Food for the children
What to check about children's food at a birthday venue: party packages, allergies, cake, and the difference between a lunchbox and a meal.
Know what the package actually feeds them
Know whether the package includes a meal, a lunchbox, or a table you cover yourself. Unlimited squash sounds generous and is mostly water. Pizza-on-the-lane is a different party from a seated tea. Ask what happens to allergies before you send invitations, and send the venue a list, not a verbal note on the day.
A cold box of sandwiches is fine if you said it was a cold box. It is a betrayal if the advert showed a birthday tea and the reality is a paper bag eaten on a bench. Read the menu on the party page, then repeat it to the other parents so they can feed a fussy child before they arrive.
Allergies are a list, not a vibe
Ask for allergies on the reply, in writing. A chat message three months ago does not count. Pass the list to the venue with names, not 'someone is dairy-free'. If the venue cannot separate that meal, you either change venue or you bring a sealed substitute and agree where it lives.
Nuts, sesame and kiwi catch people out in party bags more often than in the main meal, because the bag is bought in a rush from a supermarket. If you do not know the allergies yet, skip sweets.
You can usually bring a cake
Ask where the cake lives until the candles, whether they allow candles at all, and who is cutting it. A theme-park day does not pause because you forgot a knife. Some zoos and museums want the cake in their fridge and the candles unlit until a member of staff says so.
Tell the venue about a free-from cake if the rest of the food is theirs. They need to know it is in the room, even if they did not make it.