Daughter's 1St Birthday Party

At this age they will have more fun just playing with the toys, your bouncy balls, things like that. They are too young for the organized activities that are done at typical birthday parties -- at this point the party is more for the adults than the children!! And I don't know if planning for more than an hour or so for the whole thing will work out: at this age that is a very very long time!

Have fun!!! and don't expect too much -- she is still only a baby, and won't really be ready for the social graces of being the birthday girl for another year or two.

If you invite people to come over during lunch time, you need to feed them--(platters are easiest for a large group- the Publix ones are expensive- you can just get empty trays at the party store and buy lunch meat and make your own trays-- then buy rolls or bread and let people make their own sandwiches).... Another thing, I know people have varying views on this, but I have a 10 year old, a 9 year old, and a 2 year old-- we have thrown a party for each birthday plus attended tons and tons of parties over the years-- I don't care what anyone else says or how old the child is, it is RUDE if you do not open the presents at the party. People take time to personally chose and wrap a present for your child and the least the parents can do is open them in front of the guests and thank them in person. It's not even important for your daughter to open them at her age, but as the parent you should open them in front of your guests. It drives me up a wall when I go to a party and they don't open the presents!!

First of all, you're right, this party is more for you than it is for her. She may not even like haivng all those people and especially other kids there to play with her new toys, so make sure you're aware of her social limits. Second, don't stress yourself out planning activities for kids that young. they aren't really ready to play "together" but more along side one another, so free play will be your best bet. As for food, since it is a midday party, you should provide lunch. that doesn't mean anything huge, maybe the sandwich rings from Publix or a "make your own mini sandwich" station. Keep it simple so you can enjoy the celebration of your little princess. Hope you have a great party!

Keep it simple - you don't want to overwhelm her. Comments you received cover most of what I would offer.

One item I didn't see - please don't invite the non-parents at a time when you'll be putting your child down for a nap. Maybe that wasn't what you planned but it sounded like she would be up to play with friends and then go down for her nap when the second group arrived. My husband and I didn't have kids until 11 years after we married so we went to lots of parties for our friends children. We love our friends kids like an aunt and uncle and would have been disappointed if we went to her 1st birthday party and didn't see her. We always loved to watch them play and enjoy their day.