I’m not much of a party person, but when it came to my
daughter’s first birthday party, I was all in. Children grow so much and reach
so many important milestones their first year of life. How can you not
celebrate it? This was my first time ever hosting a birthday party, so after
having done one, I’ve gained some experience as well as some planning advice
and tips to share to hopefully make your party planning easier and your baby’s
big day run smoother.
PLANNING
Party
Theme
The theme is the first thing to decide when planning a
baby’s first birthday. I chose Peter Rabbit as my daughter’s theme since she
loves the books, the movie, and sleeps with a Peter Rabbit rattle every night.
When choosing the theme, you could base it off your child's favorite character, their
favorite book or tv show, or keep it neutral. Choose what you think your baby
will like and be sure to check out Pinterest for some great ideas.
Invite
List
Next is creating your invite list. How big or small your
invite list will be should be determined by your child. If your child is social and
gets excited by large groups of people, then by all means, throw a big party.
But if they cannot handle large crowds, it’s best to not invite a large group
of people. If unfamiliar people scare your child, it’s best to not invite them
to the party either. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm your child and
make them feel uncomfortable on their special day.
Place
This should be determined after the invite list is
made since you won't know until then how big or small of a place you'll need. If you have a larger
group of people, it would be best to hold the party outside at a park or at a
venue. If your guest list will be short, holding the party at a house will be
fine. Our apartment was too small to hold all 12 of our guests, so we held the
party at my mom’s house.
Date
and Time
Choose your baby’s party either before or at least a
week after their 12 month vaccines. If you do it too close, you run the
risk of either having a cranky and sick baby at the party, or having to cancel
the party altogether because your baby doesn’t feel good. A second tip is to
make the party after your child’s first nap, or whenever your child is at their
best attitude. My daughter’s party was from 3-5pm, supposed to be in-between her first
and second nap, except she decided not to take her nap. So she was fussy her
entire party and all she wanted to do was bury her head into my chest. So do
whatever it takes to get your child to sleep. You will regret it if not.
Lastly, if your baby’s birthday is near a holiday, keep in mind people may
already have other plans and parties to attend. If that’s the case, you might want to plan
your baby’s party either before their actual birthday or a week or two after.
Decorations
When buying your baby’s decorations and party supplies,
I feel advance is always best so that way you’re not trying to buy everything
last minute and you’ve had enough time to go out and buy the things you actually
want. I did all my shopping online to get Peter Rabbit themed supplies, so I definitely
had to plan and buy in advance so that way all our stuff arrived on time. Some
things took almost 2 months to arrive, to put things into perspective. Some
things to buy are invitations, thank you cards, streamers, banners, plates,
napkins, cups, forks, spoons, etc.
Baby’s
Outfit
Choose what you want your baby to wear on their
special day. Keeping in Peter Rabbit theme, I ordered a Peter Rabbit dress for
my daughter. I ordered it from Etsy, so it was handmade especially for her,
which made it extra special.
Food
Food is one of the most important factors of any
celebration. Keep the food selection in theme with your party. With ours being
Peter Rabbit themed, we served lots of garden and “rabbit” type food. We served fruit
tray, veggie platter, chips and guacamole, Chickpea Salad Sandwiches, and Fruit Infused Water.
Smash
Cake
The smash cake is probably the highlight of every
first birthday party, so this is not to be missed. Normally what people do is they
buy a sheet cake at a store like Stater Bros., Walmart, Krogers, and the like,
because when you do, you get a smash cake for free. However with us being
vegan, and my daughter having food allergies and intolerances, we decided to go
the homemade route. I’m also not too big on junk food and processed sugars, so I
made her this baby-friendly Vanilla Apple Birthday Cake with shredded carrots
folded into the mix to make it a “carrot” cake, and wanted to make this Tofu Vanilla Frosting to go with it, but I was pressed for time and ended up using a
pre-made cream cheese frosting from the store. As for everyone else’s cake, I
made carrot cupcakes topped with the same cream cheese frosting.
EXTRA
TIPS
♥Keep the weather in mind. If it will be cold, snowy,
or rainy, it’s best to not have an outdoor party like at a park.
♥Do whatever it takes to get your baby to sleep before
the party. Nothing is worse than a cranky guest of honor.
♥Have the party last about two hours. You don’t want
less than that or everything will be rushed, and no longer than that or things
can get pretty boring for your baby and you run the risk of your child getting
cranky and sleepy all over again.
♥Have the house decorated the night before and all your
food pre-chopped, for things like your fruit and veggie platter, so that way
you have little to do the day of and things are less stressful and run smoother.
♥Do not plan games. You will most likely not play them.
We had three games planned with prizes for the winners and we did not play any
of them except for family who stayed long after the party was over. It was just
a waste of time and money planning and preparing for them.
♥Have a designated picture-taker/videographer so that
way you get to be in the present moment and to be in pictures with your child
and not experiencing everything from behind the screen.
♥Have a designated gift tracker who writes down who got
your child what. It will make writing thank you cards so much easier.
That is it for my first birthday planning advice and
tips! I hope it was helpful and give yourself a pat on the back. You've just completed your first year of parenthood!
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