Starting a Teepee Sleepover Business: Untangled

As we are approaching my youngest’s birthday it reminds me of this time last year when I found myself once again trying to perfect every aspect of one of my children’s birthday parties. The party I am referring to from last year was a little different than the rest. Above is a photo from this special party. I have done so many themed parties throughout the years. With three kids now 16, 14, and 10 you can imagine, and I am sure many of you can also relate.

There was the year I stayed up until two in the morning attempting to make Ninja Turtle cake pops look exactly like the ones I found on Pinterest. The year I cut twenty hot dogs into little octopi and carefully drew the mermaid for pin the tail on the mermaid. Oh, and the year I found myself cutting up pizza and Amazon boxes to create our very own skee-ball and claw machine. I was once again up all night gluing and painting all the details for an arcade party. (That may have been the most labor-intensive party, but also my favorite. My son and his friends had so much fun!) I allowed myself the agony and sleepless nights because, I mean it’s for the kids, right?!? Had nothing to do with perfectionism, haha!

Although there was a period that started when my oldest turned about 8 and I was working so many hours all while trying to successfully raise 3 humans, find time to be a wife and take care of a home. Something had to give, so I finally allowed myself to take a break from my carefully curated birthday parties and booked a party at a local children's gym. However, something was missing. I enjoyed the time with the kids getting to know who they were friends with, seeing my kids interact, and also the pride in knowing I put the effort in.

For the next several years we went back and forth between carefully curated home theme parties to popular children's establishments. There were some periods of my life I knew I could not balance the art of a “perfect party” on my own. And those birthdays I surrendered to the fast-paced life of work and home and found somewhere else to have the party. Whether it was laser tag, gymnastics, bowling, or bouncing. The years that I did get to branch off of my child’s favorite activity or character of the time, I secretly loved every last sleepless minute preparing.

So last year when my daughter Adalyn showed me a picture of a “Teepee Sleepover” she found on YouTube (I am embarrassed to admit, no judgement please) I thought it was absolutely adorable and beautiful. I mean sleepovers were a rite of passage growing up. Of course, she would want her first big slumber party to be in adorable little teepees decorated with vines, flowers, fancy lights, and little bed trays! When I didn’t have luck finding the right vendor locally, I started to price out the materials. It would be pricey, but we could just be modest in choices, and I could resell the items when done. I mean how hard would it be to resell a teepee and used air mattress on Marketplace, ha-ha! I think in the back of my head the idea was brewing. The party turned out adorable and when the moms and dads dropped off, they were impressed and even mentioned that they bet there had to be a market for this. Well, that got me thinking...

I spent the next couple months researching and comparing teepee sleepover and party planning businesses. I practiced by providing a couple parties for friends. I knew from this and all my past experiences as a busy career-oriented mom and wife that I wanted to create a party planning business that would create beautifully curated events while taking all of the sleepless nights and research out of the way for busy parents and party goers. This started my small business venture and by the last day of May 2022 Tangled Teepees became a LLC and the adventure of bringing teepee sleepovers, luxury picnics, and custom events to Lancaster began! As time goes on I continue to add services or products to help take the work out of the party planning for all of you. This is my mission and goal as I take Tangled Teepees forward. This is also the purpose of starting this blog. I hope to provide many tips and ideas to help you with party planning for your own future celebrations! Afterall, there is always something to celebrate!!