When to Cut the Cake

Always do cake BEFORE the presents...everyone leaves after the presents are opened. Games, cake, presents! :)

Almost all the parties we attend serve cake towards the end of the party. Cake gets pretty messy, so the less they move around afterwards, the easier the clean-up.

Very few parties include gift-opening these days. However, 5-year-olds are probably old enough to handle without jealousy, fighting over toys, etc.

who says they don't open presents at parties? every party i've ever attended has! please do so and let the child show what great gifts she got.

First off, just a suggestion but 4:30 -7:00 is a pretty long party. Honestly, I think 1.5 to 2 hours is a great time frame for a kids birthday. Other than that, I would let them play and eat, then cut the cake and open preesents.

The cake should be the last thing. The kids are a mess and you dont want cakey kids runnin around.

I usually Serve the cake last and while every one is sitting down eating we open gifts... saves a little time if you are pressed. Plus usually people stay for cake so if you do it last they won't leave early. :0)

Have fun!

It is a tough decision, but we did cake and then presents at my sons party. That way the older guests (parents) could clean them up and then enjoy cake and conversation while the kiddos watch in amazement as the presents are opened. But if you are worried about the mess, make it an outdoor party. But play games before the cake, you don't want them running around on a full cake and icecream belly. You don't want anyone getting sick! It will all be fine no matter what you do. have fun!

I would suggest cutting after play time. That's just the way we've always done it. We eat first, then presents and cake for desert.
That's always worked great at our parties. In fact, I just went to my nephews today and my sister did it the same way.

Have a good time at her party!