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1st birthday party woes

JennyCupcakes01JennyCupcakes01 member
in Babies: 9 - 12 Months
To start, I joined The Bump pretty much as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I posted here and there but never made personal connections like some of the other members have. So here I am, total stranger, with a random rant. I just HAVE to get my frustrations out.

WHY THE FUCK IS A 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY SO DAMN DIFFICULT TO PLAN??

Theme is already figured out. Food/Cake situation already figured out. We even have after party plans at our apartment figured out. But as far as venues go, I'm having the MOST difficult time trying to plan accordingly. Mostly because my SO has a stick up his ass. The ONE place I found at a reasonable rental price ($45 per hour for 4 hours) that also provides ten 6 ft. tables, 100 folding chairs, and a kitchen is now off the table because my SO can't bring his PA system. We are allowed to bring a small radio or MP3 player (which we DO have and has pretty good sound quality), but we just can't have "amplified" sound, which is fair because we're renting a party room at a local park which is near residential areas.

So now I've been asked to look for other places. Our son's birthday party is being held on November 29th and I'm running out of time and options.


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Re: 1st birthday party woes

  • DesignermommaDesignermomma member
    Sounds like a large first birthday party. Maybe try to scale down a little. Why is music needed at all? We had a cute fun theme and kept it small to just family at our house. The baby got to enjoy his presents and take naps when he needed. I've been to a large first birthday that was outside. It was a fun circus theme with lots of activities but with so many things going on and that many people you couldn't have heard music if there was any. Keep it simple. This party is more for you than the baby. The baby doesn't know what's going on and might be scared of noises and crowds.
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  • JennyCupcakes01JennyCupcakes01 member
    Designermomma said:
    Sounds like a large first birthday party. Maybe try to scale down a little. Why is music needed at all? We had a cute fun theme and kept it small to just family at our house. The baby got to enjoy his presents and take naps when he needed. I've been to a large first birthday that was outside. It was a fun circus theme with lots of activities but with so many things going on and that many people you couldn't have heard music if there was any. Keep it simple. This party is more for you than the baby. The baby doesn't know what's going on and might be scared of noises and crowds.
    Well we ended up booking the room and will bring our little radio with an ipod plug-in. 
    We were trying to go for a low key party but with both of our large families, it doesn't seem to be happening! LO has definitely freaked out before in louder settings so I'm hoping we can keep it somewhat quiet for his sake. 
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  • rtandhenrtandhen member
    Planning now for my son 1st birthday I didn't even think about music
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  • GillianB32GillianB32 member
    TBH I am not sure the first birthday party has to be that complex. I second the advice about scaling down.
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  • SaltyDonutSaltyDonut member
    I'm in the middle of planning DS first party too... and it's HELL!! I'm in NYC and the absurdity of room rental prices drive me to drink many nights.
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  • ggatlantaggatlanta member
    An after party planned at your apartment, huh? Weird. First birthdays aren't really meant to have "after parties".

    I do not get the whole extravagant first birthday thing. Or having party themes in general before the child is old enough to say, "Frozen party please?!" It just seems like a way to show off who can spend the most money / time on something that's not really that important.

    Don't get me wrong, a first birthday is a big milestone. But having matchy-matchy decor doesn't add anything to the importance. Plus, every one of these Huge Rented Hall parties I've ever been to ends with the baby crying miserably bc he's overwhelmed and has no place to nap. Then the mom's frustrated with the poor innocent baby bc he ruined the party with his normal and totally expected baby behavior.

    Just have a dozen friends over for cake and ice cream and save your $300 towards baby's college. Unless you are rolling in it - which it does not sound like you are - I think it's pretty silly to spend money this way. (Well, I think it's silly if you're rich too, but at least then the big expensive party doesn't come out of baby's college fund.)
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  • JennyCupcakes01JennyCupcakes01 member
    Funny, I forgot all about this! 

    Birthday came and went. The more I realized how much work we were putting into the party, the more I tried to convince SO that we needed to chill out. He of course didn't see it that way at all so we both ended up staying up until 4am the night before the party prepping. All went well though and we had a great time.

    We still had our little "after party" at our house. (It was like 4 friends. I'd hardly call it a "party")
    I'm sure it's "unheard of" to have an after party for a baby, but we did it because we wanted to and because we could :)
    AND our friends that did come by offered to help clean up and put stuff away, so that was nice. 
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  • PrimRoseMamaPrimRoseMama member
    Um, I really think you way overdid & overthought this. Cake & punch/beverage for a one year old is not rocket science. :|


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  • mommynbrentplus1mommynbrentplus1 member
    Gosh you ladies can be rude, if you dont agree with someone just move to the next discussion..Didnt you ever get taught if you dont have anything nice to say them say nothing at all!
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  • PrimRoseMamaPrimRoseMama member
    mommynbrentplus1 said:

    Gosh you ladies can be rude, if you dont agree with someone just move to the next discussion..Didnt you ever get taught if you dont have anything nice to say them say nothing at all!

    So, please explain how anything you said is "anything nice"? You called us rude & didn't even give helpful advice to the OP. That's not only in poor taste, but it's also against your own rules that you want us to follow?

    Hmmm in any other situation one might be pressed to look up the word "hypocrite" in our dictionary. :-??


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  • Ns690691Ns690691 member
    Um, I think this is hilarious and so are you. I'm in the same boat planning except it's a little easier because my baby was born in June so the party will be at our house in the backyard. :-) I understand it seems silly to some people to spend so much money and time on a party (especially if you don't have it to spend) but to be honest I look at the party as a celebration for us too (the parents who survived our first year!). And there are a ton of DIY touches that save money along the way!
    Also, I'm inviting as many people as I want. We have large families and tons of friends who want to be a part of it. If baby wants to nap, he can nap! It's his party, after all!

    In conclusion, good for you! Glad the party went well. And I hope you kept a few shreds of sanity ;-)
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