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:help:
What was your child's first birthday like?
Where?
Time/Duration?
How many guests?
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things?
What worked?
What didn't work?
Thankyou in advance. I need to get my head around this now as I will be back at work next month and want to organise in my head what we are going to do over the next few weeks that I am home.
Running off to bed now, but what I would say is save yourself a ton of stress and DON'T MAKE THE CAKE! Unless you're a cake making guru (which I'm clearly not) making a first birthday cake is downright stressful and will distract you from what should be a wonderful celebration. Buy the cake.
Sorry if that seems a bit random but I think I would have enjoyed the day a lot more if I hadn't put myself under pressure to make a birthday cake that I felt was 'good enough' IYKWIM.
Subbing :) I want to know all this too for DS's upcoming birthday *sniff*
LOL Not random at all. :) I have a good friend who is a professional cake maker and makes the most amazing cakes so I will pay her to be the one to stress over that! :ROFL: She did a great job of DD's christening cake as well.
Where? Was at our house
Time/Duration? Um, from memory I think it was after lunch so I didn't have to feed them lunch.. lol.. couple of hours I assume
How many guests? gaw... can't remember it was 2 years ago.. LOL... (kelts didn't have one)
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? Family and friends.
What worked? Um the kids played nicely and Aricyn sorta knew how to socialise.. lol
What didn't work - well nobody ate my snack food or cake because they had eaten before they came :lol: Oh and there were far too many kids in our teeny tiny house.
Kameron's was huge.
We had it at home with 2 BBQ's going to provide lunch. It was combined family and friends and went for about 3 hours.
We got the cake made from a bakery, and it was awful. I was so disappointed in it and it cost me the bomb as well. Since that day anytime it is a birthday I get my cake from the Cheesecake shop.
The other boys were on a much smaller scale, and were after lunch so all we had to do was provide nibblies.
Where? DH's grandma's house (our house is a bit small and far away ish from where the rest of the family live).
Time/Duration? We made it for 12pm and ppl started leaving around the 3pm - 4pm time.
How many guests? About 20 - 25 ppl
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? We don't really have other friends with young kids so we kept it to family.
What worked? Everything - we ordered a cake (I'm no cake decorating genius although I've done a course on it lol), basic decorations, we had video and photo footage taken throughout the day (by my brother), it was hot so we had cold meats, salads, little pasties and sausage rolls, spinach and cheese triangles etc for food so no cooking had to be done, just heating.
What didn't work? Nothing - it all went smoothly!
Where - our house
Time/Duration - 12 til about 3-4 but we had some friends/family stay for the leftovers for dinner and DP's mates stayed til the next morn after partying all night.. :wall:
How many guests - 120 invited about 80 showed
Did you combine family with friends or do separate things - family with friends, my parents are separated and re-married and DP's fam is big, being pregnant i didn't want the hassle of 4 different parties to clean up after and cater for etc.
What worked - having everyone together worked well, getting the cake MADE was the best idea ever, getting close relo's to make some salads etc so your not working your butt off all day oh and we got DP's aunts pie oven to do all the pies, sausage rolls etc.
What didn't work - allowing DP's friends to get drunk and party all night :rolleyes:
TIP - have a presents table and if need be open a couple but don't spend all day opening pressies, thats what i did and thats ALL i have photos of, DD opening presents.
Get someone else to carry around the camera and take pics of everyone there for you, maybe even one of those little disposable cameras if it's in the budget?
Where? local park
Time/Duration? 11am -1pm
How many guests? about 40 (kids as well)
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? both
What worked? we had a BBQ, very simple and just a basic get together
What didn't work?
having it at the park worked great as the kids were mainly a little older than Jack was so they were occcupy with the swings etc...
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What was your child's first birthday like? It was great fun :)
Where? At Home
Time/Duration? From memory we went from 1pm until whenever everyone left
How many guests?Hmmm....invited about 40i think about 30 came
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? Combined it all in one - too much work otherwise
What worked? We didn't have games, just lots of toys etc around, lots of food both for adults and kids, didn't open presents until people left - this way it was just us and nothing got lost or broken
What didn't work? I think most things went to plan - except my cake decorating skils LOL
Where? home
Time/Duration? 2 onwards from memory, many stayed on for tea
How many guests? 80+
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? combined
What worked? everything
What didn't work? all went well, no issues!!
Alexzander's
Where? Home
Time/Duration? Lunchtime BBQ for just a few hours, no set time
How many guests? About 30-35, mostly family & some friends, noone had kids but us at this point
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? Combined
What worked? Having it when he was well rested, after his morning sleep
What didn't work? Nothing, it all went very well
Juliette's (hers had to be cancelled because I was in hospital the day before :( but this was the plan
Where? A picnic area at a dam
Time/Duration? Lunchtime BBQ
How many guests? Around 45-50, this time there were lots of kids
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? Both together
What worked? Nothing, it was cancelled :(
What didn't work? Having an ovarian cyst burst the day before & being in hospital :lol:
We had a party for family and friends at my folks' place. It went for about 4 hours and we had lunch from memory. Not to many people, maybe 15 or so.
The best thing we did was have a group party for our mothers' group. Everyone brought something, we had a kris kringle for presents and all the babies had a great time. It was low stress and very enjoyable!
Thank you so much to all of your responses. You have no idea how helpful it is. ALl your info will def help me plan DD's party. :)
Sarah- You poor thing having an ovarian cyst burst! Ouch!! Hope you recovered quickly.
Sunshine- I can say 1st hand I thought your DD's party was fantastic and I loved your cake. I also loved how you had a photo with each of the party guests with you and Jorja.
LOL yeah I was at home for her actual birthday (day of the party) and we just had a quiet family BBQ.
Hey Ali, DD's was similar to all of the above only we had to have 2 family parties as the ILs didn't get along with anyone else :rolleyes:.
Best bit of advice I can give though.
A 1yo birthday party is really for you guys to celebrate your little person. They really won't get a whole lot out of it, so do what suits you two as the parents, not what you think people want to see at a 1st b'day party (runs and hides).
:o
Im a bit shocked that so many people had such massive parties for a first birthday!
Where? In a park with BBQs
Time/Duration? 2 hours (officially)
How many guests? my Mothers Group and some family and close friends...mebbe 25ish...
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? combined...made it easier for us as family lives out of town
What worked? the open space
What didn't work? non children friends found the event fairly overwhelming and couldnt really mingle with the main group.
My tips: the simpler the better! simple party foods that way people can wander around the food table and you aren't too busy in the kitchen putting together finicky foods.
A big mat with simple toys for the bubbas to play with. gives a centre focus for the kids to play.
hope you have a gorgeous day celebrating this special day!
Where? A our place
Time/Duration? Lunchtime BBQ and then if anyone was still there at tea time we just kicked on LOL
How many guests? Around 20 adults, and however many kids they had at the time
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? just did it all together, but if their actual birthday was a different day to their party then family usually came over that day for gifts and cake etc but no party.
What worked? everything we've just always done it that way and we often have BBQ's like that only with not as many people. It really is more about us because they have no idea what is going on LOL so it was just like a regular BBQ we'd have only with a birthday cake.
Where? our house
Time/Duration? 1000-1200 - this i found was the best time - just after her morning nap and before her arvo nap! and i found having a finish time a good idea so u didn't have ppl lingering for too long! and made what to serve food wise easier, we didnt have to go all out to do a lunch or anything big, we had nibbles like cupcakes, fairy bread, cheerio's, assorted sandwhiches, and i did put on a few mini pies and sausage rolls
How many guests? hmmm i think it was somewhere between 20-30
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? family and friends
What worked? the time - it was a really good idea! after that the mothers in my little mothers group had a start and finish time 1 was 1200-1400 - she had to do a lunch - well didnt have too but cause it was in the lunch period -she put on a good one - but alot of work! and the other was 1400-1600 - i found that okayish but getting a bit late. Also - if ur trying to save money - the early time is good cause u don't need to supply alcohol - not that you have to anyway! We just had soft drink for everyone!
What didn't work? i made Miss B's 1st cake and really stressed over it - didnt turn out as perfect as i wanted it too!
Decorations i added this one in - we had 100+ helium fillied balloons in the colour theme or pink and purple with streamers hanging from them inside the house up on ceiling - and the theme was butterflys so i had cut out butterflys all over the wall - also had a huge hellium filled #1 balloon as center piece and as u walked in the door way #1 hanging things.
Over all was a really good day! 1 bit of advice - im always the one who will run around doing everything when entertaining and i never get to relax or socilise, but this time i said its my day as well so im going to enjoy it - i had all the food done - put it out in a central spot and had everyone help themselves and i really enjoyed the day also!
Hope that helps! remember enjoy the day aswell :D
Where?
At home. Back yard BBQ. We got very lucky with the weather - Thursday was 42, Friday was cold and wet, Saturday was lovely and sunny and just perfect!
Time/Duration?
We started at 5pm and everyone had gone by 9pm except my parents who helped clean up and then stayed over night as they live two hours away from us. Sam's a bit of a night owl, so this suited us really well - we started around the time he wakes up from his afternoon nap and his usual bed time is 9ish - I can certainly see that the time wouldn't work for other families, though.
How many guests?
Around 30. We had 20 adults and 10 kids.
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things?
We combined. It meant that my extended family didn't see Sam for his birthday, but my close family all had to travel 1, 2 or 5 hours to be there. It worked really well, although I could have done without the inlaws, but that's a completely separate issue.
What worked?
Everything worked really well. We got incredibly lucky with the weather which was completely out of our control. I didn't ask people to bring stuff, but if people offered to bring something I let them and got things organised really well.
What didn't work?
We forgot about taking pictures. Make sure you give someone who takes decent photos your camera and ask them to go nuts. I'm still waiting for people to send us pictures so that we have some pictures from his birthday. :(
Thankyou in advance. I need to get my head around this now as I will be back at work next month and want to organise in my head what we are going to do over the next few weeks that I am home.
I found the planning to be way more stressful than the actual party. We didn't worry about kids games as Sam was so young. We had a few issues with SIL's kids attacking my sister's boy and my friend's 15 month old and perhaps, in hindsight, we should have done a little more to entertain them. But then, SIL + BIL could have supervised them a little more closely, too!
I found that due to family issues I was desperate to avoid talking to my inlaws much, and the numbers did allow me to do that without appearing rude, which was good - but if you want to be able to talk to everyone, keep numbers lower.
We made our cake. I had DH step in to help when a visitor arrived in the middle of me trying to start it, and mum helped me carve and construct a number 1 and then helped ice it (we bought a tin of frosting to keep it simple). It was a big stress, but I do feel good that I actually did Sam's first birthday cake for him. I'm not sure I'd do it again in a hurry, or try anything fancier, but I did it.
I also found that in having everything go so well for Sam's birthday and party that it went a long way towards helping me heal from the trauma of his birth and how things went so differently to what I had planned then.
BW
Ali, we have been pondering this too!
Where? At our place
Time/Duration? Around 3pm, after L's afternoon nap. Will probably go til dinner time (6pm?)
How many guests? No idea...haven't done a count yet, maybe about 60?
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? Family and friends
What worked? Er hopefully it all does! So far I think we'll do a BBQ and if it's good weather people can bring their bathers and we can use the pool. I'm a bit anxious about all the food preparation...will definitely get the cake made by someone else though, thanks for the tip :)
Noah's 1st Birthday was on a friday so we had a family dinner at home with his favourite meal (roast lamb) and I had an awesome birthday cake that I made (the number with the blanket made out of icing and a little teddy) in the women's weekly birthday cake book)
His Birthday party was on Saturday and I don't remember exact time details but it was at a huge park near us we had around 50ppl. We did a bbq lunch and snacks as well as another birthday cake which I made (it was cupcakes that get made to look like a bunch of balloons and written over the balloons was happy birthday Noah) I then made a heap of extra cupcakes (they weren't in patty cake containers so they looked like balloons so I had to ice the whole things, if I was smart I would have made the actual cake ones like that and put the extras in the cases)
Asa kid we always got to pick a meal to have for dinner and mum always made us a cake out of the women's weekly birthday cake book so for me it was really special having roast which he still LOVES and I really loved making his cake what I still regret is that I was so busy on his birthday organising things for his party that I missed out doing anything fun with him on his birthday :-( i SO SO regre t that. On his birthday once it was all over we were up late me finishing the cupcakes and Phil organising other stuff. At Noah's party I was running around doing things and Phil was on the bbq
People said to me he's one he won't even remember the party etc etc but I wasn't even going to listen he HAD to have a party. Personally that is one of the biggest things I regret so far in his life..maybe sad but I wished we had of spent the time celebrating his birthday and doing fun things with him etc instead of stressing and organising. For his second birthday we had a bbq at home with family (we only have our immediate families around so it was small anyway) and I still did the cake which Noah picked (knew what he would go for out of about 50cakes I have in my few books) the guitar!!! He spoke about it for weeks beforehand and I loved it. The night before we decorated the whole house with banners and balloons and streamers for when he got up in the morn and the next day we did the same outside. That night whenthe boys went to bed Phil and I had a glass of wine and reflected and it was an awesome stress free day we played with Noah and got to actually spend the day with him!!
I'm not sure what we will do for Spence but not a big party and not sure what we will do for Noah this year, we might do a party with his friedns but I will definitely make it less stress if we do.
Not saying don't have a party just saying make sure you get to enjoy the day!!
The absolute favourite birthday tradition we have started is we have a little book and every year (2 so far lol) we write a message to Noah telling him what he is like and what he likes to do, tell him about his year, his favourite toys and foods etc etc When he is 21 we will have it at his party, I think that will be so special
What was your child's first birthday like?
Where? Our house
Time/Duration? 1-3pm
How many guests? about 30 I think
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? It was family and close friends. My family is pretty big.
What worked? We were going to have a BBQ but the weather predicted was pretty dire so we ended up getting some cooked chooks with Salads. If people offered to bring stuff I let them. Most of the salads ended up being made by family. Most of the other food was stuff that I could make the day before. I made DD cake the day before. So not much actually had to be done on the day of the party.
I liked the fact that the party itself wasn't on her actual birthday because that meant that we could spend the day with her. On her actual birthday we had dinner then invited the ILs over for cake so that was pretty relaxed
What didn't work? We didn't take a lot of pictures so I would suggest getting lots of pics. The weather wasn't really co-operating but we did have a back up plan that worked
We had 2 parties -
On her actual birthday DD1 spent the morning at the zoo with us and her grandparents, then came home and had lunch and cake. It was lovely.
Her party was meant to be combined with her friend from playgroup and be in the park from 10-12 but her buddy got gastro and it was 40 degrees. So we had about 20 people at our place for morning tea and cake.
Where? Local Community Hall
Time/Duration? Mid-afternoon start (about 2:00pm from memory), went on until about 4:00pm
How many guests? About 15 kids plus their families
Did you combine family with friends or do seperate things? No family around,so it was friends only
What worked? Not having anything too strucutred. The kids could do what they wanted. At one stage some of the older boys (2-6 years old) got a bit rowdy so their dad took them out to the park for a while.
What didn't work? I made the cake. I wanted to use the natural food colouring, so kids wouldn't get too hyper, etc, but the colour turned out sooo drab. Other than that, it was great.
Just wanted to :bump: this up as it is next weekend!
If you need any help let me know :) DH is away so it's just J and Me!
Thanks hun. So glad you can come now :) I think I need to write some lists for myself! LOL!