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OMG...This was a horrible idea (party nightmare)
I just realized (yes, just now) that we may have, including babies/children, between 60-80 people at Charlie's party next month. At our house. I am scared to death that we won't have enough room to put everyone. Not to mention the logistics of grilling burgers and hot dogs for that many people. And baking lots of cupcakes. Kill me now. Does anyone have some survival tips to help me best manage space, crowd control and feeding? Oy. Next year I think we'll be having 2 parties, one family (about 3 dozen of this number is family) and one friends. And probably have them somewhere else.
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Re: OMG...This was a horrible idea (party nightmare)
I would change it to an open house type thing.... have finger foods and cupcakes around but don't have a structured party where everyone comes at once...
If you can't do that, I would get big sandwich platters from somewhere and skip grilling.
So is 60-80 the maximum or is that the number you actually expect to come? With Jillian's first birthday, I think we sent out about 30 invites so our maximum was within that range. We had probably 40ish people show. For Hayden's first we sent a few less invites and got about 30ish people. People are busy and have conflicts especially in the summertime.
I have a keep it simple philosophy with birthday parties for my girls. I don't do themes. I don't bake. I plan afternoon parties so people don't expect a meal. We have usually done some appetizers and ordered a cake from Costco (or for Hayden's party we used the Trophy Groupon.) I have a housecleaner come and clean a day or two before the party. I clear the clutter and move unnecessary furnishings and large baby gear out of the main living space to keep rooms more open. And if it is nice out, I encourage people to use our deck and outdoor space. I know that sometimes moms like to get in a competition about who throws the cutest parties, but honestly I just don't care about that. I want to have fun at my kids' parties, so I make it as easy on myself as possible.
Jen - Mom to Jillian (10/2008) and Hayden (4/2010)
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This and if you can designate a friend or family member or find someone who can be your go to person to refill food, napkins, check for soap and TP in the bathrooms etc. You are not going to enjoy this party at all if you are running around the whole time doing that stuff and not being with your child or to talking to guests. You will also not get any photos if you plan to take them yourself. If you want anything good, hire someone to do it or designate someone a family or friend to take photos. I think I got carried away on DSs first birthday and learned from there to keep them as small as possible. Just do what you can to eliminate YOU having to do all the work. GL!
All of this, especially the bolded part. You will get through this party and then realized that this is more fun in theory than it is in reality. We had 50-60 people at Max's party and I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. I only made the treats (cupcakes and cookies). I bought a meat and cheese plate at Costco, and that plus chips and a veggie/fruit platter was the food. There was no way I was going to attempt to cook on top of having that many people.
I think you should ditch the grilling idea! It is a lot of work to cook for an army!
The only Easter Bunny I can get behind.
Maxwell Joseph 4/09 Lucy Violet 10/12
ok so probably too late to change the structure of the party, as you've probably already sent invites out with a time on them, right?
So let's focus on logistics - rent a grill from a party rental place ($50) if you're worried about keeping up with the grill - that way you could grill like 25 burgers at once.
Set up 2 tables with food for a buffet line - split the food (same food on both tables) so that the line doesn't get too backed up. Assign a family member, or even a niece/nephew/neighbor kid to be in charge of keeping everything refreshed.
Make cupcakes 2 days ahead of time & just seal them well, they'll keep fine until party day. Do anything else you can ahead of time.
Good luck!!
I agree with others, definitely try to designate someone to take pictures, keep the food as simple as possible, and hopefully the weather will cooperate for people to be outside so everyone's not in your house. Since a big portion of your guests are family, put them to work on specific jobs: one person keeps drinks coolers stocked, one person checks the bathroom, etc.
Good luck!
I just thought I would add to this that for Cruz's party which is always fairly large I have found a few easy tips. Hot dogs in a crock pot and just set up a hot dog bar so everyone can help themselves. A second crock pot of mac and cheese (almost every kid will eat this) a fruit salad and chips and salsa. This is about what I will serve this year for Cruz's party. Ours will also be done open house style so people can drop in and out but cake will be done around 4:30. The party is from 1:30-5:30 because we have a bouncy house from 12-6. Put someone on picture taking duty too : ) I would also avoid opening presents (takes way too long and without a doubt the other kids will want to play with all the toys)
I must tell you I've been relieved to get a few rsvp's that some people won't make it because while we all know its possible to cram a ton of people in our house (amy's shower) its not the most fun in the world to clean up! I'm praying for sunny weather!
I just had this size of a party last Saturday. My tips:
Make it an open house.
Skip grilling and do finger foods or prepare stuff ahead of time and use warmers for everything hot.
Get the kiddos to play outside.
Use beverage jars so you aren't pouring people drinks - they can help themselves. (I have three 3 gallon ones you are welcome to borrow).
Order cupcakes - don't make them.
Relax! I worked on one little thing each night in the 7 days leading up to the party.
And.. good luck!
Edit: Grammar
Thanks for all the feedback. Invites are out, but we're going to let people know to drop in/out as they please. We will schedule a time for the cake smash, though (the party is 3:30-6:30 and we'll prob do the smash at 5 or 5:30.) I realistically expect 60ish people based on current Facebook STD responses/family who I know will come), but it may be more. Like I said, I have a biiiig family (all but DH's parents and sister are my side) and we have a lot of friends in our baby group that have become close.
Our grill is enormous so we can definitely grill a ton of burgers/dogs at once. I will talk to DH but my hunch is he won't mind grilling. We may ask, when people RSVP, to let us know burgers or dogs so we can get the right amounts of food. Possibly a bit tacky but oh well. I think wonderful Bumpie friend and pro photog J-lu will probably be snapping away with her camera, so that will hopefully be covered.
We have a fenced yard (not huge, but decent) with a pergola that will be covered with a tarp in case of rain, and a 10'x10' pop up canopy (and may be able to borrow 1 or 2 more if need be.) Our house is pretty big although some of it will be off limits (master and guest bedroom, pet room) and to help even out the bathroom situation (powder downstairs and guest upstairs) I'll assign the master bath to our immediate family members. I will definitely assign tasks to some of my family, my mom, MIL, sis, SIL and aunts should all be good for some labor. Probably my dad can help grill and FIL can probably do something. I ordered cookies off Etsy and plan to bake simple cupcakes for everyone plus a smash cake for C. Our cleaning lady is coming 8 days before (the normal scheduled day) so we'll just have spot tidying/vacuuming to do before the party itself. My parents and sister will probably spend the day before here helping bake/cook/etc. and I will see if the ILs can come over early party day to help with set up.
I am mostly worried about space/seating, we may have some people bring over folding chairs or just spread out blankets on the lawn. There is also a tiny neighborhood park less than a block away, so I suppose some of the "bigger" kids might go play there for a bit too.
Thanks for all the advice from the been there done that crowd. We'll get through this...I think.
Since it's not a formal White House affair, I thought her friends and family might be understanding enough to be able to call them and say "hey, we are going to have a lot of people, so we're changing it to more of an open house between 1 and 5... so drop by any time..." Simple enough.
LOL, this exactly. Not that I'm glad they won't be there, but it's less space taken up anyway.
Also, we aren't doing presents at all, we are collecting donations for Eastside Baby Corner instead, so we'll just have an area for donation collection in the front hall. And I think we'll just do ice chests full of pop and water for self-serve.
What are you talking about? Of course it's a seated 10 course dinner. ;P
We won't change the time but I have no problem letting them know it's open house style.
I would really rethink grilling. Your DH will be at the grill the entire time and will miss the party.
also, you might want to do a cake smash the day before if you want good pictures. All of those people around might be hard to get her to let loose and not be reacting to everyone else instead of just enjoying her cake.
I would not worry about chairs/seating... people can hang out, walk around, sit on the floor/grass, etc... another reason to keep the foods easy. I would try to avoid anything that requires utensils (other than cake of course).
I did the same thing for G's 1st birthday - a huge party (50+ people at our small house - basically everyone we knew and they ALL came). The weather cooperated in mid-September - thank gawd or we would have been screwed! It went amazingly well but yeah, that was a one-time thing. This year the party is NOT at our house!
I had a HUGE veggie tray, fruit tray, cheese & crackers, beer & soda buckets, kiddie snacks (monkey munch) and we ordered 10 pizzas from our local fave pizzeria. DH picked them up 1 hour into the party. Cheating, yes. But was perfect!
I also set up play "stations". Moved extra livingroom furniture into closed bedroom and set out all the good toys in the middle of the l.room and moved couches chairs to form a barricaded pit of sorts. Also his bedroom was another play area.
Set up a kiddie pool full of balls in the backyard - this was such a HUGE hit. It stayed up for months after too! The front yard was more of a "kid-free" zone for those that needed a break!
Asked people to please bring a camping chairs just in case.
Regrets...we got photos, but no video (totally spaced it).
Kudos to you for taking donations. We also asked for donations for Westside Baby. We filled two huge buckets and I have photos of Grady making the delivery. So proud. And he STILL ended up with a handful of toys for those that couldn't resist - so manageable instead of insane overload = perfect!
Yeah I wasn't directing that at you. I was more just saying - ok so you can't change it to an open house, right? Meaning that would be my 1st piece of advice. But beyond that, I went on for anything else she could do . I didn't notice it was a month away, I misread & thought it was 1 week away. Not trying to diss your advice at all! I agreed with it!
Be sure to do as much before hand as possible. DH would't forego the grill either, so I understand that. For the 4th this year, my mom used my large chafing dish and put the hots and hams in that to keep warm that way they could keep on a grillin!
Cupcakes do not need to be in the fridge, so I would do them 2 days prior and just cover them in, keep them in a box or buy some plastic cupcake containers at your local grocery store to keep them in. I'd be happy to come help you frost them. I can whip them out in 10 minutes.
I find it helpful to have a master list of everything and to cross it off as I put it out. Put the serving trays/dishes out so you know what space you have and then put a sticky note of what is going to go in it. I have a TON of serving stands if you need to borrow any. 2, 3 and 4 tier.
Aw, thank you for the offer L! I think between me, my mom and sister we should probably be able to get them done fairly easily. A checklist is a great idea, I will definitely do that. Same with the serving dishes. I will see what we have and figure out the logistics. I might need to borrow a stand or two and I will let you know. Thanks a ton!
Oh, and DH is happy to grill because it means he has to talk to people less. He is semi-antisocial.
If you put the cupcakes in the freezer as soon as they are mostly cool, sealed of course, they'll hold in the moister more. My neighbor growing up did wedding cakes as a side thing and she made my wedding cake a week before and froze the layers. It was amazing. I'd pull them out either Friday night or early Saturday to thaw out a little.
I totally understand the stress of having so many people and feeling like you don't have enough space. It rained on Emma's birthday and if anymore people had shown up, we would have been SUPER cramped inside. I like the idea of making it more like an open house style party. Good luck!
I second these: My DH said never again will he grill. We always do a day time party for kids and our friends/favorites stay for grilling and still with that many people he has to start grilling an hour before we eat and he misses all the food. He gets stuck outside the entire time.
And we always do a "family only" celebration with a nice cake the day before the party so he's more relaxed and has more fun.
This is seriously an excellent idea, TIff!