Is It Ok to Register for Birthday Gifts? Also Looking for Planning Ideas...

I did not register for birthday gifts, although many of my friends have done it. On the one hand, it does give guests a good idea what to shop for. On the other, many people will have gift ideas you may not have thought of. My suggestion would be to register, but perhaps not mention the registry to those who you fear would think it's in bad taste.

The length of the party depends on what you're planning. Are parents invited? is it a large, family event or will everyone be dropping their children off? I would say 2-3 hours is the max. Less time if it's only small children.

I'm jealous-- I would LOVE to throw a fall themed birthday party. In October, you have so many fall activities to choose from. What about a pumpkin patch? Many of those offer party packages. Maybe your local park district has a field house in case of bad weather and then you could have activities such as "build your own scarecrow" or "decorate a pumpkin" or "make your own carmel apple" (these items would then serve as your party favors. You supply the pumpkins and paints or foam stickers for pumpkins or you could supply the scarecrow stuffing and ask guests to bring clothing for their own scarecrow, etc.)

Weather permitting, you could have your own pumpkin patch by purchasing a dozen or so and scattering them outside for each child to choose from.

I would check Oriental Trading.com for lots of reasonably priced party favors.

Brookfield Zoo is another interesting alternative, albeit a pricey one (about $35 per person).

I have made this suggestion to lots of Mamasource moms, but I have purchased several ceramic pumpkins from a site called ceramicscraze.com. The owner can make the pumpkin with any name carved into the mouth. It's a wonderful keepsake for many Halloweens to come. Depending on size, cost between $40-$80. Best of luck and enjoy this wonderful milestone.

This year, he is turning 2, we asked for no gifts. Instead we offered a way for them to give money towards his college fund or towards the purchase of family memberships to museums and zoos.
In the invitation we stressed that the best gift would be their presence :)

I've seen gift registering when it involves a special needs child. Because many people really dont know what to get the child. If its a common thing among your invitees then go for it. But if its not people might think your being rude or picky. Nowadays, very few people even buy toys..it's mostly just gift cards or money. Out of three years of throwing parties for twins. Little ones don't have a long enough attention span for games. I do costume theme parties. Kids love to dress up, but they're full of energy. I learned from my girls first b-day the kids need to run or jump. For the last two parties we have rented a jumping jack and it's been a hit everytime. These kids are literally in there all day. The jumping jack is enclosed with netting, so parents are able to eat and mingle, while their kids are jumping like maniacs. The funny thing is that it's great socially for kids. They all play together regardless of age. Time wise. We usually start between 2-3pm(after the girls naps) and people start to leave around 7-8pm. Usually family stays longer to help clean. Very important, plan the party after your daughter's nap. or you will have an extremely crabby kid. good luck

Hi A.,
I have a mom-owned invitation business located in Oak Lawn. I sell and make party invitations for any occasion. Do you need invitations? What type of favors are you looking for? You can email me at ____@____.com and I will gladly email you samples.
thanks
D.
Good Times Invitations

I have registries that I update on an ongoing basis for my son on Amazon.com and eBeanstalk.com...there are surely other toy shops online that do this, but those are 2 I've found that I like...every time I hear of a book that he might like or a certain toy, I add it to the list. I can always take stuff off the list too. But this is fabulous for many reasons. Firstly, its just nice to have an ongoing list for your own organization. Then, I'm sorta picky about what comes into our house as we get a lot of handmedowns and do not have a lot of space, so I'm just really particular about having a small amount of sized-right, developmentally enriching toys that work a range of skills so I don't have a ton of duplicates of one type of thing (for example, my kid has one set of blocks. He simply does not need additonal blocks, so I don't want any more block sets coming in!). For holidays and birthdays, EVERYONE asks "what's on his list" anyway, so its nice to have an easy place to refer people. I also always indicate that its just suggestions/ideas, and many items from Amazon can also be found at Target or ToysRUs...oh, I also really only promoted that these registries are available when people asked me directly, I didn't put it on the invites or anything.
I will say that after THE ENORMOUS HAUL OF TOYS from son's 3 y.o. party, in the future, we will FOR SURE do smaller parties/ask for no gifts. There was just way too much STUFF. I recenty heard of a friend who did an animal shelter party for her 7 year old. They contacted a local animal shelter to find out what they needed, then asked the guests to contribute in lieu of gifts to the birthday girl, which I think is a really lovely way for little people to become great givers!

I have never known anyone to register for gifts, but I have had people include a birthday wish list and clothing size in the invitation. Personally, I like that. It helps me know what the child wears and what their interests are. It would save me a lot of phone time if I did that with my family. As for length of the party, if you are not having it at home most parties last 2-3 hours. If it is at home it could go all night if you want. Nice thing is you can put the birthday girl down for bed.
Happy first birthday to your little girl!