Today was the little ones first birthday and I was more excited last night than I am for my own birthday. There is something so magical about a baby’s first birthday; their first time round the sun birthday. The idea of everything being brand new and experienced for the first time really appeals to my imagination and makes me go OTT on the celebration front, but this time round I am going to be more sensible with the first birthday party planning and so I came up with a first birthday party checklist that you can download.
First Birthday Party Planning
With our first child I planned his first birthday party for weeks. It was an occasion I didn’t know if I would ever be able to celebrate, due to fertility issues, so I really wanted to do it big. It is also my birthday 5 days before his so we were to have a joint party meaning there were around 60 people invited. Frankly in hindsight this was insanity, but also rather fabulous. I didn’t go totally insane there were no caterers or entertainers. I did it myself, but I still went totally over the top for a first birthday which he won’t remember so I guess really I did it for my husband and I. Don’t get me wrong our eldest son did love it and spent the whole day toddling around after our godsons and playing with bubbles nonetheless there was an element of extravagance with the ‘event’.
This time round there was really no option to go crazy again as I simply have little or no time available to arrange and cater for that number of people, but I still wanted to mark the occasion and make sure that he had a lovely time and so I made a checklist to make sure that I didn’t forget anything.
First Birthday Party Guest List
Who should you invite to your baby’s first birthday party?
Ultimately this is up to you. How big do you want the party to be? Kids can become overwhelmed by too much going on and too many people so that may be something to consider. I decided to bring down invite numbers by only inviting those who had a baby of around 12 months or younger themselves. This seems to give the right mix of toddler and baby so that the eldest would have people to play with. I managed to totally reign it all in until in a panic yesterday I realised that the older children will be fairly devastated if a party bag is not produced at the farewell. Cue a mad ordering session on amazon and fingers crossed that it will arrive on time….
So the party is set for this Saturday and I have no idea what cake I am making, I haven’t planned the catering at all and I foresee a last minute dash to the pound shop for party bag favours, but will the little one care – no! He is a delightfully happy smiling little boy who this afternoon at his birthday tea bypassed his ‘big gift’ in order to toddle in a wobbly fashion towards the crisps. It was as if he knew it was his birthday and that I would allow him a taste. Having seen his little face light up on route to that snack I remembered that a first birthday is really just about making him smile and as long as that happens I will have thrown the best party ever even if the cake hasn’t risen and the party bags contain air. Lets hope I can remember this zen feeling when I am elbow deep in icing sugar and party sandwiches on Saturday morning!
