First Birthday Planning For The Socially Inept

[pumpkin]

Most of the first birthday parties I have attended have been over-the-top affairs with at least 100 guests. We are taking a simpler approach.

Here is what I have:
3 Grandparents, 4 Aunts and Uncles, 3 cousins aged 3.5 years, 3 years, and 5 weeks
A tiny short-term rental townhouse while our house is being built
1-2:30pm

I was thinking sub sandwiches from a shop everyone loves, maybe some fruit salad. Easy to eat since the kids are going to have dibs on the kitchen table.

Should we have DD open presents? It would just be 3 or 4 since DH and I will save her gifts from us until her actual birthday.

Then cake.

Can it be that simple?
Anything I should change?

I would have loved to have the party at a non-meal time, but it seems to be the only time that works with everyone's schedules.

[lindsayjean]

I'm a big fan of simplicity for birthdays instead of some over the top affair. Sounds perfect!! I don't think birthdays should be something to stress about at all. Plus, your 1 yr old won't remember it anyway. We got away with no Christmas presents the first year LOL!! (we were/are poor, my hubs is a grad student).

[Kiwiontheloose]

Sounds perfect to me!
I would open the presents from the guests/family there and then. The older cousins will probably enjoy seeing her open her presents, and its another "thing to do" if you know what I mean. Other than just sitting round eating.
Have fun!

[beatgenxer]

100 guests?!? Yeowzah! That's more than my wedding

I guess we won't be having a first birthday party since my fam and ILs live in different states than us and my LO's bday falls during the school year. I'll have to think of something fun to do that day instead.

[allical1284]

I had to laugh out loud when I read your thread title!! It sounds exactly like something I would write.
I think your party sounds wonderful!! We are planning the same type of party. After going to an extravagant 1st birthday party a few months ago, DH is now nervous to invite anyone to our "simple" party.
I think we are going with the "your presence is present enough" line on the invite that way people won't feel obligated to bring a gift.
I may also make a quick slideshow of DD with pictures from birth through year 1 that we can show on the TV.

[elmh23]

That sounds like the perfect first birthday party to me!

We have a large group of friends (who all have at least 2 kids), but for first birthdays, we really don't do much with them. Maybe have a special playgroup with cupcakes, but that's it.

For first birthdays, we usually just have dinner with my mother, sometimes my aunt. Both of our kids birthdays fall near other events (Thanksgiving and an aunts birthday) so with dh's family we have a bigger dinner with everyone (easily 20 people, just family) around then and call it good.

[hakeber]

100 guests for a ONE year old? Who are those parties for?

We had some of my family and our closest friends there, a total of 8 adults and one child...ds.

My mom made black beans and rice, we grilled some chicken and fish for the meat eaters and I made the cake and we got ice cream, too. We did let ds open the presents, which was fun, and we hung balloons.

I have never been to a 1 yo's party before that. I would think of all the birthdays the first one would have to be the most intimate...I can't imagine putting my kid through the hoopla of a big party, but then he has always gotten easily overhwlemed by too much stimulation.

With DD we might be home in the states, so pretty much the same thing, I think.

[Comtessa]

I had to laugh reading all the responses to this thread, because I am totally planning a giant hoopla bash for DD's first birthday! I'm still working on getting DH on board...

I certainly wouldn't plan giant parties for every birthday, but for her first, I think it's ok. I figure that we have such a huge community of friends and family who have supported us through the past year, and it's a nice way of thanking them all. Sort of a "our kid made it to her first birthday, thanks for helping us make sure she survived her first year!" IYKWIM. However, it's not going to be a fancy party, just a lot of people. We'll probably ask people to bring a potluck dish in lieu of a gift, or maybe ask people to consider specific gifts (like donations to her college fund - I know I know, boring, but practical). Our church has a big social hall that we can rent for close to nothing. Oh, and if I had a sensitive child I would totally not plan this kind of a party, but she's used to big gatherings and loves to be the center of attention, so I know she'll handle it just fine.

My niece's first birthday was a big affair at a local country club, with themed custom-designed decorations, cake, and party favors. We're not going that route.

I think your party sounds great! 1-2:30 pm is an awfully short amount of time, though; is there any particular reason to keep it so limited? Why not just set out some bowls of pretzels and board games and let people relax? I think you'll feel less stressed about the party if there isn't such a tight time limit on the "activities." I know I don't like going to parties that are specifically designed to be brief - I feel like I don't get the opportunity to relax into the gathering, sit around and chat, etc. It feels too forced, if it's too short. Just my $.02...

Are you worried about having so many people in your small house? Can you move furniture out of the main room to allow a bit more space? Can you designate a bedroom as a play area for the little ones? That might allow a bit more breathing room in the schedule AND the space.

First birthday party activities should include:
- everybody arrives, coos at birthday girl/boy
- everybody gets a drink and hangs out for a while
- light meal is served (sandwiches and fruit salad on paper plates in the living room are totally acceptable)
- after everyone eats and dishes are cleared away, people make a big fuss about putting birthday boy/girl in high chair atop a large tarp or newspapers
- "happy birthday" is sung and baby blows out candle on birthday cake with help from big cousins
- baby happily smashes cake to bits while everyone watches and takes photos
- birthday cake is served to everyone else
- baby is cleaned up and tarp bundled away.
- baby opens gifts
- baby and big cousins play with gifts while adults hang out
- baby has a meltdown and takes a nap; everyone else goes home.

You can easily fill 3 hours or more with that itinerary!

[SamiPolizzi]

That sounds great to me, and honestly, I'm a little jealous.
I don't want a big over the top affair, but I have a very large family and my DS is the first baby in a long time. So it's pretty much not even optional.
But I've already had my mom and a cousin who lives close by offer to come over and help me clean the house and get ready for it, so at least there's an up side! I'm getting a clean house out of this!

[pumpkin]

I'm ok if it runs long, though I don't think our guests will be.
I am very worried about space. We are in this short term rental and it has a tiny galley kitchen, a table, a couch, and about 6x8 feet of space in front of the couch where we have DD play. I'm not sure there is really room for 9 adults to stand in the space, let alone for the kids to run around.
There is also a basketball game at 3pm and it is very important to me that DD's birthday not center around watching sports on tv so we had to have it early in the day. I'm fine with skipping the game, but most of our guests are not.

So I'm thinking food set out and people can help themselves as they arrive. Just kind of hang out for an hour. Maybe open gifts. Then cake.

I'm starting to wonder if I should have an activity planned for the preschoolers to keep them happy in tight quarters.

[Red Pajama]

OP, your description is how we do birthday parties here. Late lunch, cake and presents. No organized activities, as the relatives want to see the kids. They wander about, play with the guests or ask to be read to. The guests seem to like watching them open presents. Thankfully, there never seems to be a glut of presents to get through.

Enjoy the party!

[Auraji]

I've been thinking about what I want to do for DD's first birthday and came up with the idea of throwing her a brunch birthday bash. Im thinking startings things around 10:30 -11:00 since she's usually happier in the morning and around 20 people.

The menu would consist of a spinach and cheese strata, jalapeno-cheddar scones or chive buttermilk biscuits (maybe both if Im feeling like an overachiver), whole wheat apple muffins or raspberry topped lemon mini muffins. MAYBE home fries, store bought bread and/or croissants have butter, cream cheese and several jams as spread. LOTS of orange juice for kids and for grownups to make mimosas and a BIG fruit salad.

The best thing about this all is that I can make all in advance. The strata I make it the night before put it in the fridge and bake it the next morning. I would probably bake that last. Scone and biscuits I can make and flash freeze and pop in the oven. The muffins I can make ahead of time too and just leave out at night to defrost. So it's all very simple, Im thinking of giving the menu a trial run one of these weekends.

I got it all from this site http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/12/ho...till-sleep-in/

I've tried her recipes before and I've always been pleased.

I dont know about decorations though, maybe some daisies in a vase. I got her outfit is the dress my older sister and I wore on our first bdays it's 34 years old! And my grandmother made it. Since her bday is in May, maybe the weather will be nice enough for us to celebrate in the backyard.