1st Birthday Approaching Fast- Need Ideas for Anything and Everything Please!!!

pnq06

Hi all

My little princess is about to turn 1 in a few weeks (I just can't get my head around where my little baby has gone LOL)

Anyways, I am thinking of holding a get together with a few close friends and family but have no idea where to start on anything!!!!

I would appreciate any experiences, ideas of food, decorations etc.

We have a VERY small budget to work with so I need to bare that in mind when buying...

Thank you so much :beer:

pnq06

Cheeky bump

Can anyone help please?

Thank you

isica1903

Hi, my daughter turned 1 in April and we had a little party for her.
Only family and a large mixture of ages so most were older only 2 other toddlers so didn't really have the traditional games etc.
We just had normal party food, ie. sandwiches, sausage rolls, biscuits, crisps and some chicken nuggets and garlic bread as it was around teatime that kind of thing and just got a normal cake from Asda or you could make one.
They had their little "sit down meal" and then just went to play out in the garden. We then gave each a little party bag with sweets and cake when everyone went home. I went a bit over the top decoration wise, as went to party shop and bought all 1st birthday decorations but you could always just get cheap ones out of poundshop or similar, thats what I did for my sons 1st birthday and to be honest no one noticed the difference.
We didn't go mad with presents either, she had a Upsy Daisy doll and a Teletubby playset which she both loves but they soon get fed up with unwrapping things and tend to just fixate on one thing rather than lots of different presents.
Sorry its a bit long, hope I could be of any help
xx

isica1903

Another thing is, try and time it around your LO's naptime. Thats why I had my party at 4pm so she won't be really tired and just had her nap so won't miss everything or be really miserable. My LO really enjoyed all the attention and fuss and although she was poorly with a cold and temperature on the day she still enjoyed it. Just try not to pack too much into the day as that can confuse them and make them upset. Hope you enjoy the day, I was really exited about it lol

pnq06

Thanks hun

Unfortunately we don't have a garden so would it be a bit cruel to keep everyone indoors? I don't plan on inviting many people because I don't think it'll be fair on her so definitely not worth hiring somewhere out this year...

Did you have everyone round at the same time? I'm thinking of maybe an open house but I'm not sure how that would work with food

Oh I'm useless aren't I

pnq06

isica1903 wrote: »

Another thing is, try and time it around your LO's naptime. Thats why I had my party at 4pm so she won't be really tired and just had her nap so won't miss everything or be really miserable. My LO really enjoyed all the attention and fuss and although she was poorly with a cold and temperature on the day she still enjoyed it. Just try not to pack too much into the day as that can confuse them and make them upset. Hope you enjoy the day, I was really exited about it lol

Sorry, I took to long writing out my reply LOL!!!

That sounds like a fab idea!!! So I guess that members of the family which are awkward in each others company can visit a bit earlier in the day and have a party a bit later on :j

xx

isica1903

Do you have many kids coming?
I had 14 kids and 10 adults and just crammed them all into my living room lol
I had a table set out for the younger kids to sit at and eat and just passed plates of sandwiches etc round for the adults to help themselves. It depends how much space you have, but you could always try and do the food first, I had wallpaper tables for them to sit at, and then when theyre finished eating try and clear the room of tables and anything else in the way so people have a bit more space to move around
If it's more of an adult affair I would just have a little buffet set out somewhere out of the way and let everyone help themselves.
You could still do games indoors, thats what I did for my son last year as the weather was bad and they couldn;t go outside

pnq06

Won't be that many lol probably 6 kids/babies max- there will deffo be more adults so a buffet sounds good- I could hold that in the kitchen and people can go and help themselves..

What kind of games do I need

Thanks hun I do appreciate your time xx

isica1903

To be honest I'm useless with games and get my SIL to deal with them lol
But if you have smaller kids or mixture of both you could do pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey. Even littlens can join into those or you could put some music on and let them have a little boogie and maybe give out prizes for best dancer if theres some older ones. Don't do too many games as small childrens attention span is rather short, so maybe just do a couple and then let them have a little play with some toys or something.
If I can think of anything else I'll let you know.
Have a great day

sethsgran

How about making some bunting, just need small ammounts of fabric. You could put her name on it then it will be used in her room and a nice memory...

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.kittykaboodle.co.uk/baby_bunting.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kittykaboodle.co.uk/&h=1200&w=1600&sz=698&hl=en&start=2&usg=__9nPxcq2u-vUbsAP5xsYIWShOT_w=&tbnid=bi0E7NXy0jRsBM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbaby%2Bbunting%2Bcraft%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

Melon78

I've already started thinking about my daughters 1st birthday, so looking forward to the whole pink thing

Anyhow we're just going to have family/friends round, there'll be quite a few children so tbh i'll probably just pop a DVD on in the playroom and let them do their own thing. I'll have a simple buffet laid out and let people just chill out and relax.

I'd also quite like to get a big photo frame and a card mount and get everyone to write messages on the mount - ready to then pop a photo of her at her party in.

Party bag wise i'll probably get a small book or something, wrapped in tissue and ribbon and then pop fairy cakes into little cellophane bags tied with ribbon.

I remember trying to do games and things for my eldest sons 1st birthday and he was so overwhelmed by it all that he cried most of the afternoon!

As for presents we're going to get her a first baby annabell doll and i've got my eye on a gorgeous wooden pram. We always tend to buy a few new books on birthdays aswell.

And remember, 1st birthdays are a big milestone for mums and dads aswell as the babies, so maybe pop a nice bottle of wine in the fridge ready for when everyone goes home ready to celebrate surviving your first year as parents.

Enjoy it