photo: The MacsBefore we get all in a tizzy about first birthday parties and the cuteness you are about to behold, allow me to confess that I think the first birthday party is optional. Parents doing something momentous to celebrate their own first year of parenthood also seems like a fine idea (first overnight away?) and well, if baby is sleeping at home or at Grandma’s house, terrific.
Ok, now that’s out of the way. Ideas from around the web:
Invitation
This one is from tinyprints.
This one is from minted.com
and this one is from Etsy
Electronic invitations are obviously cheaper, greener, but frankly not as gush-worthy cute as the ones you’ll find to buy online. I couldn’t get over my own obsession with having a mailed invitation as a keepsake, so I put one together on Shutterfly when Julian turned one. Kid #2? She probably got an email. I don’t even remember.
Food
Rainbow fruit: FunFindsForMom
Go crazy with homemade, thematic snacks a la Martha Stewart or order pizza, make a fruit rainbow platter and call it a day. Since your baby and his “friends” may have a limited menu, it’s hard to please everyone. My personal go-to for parties at my house is my local taqueria. I order a pint of black beans, grilled chicken, spanish rice, and carnitas. We put out tortillas, cheese, salsa, and guacamole. Everyone can make their own burrito and the babes can eat black beans, rice and shredded cheese with their fingers. In the backyard, please! Add some bowls of diced fruit for color.
Decoration
If you read a lot of Internetz, you know that a decorated birthday buffet table with printed signs is all the rage. Don’t let this make you feel inadequate, but I am posting a few pictures that none of us can ever live up to — because we are hosting a party and have a 12-month old to take care of!
Source: karaspartyideas.blogspot.com via Kaci on Pinterest
Very Hungry Caterpillar fruit Source: hostessblog.com via Danielle on Pinterest
John and Sherry at YoungHouseLove provided complete explanations on their printed food cards at baby Clara’s first birthday.
Theme
The site One Charming Party is a great resource if you want an amazingly beautiful, coordinated party. It’s an online store that sells party plans which detail the decorations, food, activities, and more for a number of different themes from superhero to mermaid to country fair-themed.
This is a preview of the 50-page manual you receive as a pdf with all your instructions, including cupcake toppers and invitation templates.
For one-year olds, I am most in favor of a simple theme, such as their first initial or polka dots because really, are they passionate about Dora or football yet? Unlikely. I met a professional party planner who told me that children’s books are her favorite source of inspiration for a theme. I like the intent, and the Hungry Caterpillar party pictured above is beautiful, but it seems overwhelmingly complicated.
Source: fowlsinglefile.blogspot.com via Kaci on Pinterest
Three do-able decorations
Now that I’ve intimidated inspired you with pictures that are literally out of Martha Stewart’s media empire, I leave you with three ideas that won’t break the bank or your back when it comes to adding pizzaz to your party.
1. Rainbow streamers above the door. Wendy made this special doorway for Augie’s birthday and it’s delightfully simple.
Source: wendolonia.com via Whitney on Pinterest
2. A string of balloons. I always hit the party store and get a bunch of balloons on the morning of my kid’s parties. They fill up any dull space in your house or yard and toddlers go nuts for them. (They are also terrible choking hazards, so keep them up high and monitor any interaction with balloons and one-year olds closely.) This one is from the Young House Love first birthday party.
3. Pinwheels. Buy them at a party store, dollar store, or toy store — or make them if you are super crafty — and use them as decorations. My cousin stuck 20 store-bought pinwheels in the grass to create a festive border for her son’s party at a park. Then, send them home with the kids as favors. Double duty!
Source: deckthehalls-christmas.blogspot.com via Whitney on Pinterest
Source of letter “E” party: marthastewart.com via Ellen on Pinterest
Do you have any easy first birthday party ideas to share?
My twins were born 10/15 last year. I said ‘Let’s have a college football theme next year!’ Well..it just so happens that my and my husband’s rival Michigan schools are playing THAT DAY this year. 10/15. The whole theme revolves around the two team rivalry- each twin has a jersey with a ’1′ and my toddler has a referee shirt. I had a friend make custom invitations, and another friend make custom banners. The cake is ordered and I’m ready to go!!!
Farrah, I totally intended to include at least one twin birthday party idea and then got distracted by all the pretty pictures. I’m glad you chimed in. Your idea is super fun.
Thanks! THEY made it so easy for me- way to go boys!
Cute cute cute! I’ve passed all the 1st birthdays we’ll ever have here in this house- but I’ll keep these cute ideas in mind for future birthday celebrations!
@Farrah — My twins were born 10/17 last year & I have been searching for a good twin theme. That is fantastic!!! We’re still in Michigan and there is plenty of rivalry amongst the families I can bet that would be a great time.
Thank you so much for this post! I have been stressing myself out about planning their party, this is exactly what I needed to see today. You guys rock!
I have one month to the day before my son’s first birthday. It’s a western theme because I just thought that was cuter to decorate than a Halloween theme.
I’m doing the invite on Paperless Post to almost everyone. My friend made custom invites (she’s a graphic designer) for her son and his party is the same as mine and the day before! She’s changing the info and printing a few for me to have a keepsake and to send to the grandparents, etc.
Food… I’m doing a chick fil a nugget tray and fruit for the kids. And frito pies (in the personal sized bags!) for the adults. So I’ll have a crockpot of chili, crockpot of beans and the toppings. Getting some adult beverages and lemonade and making some star shaped cakes.
I own a rocking horse and I’m borrowing decorations from my friend’s party the day before (i.e. banners she made and a hay bale). Going to have out horseshoes and washers that I’m borrowing. And may write a note to everyone thanking them for their support in the first year as a “take home” with a little bag of puppy chow… aka Cowboy Crunch.
It probably sounds like overkill, but it’s not nearly as intensive as lots of my friends’ parties! And it’s really more of an adult gathering with kids running around. Basically… it’s my excuse to have a bash. And I’ll take any chance to do that.
for lucas’ 1st birthday party we had a baby cake. basically, we got a little birthday cake and put in on a table cloth on the ground. we put all the little crawlers and toddlers around the cake and let them just grab fistfuls and shove it in their mouths. it was a big mess but made for some really cute pictures.
I, personally, think the first birthday party is a must. Not to be all debby downer, but it’s easy to remember that in the grand scheme of the entire world, reaching your first birthday is not always a given. Celebrating your (and your child’s) survival through what is definitely one of the hardest times of having a child, in my opinion, is a wonderful thing to do. No, they won’t remember it, but who doesn’t love a good party? ‘Round where I live, most people have a regular old party that just so happens to have birthday cake.
We didn’t have a theme for my son’s first birthday party. It was really just Mother’s group but with more food and cake!
I’m just planning my daughter’s first birthday, and was going to have a Teddy Bear’s Picnic theme, because she loves hugging her teddy bears. I’m fast losing energy for anything fancy though, and will probably just make her a teddy bear cake and call it a day!
I agree, I really love having paper products for a first birthday. I’ve framed each one of the kid’s first invitations. Such a sweet keepsake.
For my son’s first birthday, I asked guests to bring a pack of diapers in place of a gift (inspired by your blogs about the Huggies Diaper Drive!), I asked guests to bring a pack of diapers. We did e-vites so I just included a link to the Huggies site which described the need for diapers. My son is lucky enough to have plenty of toys already, and wouldn’t miss getting gifts at such a young age (although a few people brought gifts, of course, which was fine). I collected about 18 packs of diapers and dropped them off the next day! So nice to help someone else, spread the word about the need for diapers, and keep my son (and our small apartment) from accumulating any more “thoughtful” gifts…
I also bought a cake form for the “giant cupcake” (they are available at Bed Bath and Beyond and probably everywhere else) and made that as a “smash cake” for my son- it was his first taste of cake and we encouraged him to eat it with his hands and make a real mess. Lots of cute photos! I also made regular size cupcakes for the guests, which was much easier than a sheet cake!
We just celebrated my son’s 1st birthday two days ago. I didn’t have a theme in mind when I ordered the Fantastic Friends Blue invitations from Shutterfly, but as the date of the party approached, inspiration for the decorations and favors came from all around! I had lots of fun getting everything ready. You can see pictures by visiting http://happilyeverhanna.blogspot.com/2011/10/and-just-like-that.html. Yay for DIY birthdays!!!
I wish I read this post before we started laying plans for our daughter’s first birthday party in a few weeks. These invitations and decorations and themes are amazing. My wife is pretty creative and she came up with some great invitations that she did by hand. I wanted to use tinyprints, but i’m glad we created them ourselves, they came out great.
Thankfully our party will be small, but I’ve been trying to come up with theme ideas for the past two weeks. I even put it out there on twitter for some ideas, but all I got were some pretty wacky like this one: http://daddybydefault.com/bad-birthday-party-ideas-2-dirty-diaper-pinata-2/
Anyway, thanks for the real ideas and decorations. It might not be too late to work them in.
I have boy/girl twins, and they share a birthday with Elvis! They were born on January 8th. I did a very Do-It-Yourself 50′s Rock and Roll theme, and had a blast doing it. I photoshopped their faces into Elvis and Marilyn Monroe for their invites. The food was 50′s Diner theme. I decorated with 45 records, and even had a record player playing Elvis records all day. Josh was dressed up as Elvis and Jules was dressed as a sock hopper. I absolutely loved it!!
Here is my blog post about it:
http://babystribling.blogspot.com/2011/01/partytime.html
[...] as well as your party will be a success, no matter what type of party you throw or who you invite.There's a lot more to hosting a party than just simply inviting guests to come over. There's likely …used to list writing. List writing will make sure that the party has everything it needs to be a [...]
My family is HUGE…..so I’m thinking of having my son’s party at the community room where we live….it’s a nice space, but I’m concerned the kids will be bored. I really don’t wanna have to be in charge of games; on the other hand we don’t have the budget to hire “entertainment”. To be honest, we didn’t want to have a party at all, but really, how could we not!?
Any ideas for us????
Great post about 1st B-day party ideas! Lots of funs things to consider. Similar to the previous comment, I wish I came across it earlier, when I was looking for ideas for my twin boys 1st B-day party. It is next week and we are having it at the local “gym” for babies and kids. I really wanted to have it at home, but we have small house and lots of friends and family members that we invited. I hope it will be fun this year, but in the years to come I will try to be more creative and organize boys’ parties at home.
For our party this year we don’t have a theme. We will be using lots of colors and balloons. I might do a theme party when the kids are older and express interest in something specific.
I can’t wait to celebrate my twin boys first birthday next week. I will be reporting on how it went on our blog: twinstructions.com
My son was born Christmas day last year. I had originally planned on making his first birthday theme a Christmas-y theme but then decided that I should probably try to keep the two separate. Even though he is too young this year to remember, he will one day be upset that his birthday isn’t just his. Anyways, I’ve decided to do a Little Monsters theme because that is what we’ve always called him, our little monster. He was even a monster for Halloween.
I love these ideas, I’m going to use the fruit rainbow for my son party. (: & I’m thinking of doing the Very Hungry Caterpillar next year. (:
[...] collection of super cute first birthday party ideas gives more inspiration on planning a party to suit your [...]
Thanks for featuring my rainbow invitation – I’m honored that you chose it from all of the options on Etsy!
Heather : )
Chickabug.com
Great ideas here! I’m planning my son’s 1st bday next month and wanted to make it special for everyone invited. I don’t like the idea of planning just for the adults, instead I want this to not only be about him but all of the children invited. We don’t have adequate space at our house, so I’m looking at our local community rec center to rent, then decorate with lots of colors and balloons/streamers, may not do a theme.
Ideas include:
-bringing in some of his fun toys to share with all of the babies (starting at 6 months) and letting them have a big play date party while the adults ooh and ahh.
-setting up a game console with tv for the older kids to share
-setting up a bubble machine for the babies to enjoy
-tape down some butcher paper for the babies to get a little dirty with whip cream, food coloring, and cookie cutters as stamps on the floor
And/or have my son dig into the cake and let the other babies join in on the fun too – regardless I expect it to be a bit messy but will set up a cleaning station for parents and may provide some bibs or throw away shirts
My point is, he may not remember but at least he’ll get to enjoy what he loves most, playing! Instead of being smothered with hugs and kisses for the duration of his party, no fun.
Oh and it will be a “family bring a dish” buffet so they can feel like they contributed.
I am so happy I came across this site! I am trying to think of what to do for my son’s first birthday in March and I couldn’t find a “theme” I was happy with. When I had planned my daughter’s, it was so much easier, but for whatever reason, I am drawing a blank for my son. My house is too small to do it here, so I will probably call some rec centers or places like that, as for invitations, I might just make my own up on the computer with his picture. The baby cake is an AMAZING idea!!! I can already see my son diving into that thing head first and mouth wide open!!!!!
[...] it earlier, when I was looking for ideas for my twin boys 1st B-day party. For my son’s First birthday, I asked guests to bring a pack of diapers in place of a gift (inspired by your blogs [...]
I have twin girls and I want to do a polka dot themed party but I need more creative ideas as far as decorating, cakes and games (what games do 1 year olds play at parties??) help!!
Sammi, YES, keep the two separate. I was born on Christmas and had 2 real birthday parties with friends and the like. One was for my 18th and one for my 21st. My mom was so good at keeping it two holidays. We had Christmas in the morning and my birthday cake after dinner and birthday presents. She also wrapped my presents in birthday paper.
The first year my husband and I were married his parents forgot that it was my birthday and he didn’t even get me a cake. He heard about that and now he knows I want cake and birthday wrapping paper
[...] on how old your twins are turning, specific themes can be a fun way to bring a true party together. For a more generalized theme, stick to polka dots, [...]
If you’re looking for a blinged out candle for your birthday cake, please take a look at my etsy shop: Wicked Wishez
The parties you have listed are so cute. You have compiled a great list. I was very excited to come across your site! I also make invitations and other printables if you are interested!
http://www.etsy.com/yellowlemons
I am so thrilled I came across this page! Thanks for all the wonderful ideas. I am planning my lil girl’s first birthday party (in one month) and definitely using the fruit cake idea and the cake smash. Also the wii/rock band for older kids! Thank you all!
My osn’s birthday is exactly one month from today! We (or should I say I) have been planning a classic sock monkey party with just our family and a a few friends. I love the great ideas on this page. There are some I will have to keep in mind for future birthdays.
my son will be 1 year in august 11th.im clueless regarding ideas for a party want to invite +- 20kids just dont know what to serve (FOOD) exactly.have jumping castle oh yes what games to play
I am trying to get some ideas for my sons first birthday party. Its going to be mainly family(adults) and a couple kids and babies, so Im not quite sure what to do?!?! I want to have his party at the zoo so that everyone can enjoy it, but if it rains the party is going to be a bust..and you cant reshedule or get your 400 dollars refunded….HELP!!
PS 8 of our guests are driving 4 hours to come so i want it to be worth the drive(:
My son will be 1 this October and we have already started planning. I am doing a ‘crazy hats’ theme where everyone young and old gets to wear their craziest hat. If they don’t show up with one, I will have some very fun (okay ugly) hats provided thanks to the local dollar store. We will also air a slide show on the TV of all of the pics we have taken of him this past year. Fun and cheap entertainment!
Thanks for the idea of the mini cake just for him, sound like a perfect idea.
My daughter is now 6 months old & I’m currently searching for ideas for this special birthday. She was born on Feb 2nd which is always Groundhog Day! I wanted do a groundhog theme . But I’m know thinking to wait till she’s a little older to use that theme. Alot of the ideas have spring/ winter activities & games which will be super cute to use when she’s a little older.
For more first birthday party ideas, check out the newest community for sharing party ideas: We Heart Parties! http://www.weheartparties.com. I just launched the site a month ago
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The theme I chose for my son’s first Birthday is Mod Monkey(Yellow and Turquoise). My son is very naughty and we call him little monkey all the time. I have made the decorations my self.. customer bottle wraper, polka dot decorations with Turquoise and yellow colors(similar to the oens that are in etsy), banners of my kid (4ftx6ft, goes on the main wall) , 12 posters of my kids from birth to 12 months. a Slide show of his pictures, games for kids, favours for guests….
[...] Clutter-free gifts for babies and toddlers First birthday party ideas Favorite ride-on toys for toddlers and [...]
How fun to see my fruit rainbow featured here! Here’s the link to the rainbow unicorn party where it was served: http://www.funfindsformom.com/blog/unicorn-birthday-party
How does everyone handle the gifts? Aside from asking for donations or saying no gifts, I’m not sure how to handle this.
I always get weirded out when I go to a kid’s birthday party and 45 minutes is spent on opening gifts in which all the kids fight and all attention is paid to the accumulation of things. It seems selfish and gluttonous. Yet, I know people like giving gifts and seeing the reaction when they’re opened. I’m having a hard time figuring out how to deal with this aspect of the “classic” party.
I actually chose not to open gifts at my baby shower and got some comments that people were disappointed because they wanted to see how we’d react.
@K, Where we live, in Berkeley, it’s actually most common for children not to open gifts in front of their guests in the 1-5 age range. Older kids do it more often and handle it better. Since 1-year olds don’t understand what’s going on at all, it seems fine to say, “Thanks for bring him/her something. We’ll help open it after his/her nap today.” As for your shower, I think gifts are so much the focus of a shower — after all, aren’t we being “showered” with gifts (or is it with affection) — that people would expect it unless told of another plan, such as “We really want this shower to be about celebrating motherhood, so we’re going to share advice and good wishes, but not open presents.”
@K and Whitney, I was surprised to find that kids don’t tend to open presents at parties here in Berkeley. Not what I’m accustomed to. I personally struggled at my wedding and baby showers as I hate opening gifts in front of people but I do think it’s kind of the whole focus of a shower, so I made myself do it and hopefully reacted appropriately as that’s my fear;)
Our daughter’s 2nd birthday was spent away from home at the grandparents’ house where we have lots of friends and family, so we had a party but didn’t want to haul gifts back on a plane:). So we asked that people bring donations for the Ronald McDonald House at the Children’s Hospital there which was so fun and everyone told us they loved it. And if course a few people still brought gifts for the birthday girl, so she had plenty to open and even at two thought delivering the stuff donated was super fun!
Recently I took my son to a birthday where they had a tv playing a musical show made from pictures of the child’s 1st year. It had a storyline showing the baby grow up from a newborn to the first tooth, first smile, first crawl and it had music with special effects and a personalized Happy Birthday song. It was done professionally from Smiling Snaps and was so touching! I am doing the same for my kid’s upcoming birthday and keep the DVD as a keepsake for my son to see when he grows up!