1 Yr Old B-day Party

I'm planning my daughters 1st party as well for the end of the month. If you go to Giant, Weis, Superfresh and just about any grocery store they will give you a 1st birthday cake for free if you take your daughters birth certificate with you. i'm just going to make cookies, have pretzels, veggies and stuff that my daughter loves to eat. I only invited family and a few neighbors to our party. I decided not to do anything big since she won't remember it when she is older..

If there isn't a theme that you have in mind, lots of party places have things that are general for 1 year olds. Also check at Wal-Mart, Sam's, Weis, Giant, etc to find out where you can get free 1st bday cakes. I have twins that will be 2 in October and for their 1st bday party we did a football theme. I'm a huge Steelers fan and my husband is a huge Falcons fan so we had everyone wear jerseys, we put 1 of our boys in a Steelers jersey and one in a Falcons jersey, the cake was a football field with the Steelers on one side and the Falcons on the other (we got it at Giant and they gave us the mini cakes for the boys for free), we had Steelers and Falcons balloons, we had yellow, red, and black crepe paper, on the food table I had my sister-in-law make little pendants that said things like "pregame", "halftime", "after party" to put by the appetizers, main meal, and cake. Everything turned out great. I got little electronic football games and soft footballs for the kids (they were all $1 at the dollar store!). There are so many thigns you can do. We had about 30 people at the party though. Now I'm planning the 2 year party! Good luck with everything!

My daughter turns 1 on Sunday & we're planning her party as well. We are having a local sub shop do a sub tray and an antipasto - they also supply the salad dressing. Giant Eagle gives a free 1st cake too. We're keeping it simple as well, with the subs and salad, I'm just serving drinks and potato chips and calling it a day! Have a fun party, it's hard to believe they're one already! This was the fastest year of my life!

we have a larger family so all three of my boys had a rather large 1st birtdhay. I do know that what others have said re: free first birtday cakes from Giant and Weiss is true.. take advantage if you can. It is a great time & $ saver! I have always found that staples such as meat and cheese trays (weather it is diced with dipping sauce, or a sliced meat tray with hard rolls and mayo & mustard sides)veggie and fruit with dips, spinach dip with rye bread , chicken fingers (cold or hot) sliced cold pizza (not sure if Senapes or Longos is near you, but they make great cold pizza) and chips and pretzels are great for parties where you are not really doing a whole to-do. This is also great when you want the focus to be on your daughter and not on a lot of prep and clean up!
Good luck... and enjoy the huge number one!!

Some finger foods that have gone over well at parties I've been to are sandwich wraps with cold cuts or diced meats and a variety of toppings like dressings, cheeses and salsa (you can cut the "bread item" in half to make it smaller and more appetizer-like), meatballs in sweet and sour sauce, bruschetta, fruit kebobs, hot dogs in crescent rolls, cold cuts wrapped around small chunks of cheese, shrimp cocktail, tuna/chicken/ham salads on croissants.

One thing I would recommend to make it a memorable occassion is to take cues from your daughter. I've seen a few parents and family members get upset because the one-year-old didn't act like she was expected to. Your daughter may not want to open presents. She may need a nap in the middle of the party. She may not want to play in her cake. On the other hand, she could be a very gracious and entertaining guest of honor. Being flexible with your daughter will help keep the mood pleasant.
Enjoy your daughter's special day!

We got a notebook, and passed it around for everyone to write a note to our son in. Our party was just family and one pair of close friends, so everyone had something they wanted to say. It's a nice momento from his first year. If you're doing a themed party, you can usually find a notebook to match the theme.