Advice on Party Planning

My advice is to keep everyone busy. Nothing falls flatter in a party than boring time. Even with the baby; have games for adults and children like charades and have separate tables for things like coloring and painting for the kids and card or board games for the adults. The same advice holds true for the 16 year old, but you have had so much great advice already I will just add-KEEP THEM BUSY!! Good luck to you.

What about a picnic theme? You can bar-b-que and do some salads. Get bubbles for the younger kids, water balloon toss for the older kids and chalk. Borrow tables and chairs and get plastic table clothes in either all different colors or same to tie them together.

As far as food, if you don't have a membership to Costco or Sam's, GFS is another option. Very inexpensive and you don't need a membership. Plus, the food is outstanding and comes in large sizes.

Bring some music outside and have fun!

Hi M.,
I recommend that you do the christening first since it was a conflict with time and then possible have the birthday party right after the christening that way the family could still attend the brithday celebration. OR Still have the christening first and then have both kids birthday celebration together I KNOW THAT THE 15 YR OLD WOULD NOT LIKE THIS IDEA but it can work. Since you have girls. Use the princess theme you could pull it off and allow the little kids to make their own TIARAs & wands.

If you do that then one cake & one mess at one time.

Hi M.--

I own a party entertainment company and we have inflatables(if you dont know what those are they are the bounce houses that kids jump in or on depending on the jump), DJ's, airbrush face painting, cotton candy machines, popcorn machines, and sno-cone machines, and other things if any of that interests you. My fiance has been a DJ for 15 years and has an excellent reputation with kids of all ages. If that is something you would be interested in he would be able to control the kids for the whole party with games and contests and things like that.

My company is called Skye Jumps I have an ad on here but here is my number if you want some more information ....

###-###-####

Good Luck,

J.

Dana had the right ideas, keep it small. I like her Sweet 16 idea, to add to that you can make candy suckers or pieces. You can get all different kinds of molds and you get chocolate candy melts, they come in all different colors. You can get them at Party City, or Wilton. You can either make ahead of time or have th girls make them. It quick easy and pretty cheap.
As for the 1yr old, I would do something small, they do even know what going on to remember it. Finger foods is always good. My mom made these sandwiches for my daughters 1st bday and it was a hit. You take a loaf a bread from a bakery,uncut,you cut the crust off all over then cut the bread in 3 setions length wise. Make egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, ham salad ( which ever one you like) spread it on a layer cover with bread spread another layer and top with the top piece of bread. Then take cream cheese soften real good,whip it a mixer,if its still to hard to spread add a little milk, it has to be real smooth adn soft. Then you take the cream cheese and cover the whole loaf of bread ans slice. I would make it the day before so it sets and its easier to cut. I hope this all make sense, other contact me.

As for the one year olds party, it is mainly a family celebration with decorations that represent her favorite character. She won't remember it and will just be happy to play and eat cake. I by no means mean to simplifiy a one year old birthday party I'm just saying that you can really begin to plan for when she makes two. I have three little ones under 4 so I have done this three times and each time it went over great. Just invite all the family and friends you want and enjoy!

For the 16yr old maybe do something intimate with just her closest friends. Maybe they can all come over and pamper themselves. Provide little appetizers (see Kraft's website for ideas) and maybe get them some pink champagne (sprite with red food coloring) and put it in those glasses you most likely received when you were married that may not be in use. I hope this helps and have a great time. I have all boys so I wish this were me. Take care!

Both my boy's Christening parties were planned by Heather at www.lifescelebrationsinc.com. She is fabulous and kept to the exact budget we wanted. Both parties were held at our home and we had different caterers, both were great. I don't remember their names beacuse Heather had a plethora to choose from based on food type, quality and price. I was able to relax at the party becuase she had everything under control and it was awesome!
I recommend her for every type of party.
Good Luck!

When I was 16, I remember not wanting a big party either. I would have her invite a few friends over and get a good cake. My favorite was always Atomic cakes (Orland Bakery and Creative Cakes have delicious cakes). Have her open presents, then maybe see if they want to go to a movie or be driven to the mall. I think that would be the ideal b-day at that age. Also easy and inexpensive :)

Party planning is my forte!

For your 16-year old daughter, I recommend having a simple "Sweet 16" celebration. Invite only her friends and/or family, and ask everyone to bring their favorite treat for the "sweet" table. Or you can prepare or buy your daughter's favorite sweets. Have the party at a time in between meals, so that the "sweets" will suffice as the only food provided, perhaps from 2-4 pm. This is not only easy, but also inexpensive if you have everyone bring a "sweet" treat.

As for the one year old's party, I would just invite family and friends for a small gathering, and serve "finger foods" in honor of your little one. You can do little quiches, crackers with cheese, tiny sandwiches, etc.

Good luck and have fun!

For the christening, I would have something simple at the house--if you don't cook, make a couple of salads, a big pan of mostaccioli (several good jarred marinara sauces nowadays--I like Rao's which is much better than Prego), then you can order roasted & fried chicken from Jewel and ask a few close family members to bring a dessert.

As for the Sweet-16 party, take your cues from her. She might be happy with a small get-together with her friends--going to the movies & dinner or even just a sleepover which is as easy as renting movies, pizza and cookies. If you don't mind the mess, you can buy the ingredients for both and have the girls make it all.

Good luck!

For your youngest turning one how about a theme with everything round. You can get round invites, they can play simple games like rolling a ball or ring toss, or blowing bubbles (which are round). Kids that age also like playing with those round stacking rings. You can hang circular paper lanterns for decorations.

For the 16 year old you can always do a spa theme party for her and some girlfriends. They can give each other facials, manicures and pedicures. They usually have little manicure kits and nail polish at the dollar store. And for a spa theme you can always stick to a lite menu like sandwiches, fruit, cookies and maybe some sparkling water.

Just some simple ideas that are inexpensive.

I can help with any party invitations you may need for all your upcoming parties. I have a mom owned business located in Oak Lawn called Good Times Invitations. I design my own invitations and I also sell invitations from other fabulous designers. Let me know if I can help. I do travel so I can bring samples to you or mail them to you if needed. I have some really awesome invites for sweet sixteen!!

Thank you
D.
Good Times Invitations

For your 15 year old.........
Why don't you have her pick a few of her closest friends (3 or 4) and then take them into Chicago for the day and do something special that you normally wouldn't do.
Try window shopping on the Mag mile followed by lunch somewhere.
Or, you could look into one of the dinner/brunch cruises that leave from Navy Pier and have it just be your family.
Either option makes her day special and that you are putting her first even though the budget is tight and little sister's party was a week before.

With the celebration in June you should have beautiful weather so bring the party outside. The least expensive way I think is to make the food yourself, it can be a lot of work but budget wise you can't beat it. I would spend the money on the cake and drinks. If there are other children have a few simple games planned for them to play. For your older daughter maybe during the day have the relatives over for a BBQ and in the evening have a few of her good friends over for a "spa" party and let them stay over night. Hope everything works out the way you want and have a good time.

HI! i feel your frustation I am a divorced mother of 4 daughters ages 7, 6, 5, and 4. When I christened my baby i wanted something special so everyone could remember the day so what i did was take a picture of her in her christening outfit printed out some copies and put them in cute little frames. You can buy frames already made or make them more personal n make em yourself ( I found some really cute ones at a dollar store not far from my neighborhood). As for your 15 yr old if she's gonna have a party with some friends, a great idea that i used for my younger sister who just turned 15 last summer, is to get some disposable cameras just a few depending on the size of the crowd n leave layin around the party this way at the end of the night she has pictures of EVERYBODY!!!!! Of coarse to avoid any confusion let your guest know ahead of time that the cameras stay I had put a decorated box by the door and labeled it CAMERAS.You know how it is when you have a party the complications of hosting and mingling you miss out on a lot..so you develop the pictures n she can make a little group project making a photo album of her sweet sixteen sit back look through it and enjoy..As far as food goes dont plan a complicated menu if its nice have a buffet bar-b-que some side dishes a few choice meats and you got your self one fun easy cheap party!!!!

Can't say enough for Family Fun magazine!!! You can look them up online and they have such great ideas that even your older child could find somthing there that is fun. I also am a clown and I used to dress up as characters for birthday parties. My biggest reccomendation for the little one is don't overdo it.So many times parents go all out for a first and all it does is end up making a fussy child who cries through it and or gets too fussy near the end and then everyone is frustrated. Hope you have alot of fun and memories.

www.birthdaypartyideas.com Best party site I've found. Ideas range from cheap to outrageous, but most are inexpensive and all are from real people, not Martha Stewarts!

Have fun!

I am having my daughters christening this weekend and I chose to order little personalized prayer cards for her. They were very inexpensive and I just ordered them online. It is a nice rememberance of the event. Plus, it has a beautiful prayer on the back that your guests can go back to and pray for your child at any time.