1st Birthday Advice please

DD2 will be one soon & I have never held a "proper" birthday party before, you know with invites for all our MG families. My other 2 just had small family parties :hide:
So, I am a total novice at this and have some questions that I'm sure some of you lovelies could help me with.
1. What would be an appropriate time to hold the party?
2. What sort of food to serve? I'm thinking finger food for the grown ups with some bub friendly options too? Any ideas on things I can make?
3. Is there anything else I should know/have etc? Have got little loot box thingies, but have no idea what to put in them??
I have already got decos/cake sorted, just lost on these other bits lol

TIA :)



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1. What would be an appropriate time to hold the party?
We had the party from *I think* 11.30am onwards. I still put DD to bed for her arvo nap, as she did always. Family stuck around but people with kids DD age left after the cake was cut.
2. What sort of food to serve? I'm thinking finger food for the grown ups with some bub friendly options too? Any ideas on things I can make?
We mainly served finger food b/c the kids that come were either too young to eat party food (IMO) and their parents fed them prior to coming over or old enough to eat party food. My Step mum did make some cup cakes for the youngish kids to take home if they wanted to.
3. Is there anything else I should know/have etc? Have got little loot box thingies, but have no idea what to put in them??
I did loot bags but did it age appropriate. eg. for the little girls, hair clips

hmm for my ds2's first birthday, we started it at 11ish then made alot of finger food, i put toys out so they had stuff to play with

1. What would be an appropriate time to hold the party? I think with ours we did them from 12 - 3:00 but you could do say 11 - 2:00 ? you don't have to put an 'end' but sometimes it helps so people know to clear out afterwards :rofl:
2. What sort of food to serve? We had a bbq and got family to bring plates of salad etc but for Dd1's 2nd b'day we did finger food (party pies, quiche etc) and sandwiches, we did fruit salad, cheese sticks, crackers, fairy bread etc for kids.
3. Is there anything else I should know/have etc? i did a couple of little choc's (mainly for the parents), a little book each with a msg from DD saying thanks for coming, hair clips for girls, dinosaur figurines for boys, BUBBLES are always a hit for any age

When I planned DD1 1st birthday I worked it around her sleeping times. So ours started at midday and finished up around 3:30 - 4pm and her day was not disrupted.

Because it was started around lunch time we had sausage sangas, a garden salad and potato salad as they were quick easy foods but enough to fill people up. You can never go wrong with party pies/sausage rolls though just make sure you have plenty on offer. Pastisi's are always a popular choice too. We also had plenty of dips, chips and lollies. The best food that everyone loved (but made a mess) was watermelon. We had DD1 cake and one other cake for dessert.

I agree with Rhichichi, the loot bags are fun when made for boy/girls. I also made a lollybox (like chocolate box) for the adults because so many people helped out it was just a little thanks for them too.

Have fun and I hope your DD2 and your family have a wonderful day.

Aww thanks ladies, there are some awesome ideas here! I really appreciate your help :)


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