1st Bday Party Tips Please

jenn&tim05

So Im beginning to make my list of what I need to get for the party. AT is technically having 2 parties I guess. We will be at the beach for his official bday with IL and I want to do something with them since they miss most of his milestones etc. Then we are having the bigger party at our house a few weeks later after we get settled again.

So tell me. What kind of tips can you offer, things that worked, things that didnt. Things you wish you thought of bf or afterwards. Things you thought were important but really werent. 

My brain is so scattered with this....that I dont want to forget anything. Thanks!

Evans

The only tip I can come up with is have someone take pictures and lots of them! ?You will be so busy between entertaining and caring for AT it will probably get lost in the shuffle. ?Also, take lots of pictures of your setup and food, etc. before anyone gets there. ?I love looking back on the ones we have and?remembering?what a special day it was!

SalisburyBride

Put someone in charge of taking pictures! An older niece or nephew maybe. DH is horrible at remembering to take pictures and I am usully too busy with John to take them. I wish I had more of his birthday parties.

marryingacoach

Have one person for pictures and one person for video (if you have one).  If you are having a large gathering (20 or so people) have someone in charge of keeping an eye on the food replenishing when needed etc. And try to enjoy it yourself. Turning 1 is a big deal for your LO but also for mom and dad!

mrsmikey

I also agree with having someone else take pictures, but not too many people!  It was seriously like the paparazzi at Eli's party, very irritating and distracting.  Designate one or two people to take all the pictures, and tell people you'll send them.  Eli was so stunned by the picture taking he wouldn't eat his cake. 

And speaking of cake, are you getting any pro pics done for his first birthday?  If so, get cake pics done.  I got great ones at PI, so when he didn't cooperate at his party I was laughing inside b/c everyone else was mad and it was their fault and I already had my good pics

And just delegate everything to a family member or close friend.  You don't want to have to do anything except enjoy the day with AT.  I had my mom and MIL watching the food, and nephew running the slideshow.  And let older kids help open presents.  They'll want to anyway, and AT won't really care, so it will keep them all happy.

jenn&tim05

No, m not doing cake pics....I just dont love them.

He will have cake at the beach gtg so that will do since there wont be a ton of people there you know...and if it doesnt work at his party bc of all the camera happy people then I have his REAL bday cake pics. I guess I saved myself with that too.

Thanks guys!

crescentmoon99

Ditto everyone else about pictures.  I wish we had more/better pictures from his party.  Also, think about ahead of time what kind of time schedule you need to be on to get through the party on time.  It's so easy to get off track when babies start playing, etc.  We had to really keep an eye on the clock and make sure we started serving food pretty soon after people arrived, then onto the cake smash, and then gifts, to finish within the 2 hour window we had put on the invitation.  Everything takes so much longer when a 1 year old is involved!

Oh, and I wracked my brain on the party favor thing - to do or not to do.  We were on a tight budget.  What I ended up doing, we had one of those little helium canisters from Target, and I blew up a bunch of extra balloons and just floated them on the ceiling like Red Robin - the kids loved it, and they all took a balloon home as their favor.

GL!