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FTM who has questions about 1st birthday party

controlledchaos617controlledchaos617 member
in Birthday Parties
Sorry if these are stupid questions but I am a FTM and I have some questions about my DD's first birthday party, we are on a tight budget and plan to do it at my sisters house because she has more room.  Do I have to have a theme? What decorations "should" I have? DF thinks she should have a smash cupcake insread of smash cake, has anyone done a cupcake...good or bad idea? If I do a cupcake I wonder if it can be a big one.  What stores should I get decorations at? I also really want to get her an outfit, hat and bib that says 1st birthday or something related...where can I find these? Any helpful hints or ideas are very greatly appreciated! TIA!!
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Re: FTM who has questions about 1st birthday party

  • EastCoastBrideEastCoastBride member

    No- you don't have to have a theme, there are no decorations you "have" to have.  Do what works for you and you think your DD will enjoy.  She'll be turning 1.  There isn't much SHE is going to care about.  All the rest of it is really about you, the parents, and what YOU think there should be.

    And I've found that most kids don't eat all that much cake.  A cupcake - a normal sized one - would probably be more than enough. 

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  • danieliza1127danieliza1127 member

    I was at Party City this weekend (if you one or something similar, or you can order online) and they had every kind of decoration you could want.  They had an entire aisle of baby's 1st birthday stuff, including a little kit to decorate the high chair. 

    I got a few things from oriental trading company online as well.

    You don't have to have a theme, like ECB said, it's really up to you since it's just a first birthday and the baby can't really tell you what she wants.

    As for cake, I ordered cupcakes for the guests and one giant cupcake for the baby's "smash" cake.  It's just basically an oversized cupcake, but even just a regular size would be fine.  Again, it's up to you.  There aren't really any must-haves.

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  • belladonna11307belladonna11307 member
    No theme necessary.  If you want a theme, but aren't leaning in any direction "First birthday" is just fine, kind of like the theme of a Christmas party being "Christmas".  Personally I never understood the need to make an entire cake for a baby to play with and then throw away.  We did cupcakes for DD's first birthday and she ate about half of it and wore the rest.  My mom said she always just did a cake and gave the babies a slice like everyone else.  I feel like the smash cake idea was just a way for bakeries to make more money.  If you want to do a larger cupcake - go for it.  You can get decorations in a lot of different places, depending on what you're looking for.  For balloons and streamers I have a local low cost party supply store I go to.  There's also Party City and other party supply chains, that will probably have more selection, but be more expensive.  Target, Walmart, and other such department stores usually have a party supply section as well.  What and where you buy decorations depends on how you're deciding to decorate.  For DD's first birthday I bought a happy first birthday banner that matched the plates, napkins and invitations at the party supply store.  I also got a matching foil balloon and some helium latex balloons there.  Then I bought construction paper at Target, cut out bear paws, taped pictures of DD on them, and put them on the walls.  The rest of the decorations were stuffed bears and bear themed books we already owned.  We did a bear theme, if you couldn't tell :)  As for an outfit, look online.  If you're crafty at all, or know someone who is, check out your local craft store.  Many of them carry pre-made iron ons that you could put on a shirt or bib.  Pretty much you need to decide if you want a theme and what it will be (again anything from first birthday, to picking certain colors to work with, to using a favorite stuffed animal will work).  Plan a menu (are you serving lunch or dinner or just having a cake and ice cream party?).  Get decorations and serving ware.  It sounds like a lot, but if you plan ahead it's all pretty easy.
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  • SunAndRainSunAndRain member
    imagecontrolledchaos617:
    Sorry if these are stupid questions but I am a FTM and I havenbsp;some questions about my DD's first birthday party, we are on a tight budget and plan to do it at my sisters house because she has more room.nbsp; Do I have to have a theme? What decorations "should" I have? DF thinks she should have a smash cupcake insread of smash cake, has anyone done a cupcake...good or bad idea? If I do a cupcake I wonder if it can be a big one.nbsp; What stores should I get decorations at? I also really want to get her an outfit, hat and bib that says 1st birthday or something related...where can I find these? Any helpful hints or ideas are very greatly appreciated! TIA!!

    No, you don't have to have a theme but at the very least pick a color scheme to help bring the elements of the party together. Could be as simple as pink and aqua on white.

    Absolutely do a smash cupcake. They don't need to eat a whole cupcake and certainly anything beyond that is just waste.

    Decorations: party city, dollar store, Joann's or michael's and DIY.

    1st bday attire can be purchased at the above stores if you want to DIY, or amazon or BRU for something basic. Or you can purchase something personalized on etsy.com.

    Have you looked on Pinterest for ideas? I got tons here for dd's bday party.

    You can get a dozen helium balloon that say 1 on them for 10 at party city. Totally festive.

    Also, keeping the guest list down and have one or two big impact decorations versus lots of little ones is a good way to control costs.
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  • doodlemonkey22doodlemonkey22 member

    imagebelladonna11307:
    My mom said she always just did a cake and gave the babies a slice like everyone else.  I feel like the smash cake idea was just a way for bakeries to make more money.

    Agree! With first ds we gave him a big slice and put him in his high chair. With second ds we gave him a cupcake. Got good pictures with icing on the face both times. To save $ on decorations I do a mixture of themed supplies and cheap solid colored supplies. Pick the themed decorations wisely. Check out pinterest for diy ideas even if you're not that crafty. Some of the pins are from people who hate crafting and are super easy. You'll be surprised what some people think of doing with construction paper. GL!

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  • blu-eyedwifeblu-eyedwife member

    Do I have to have a theme?Technically "Birthday Party" is a theme!  You don't really need more than that. You can do as much or as little as you want and it's still a celebration.

    What decorations "should" I have?I don't think you need any decorations, this is something else that can be as much or little as you want.  You can always pick up a banner, balloons, or streamers from the supermarket or drugstore.

    DF thinks she should have a smash cupcake instead of smash cake, has anyone done a cupcake...good or bad idea?I think this is a great idea.  I made a mini-cake for my son, but I have friends who used cupcakes and it works well.

    I also really want to get her an outfit, hat and bib that says 1st birthday or something related...where can I find these? I picked up a shirt from Children's Place, but I know Old Navy and Etsy also have things like that.  I made a party hat - it's not too hard and there are templates online.

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  • kindershlitzkindershlitz member
    I'm not speaking form experience but our plan is to do a seasonal theme. So solid colors as pp mentioned. Also decor will be fall things like pumpkins, apples, haven't decided but will probably do so last minute based on what is availabe. To make it about our guy I'm making a banner with his monthly pictures and a happy birthday banner. I am thinking of making a hat too. I'm not big into character theme stuff personally. I think your guests are about the baby and the food so whatever you do is fine. I agree with pp also, Pinterest! 
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  • melody921melody921 member
    There's nothing you have to do. It all depends on what you want to do. I love to plan theme parties, so that's what I do. A lot of other people couldn't care less. We did a cupcake for DS. It was great. He didn't need anymore cake than that. I'd check etsy for cute 1st bday stuff. I always have good luck finding something special there.

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