My Daughter's First Birthday

I agree w/ what everyone said the 1st birthday is for the PARENTS. They don't have a clue....and for sure won't remember.

You can still make it special. If you're on a budget Wal-Mart gives free individual cakes for kids 1st birthday if you buy at least a small basic cake from them...that's if you can't bake one (I'm terrible)!

Invite a few close relatives if you want more people there than just your immediate family. Take some pictures and just hang out after your child opens their presents. There is no need for a huge ta-doo at one unless YOU are wanting it!

K. - We wanted to celebrate with our family, so we invited family only and set up a taco bar to feed everyone (easy.) My daughter's birthday is in September, so the weather was still nice. We had her party at a park shelter house (free), plus there's a play ground for the kids to play (free). She had her own little cake and cupcakes for everyone else (pink and green ladybug theme). I'm not a big spender on decorations, I don't like to buy a lot of stuff that ends up in the trash. I decorated the cake table only, and Ava wore a little paper crown. Of course providing food for everyone is not necessary, just have the party at a time other than meal time. We requested no gifts on the invitation and most people complied. We have a small house and don't have room for a million toys. Plus a one year old usually isn't too interested in opening gifts and mom or dad ends up opening them instead (which makes me uncomfortable). I'm sure you'll get many responses and can compile some ideas. Have fun and Happy Birthday to your little one!

I had a party at home with family and friends for my daughter's first with pizza and cake. I made a special small cake just for her so she could dive in and I could get those adorable pics with her joyful face all covered in gooey icing. As long as you make the atmosphere colorful with lots of attention on her and a BIG GOOEY CAKE, you can't go wrong.

For my son's 1st birthday we did a pirate theme. We only invited a handful of people and made cupcakes. We put him in a pirate shirt and bought some cheap pirate decorations. On the cupcakes we had 2 sword sticks stuck in them. Very cheap but cute.

I've always kept first bdays lowkey. A personal cupcake is good for the lil one to tear into. Balloons are nice; just be sure to keep the baby away from them in case they pop. There's no need to spend a fortune for a celebration at that age; too much can freak a kid out. Just keep your camera handy for that cake-smeared face! You can put together a small scrapbook, and give it as a bday present when the one-yr-old turns 16, or some other milestone age.

J.

My Son just had his 1st birthday 12/29 I made him a cake Using two tart pans and stacked them like a big cake and used the rest of the cake mix to make another normal sized cake. I also got a few ballons and called it a day. One of my friends sent him a first birthday outfit including crown and bib, I have seen them at Party City resonably priced. Since his birthday is so close to christmas we didn't have anyone over and we got him just a few small gifts. We made sure to take lots of pictures because after all he is not going to remember when he is older. The pictures are how he is going to look back at his first birthday.

my son will be 2 on the 13th of January.....but for his 1st birthday i just went to Pizza Hut and got a deal on pizza and had it in a "back room". Not sure if you are in springfield, but it was great, not a whole lot of clean up or decorating and not too expensive to feed everyone pizza and i brought cupcakes....get them at wal-mart they made the #1 and it's portion control and easy to clean, no knife for plates really needed. Good luck.

since i do cakes (character cakes) im gonna make my dd one for her 1st bday to tear into and have a few of our friends over adn thats about it. i figured let her have at half of the cake and the rest be for guests and we'll cookout or something

My son will be celebrating his first b-day on 1/27 all me and hubby are doing are having a few close friends, (grammys flying in from mass ) have cake n icecream, put up a few decorations. Its something they wont remember but my thing is, ya gotta do something take lots of pics so they wont think we didnt care, ya gotta do something.

Happy b-day

G.

We've done stay-at-home birthday parties with pizza and it has been, easy, fun and inexpensive. The kids weren't over stressed or tired from traveling to and from the party location, we didn't have to pack half the house to take with us and pizza with simple decorations are cheap. I like to do a cupcake cake so I don't have to mess with cake cutting. Keep it simple, I say!

Happy Birthday!!

Just a small family gathering with cupcakes. When our daughter turned a year old, we had a cookout at Krug park since her birthday's in June. I made a cake and cupcakes just for her, to go along with hamburgers, hotdogs and chips. We had my in-laws and a few friends nothing fancy.

make a cake, buy a present, take a picture! remember that your daughter will NOT remember this. making this a huge deal involving lots of people and expense is more for the parents than the child.

A family get together, a pretty cake all her own and a diaper and let her have fun! Lot's of pictures since the first birthday they don't remember very well, but the pictures are great!

L.

For my now, 2 year old, I baked a cake, bought some balloons (only because she loves them) and invited immediate family only. Even for her 2nd birthday, there was a few of her own age kids, but mainly just family. We spent maybe $30 on everything, and I even bought the cake. The simplest things sometimes make it better.

The best advice I ever got is to have small family parties at the park for the first few years and not throw big expensive parties until they ask for one. If you start off having the expensive parties up front - they'll come to expect it every year.

For our daughters first birthday we invited a few close friends and family, cooked a meal for them and splurged a little on the cake. It was great and not too overwhelming for her.

Hope this helps!

With my first daughter we had a small party at home. I knew a lot of people with kids around that age. There was about 6 kids and i set out a kiddie buffet on the coffee table. It was still cheap but kinda a mess. So for my second daughter we went to a buffet. Just immediate family and everyone payed for themselves. It was great because her favorite thing to do was eat. LOL. Plus I didnt have to do much of the clean up, although I did my part as well as tipping the waitress well.

order pizzas, and make a little cake for the one year old. your baby will not even remember, but we all know we love those first birthday pictures with cake smears on the face. any decorating that you do would be for the grown-ups, i think that is missing the point. i think you should invite your friends and family over to your clean house, order pizza or make your own, set out some kool-aid or sodas, tie a balloon to the baby's highchair and bake a little personal cake for her to devour. if you want more and can't afford it..delegate those things to the other family members that want to attend.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!! I'm sorry to say that I don't agree with ya'll who think you shouldn't make it a big deal! I agree with Gale, don't make it look in the pics like you really didn't care. You can so do a good party for cheap. They only have one very first birthday, right!? So go all out.
Girl I would definately shop the dollar stores. They have a lot of good deals. That's where I bought the majority of party items for my son's first b-day. Even if you do have to buy decor at wal-mart or factory card outlet accent with the plain colored plates, napkins, balloons, cups, etc. from the dollar shops (Deals by toysrus, Dollar Shop on 7th St., Dollar Tree) Make it even cheaper by having the party around 2 when you don't have to provide lunch. Just cake and ice cream and maybe finger foods if you really wanted.