:
1. Get all your friends to "Like" your video. (if your video is fun to watch, even people who aren't your friends will vote!)


Competition ends August 31st @ 10am


Start filming and posting!!! Good luck!


Your prize includes FREE bowling for a year (shoes included)! One game per day, before 5pm, excludes holidays.

"Something Blue"

Tis the season to get married! Fa la la la la la la la la! All jokes aside, I have 5 wedding announcements magnetized to my fridge. Some are friends from high school that I only see on Facebook, others I don't even recognize. The 2 that I am really good friends with--a bridal shower must be had!

Planning bridal showers can be tricky. You must take into account your party guests. A bridal shower with grandma can be very different from the "friends only" party.

Picking the theme:
For my own bridal shower, my theme was "Home Sweet Home". Invitations were sent out with a specific room in the house. That way I received a little bit of everything. Items for the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc...

Bridal Shower invite for theme "Something Blue"

As I planned my friend's shower I decided to use the theme "Something Blue". Party guests have the ability to be creative. I took it literal and got her every cleaning product on aisle 54A that was the color blue. I put it all in an easy to carry basket (blue of course!).

For decoration we had blue balloons, blue streamers and put a big blue bow on the front door. For dessert I made cupcakes with blue frosting. (we also served watermelon...although not blue, very tasty!)

Every good bridal shower has a few games. We played two different ones. First, the classic candy bar matching game. Second, we asked the groom a couple of questions before hand. As we asked the bride questions, when ever she got one right she was allowed to open a gift. This was a fun game because although we are really good friends with the bride, we got to know the groom a little bit better too!

Candy Bar Memory Matching Game:
Bride -- Hot Tamale
Groom -- Big Hunk (or Mr. Goodbar)
Bride & Groom--Sweetarts
Groomsmen-- 3 Musketeers
Bridesmaids--Airheads
Wedding Ring-- Ring Pop
Wedding Night --Skor
Reception --100 Grand
Reception Departure--Fast Break
Tie the Knot --Twizzlers
Father of the Bride --Sugar Daddy
First Dance --Symphony
Honeymoon Surpirse -- Baby Ruth
Wedding Gifts -- Mounds
The Parents --LifeSavers
Warm Embraces--Hugs (hershey)
Post Wedding Bank Account--Zero
The First Year --Rocky Road
Wedding Photos --Nestle Treasures
Honeymoon --Good & Plenty
First Date Interactions--Butterfingers
On Cloud Nine-- Milky Way
The In-Laws --Nerds
Birth Control --Whatchamacallit