Birthday party--order of events?

jcsumm0

Her party is from 11:30-2 pm (trying to work between naps).  It is very casual--at a park shelter w/about 20 guests (all adults).  So I was thinking:

-everyone arrives, hang out

-lunch

-open presents

-more hang out time, Evie can play on the playground, adults can play cornhole, etc

-cake

-bye-bye!

I was thinking of doing the cake later because I think she'll want a break after sitting for lunch and presents.  But do you think people will mind waiting for the cake?   Does it seem weird to break it up like that? 

I'm assuming people will want to see the presents opened--like at a shower, right?

What have you/will you do?

kimbo1216

I figured we'll kind of do the arrival, hang-out, lunch thing all at the same time as we'll be grilling and will just put stuff out as we get it ready.

Our party is at 1.  Hopefully, we'll be ready for cake before everyone is ready to leave. lol.  We dont have a set end time.  We'll just play it by ear but if I were to guess a cake time, I'd say 2-2:30 or so.

I like presents to be after cake though.  That way those that are ready to leave can still get their cake.

Idk.  We will see.  I may change my mind (as I've been known to do).

M&M227

I'm not sure we're opening presents during the party.  We'll be at a hall and I pray that she'll be ok.  She usually naps in the morning and then somewhere around 1:30 - 2:30 depending on how long her morning nap was.  Her party starts at 1, we really had no choice.  Hopefully she holds out, or will nap in her stroller, but I doubt it.

RingOfFire11

I'm planning on doing the cake last. She's probably going to be a huge mess after that part and will need clothes changed (and possibly a quick bath). For us, I think that will be a good time to wrap things up.

62406

We had the exact same "schedule", and it worked out fine.  I think everyone liked having a little break between lunch and cake.  After cake we hung out for another 2 hours and played badminton and just chatted.  It was a beautiful day so we all enjoyed being outside.

amanda1680

Macy's party started at noon so she could at least have her morning nap done.  We had about 15 adults and one tiny baby at the party, with no set end time.  This is how our day ended up:

-Everyone arrived, hung out, and saw the new house
-Ate lunch
-Macy did her cupcake smash
-Small break/hanging out
-Opened presents so everyone could watch - she was getting pretty cranky by now
-Nursed and put her down for a nap around 2:30 pm while my mom and sister cut and served the cake
-Everyone had cake and hung out while M slept
-M was up around 3:45 (after finally falling asleep at 3:15 ugh), everyone watched her play for a little bit longer then slowly filtered out

It was a long day, but our families were coming from 1-2 hours away and it was the first time seeing the house for most of them, so they stayed for awhile.  By the end of the day, M was very clingy and whiney and wouldn't let me put her down (didn't even want daddy!), but all in all, everything flowed pretty well and I was happy with the day!

 

SarahKate31

Our party is at 2pm and I was thinking basically just hang out and eat, then do the cake around 3-3:30pm. We aren't opening presents at the party.

march2008

We have a pavilion reserved at a local park and it's for the whole day. I'm mailing out the invitations tomorrow and I still can't make up my mind on the exact start time. She usually takes 2 naps a day, so I'm hoping to work the party in between her naps as well. I'm leaning towards 12:30 pm for the start time since we're serving lunch and we'll just play it by ear as for when it ends.

I'd kind of like to do the cake at the end, too, b/c I know DD will get really messy. 

By the way - what is corn hole? 

egpitt22

My order of events is similar, with cake being last as well (I figure if he gets super messy and needs to go straight to the tub, I'd hate to have to do that in the middle of the party). this is my rough estimate of times:

3:30: guests arrive, appetizers out

4:15-5pm: eat 

5-5:20: open presents (we're not expecting too many people, so I don't anticipate this taking too long)

5:20: watch slideshow

5:30: cake!  

halfnhalf

SarahKate31:

Our party is at 2pm and I was thinking basically just hang out and eat, then do the cake around 3-3:30pm. We aren't opening presents at the party.

 This exactly.  

jcsumm0

march2008:

We have a pavilion reserved at a local park and it's for the whole day. I'm mailing out the invitations tomorrow and I still can't make up my mind on the exact start time. She usually takes 2 naps a day, so I'm hoping to work the party in between her naps as well. I'm leaning towards 12:30 pm for the start time since we're serving lunch and we'll just play it by ear as for when it ends.

I'd kind of like to do the cake at the end, too, b/c I know DD will get really messy. 

By the way - what is corn hole? 

Corn hole aka bean bag toss

march2008

jcsumm0:

march2008:

We have a pavilion reserved at a local park and it's for the whole day. I'm mailing out the invitations tomorrow and I still can't make up my mind on the exact start time. She usually takes 2 naps a day, so I'm hoping to work the party in between her naps as well. I'm leaning towards 12:30 pm for the start time since we're serving lunch and we'll just play it by ear as for when it ends.

I'd kind of like to do the cake at the end, too, b/c I know DD will get really messy. 

By the way - what is corn hole? 

Corn hole aka bean bag toss

Gotcha! I've never heard it called that before. 

Telly21182

Our families both always have long parties.  The party starts at 3:30 and we'll just hang out for awhile, start grilling at 4:30 and eat at 5:30.  Not sure about gifts yet, but probably start dessert and then have him open his gifts while people are eating?