My daughter's 1st bday is in two weeks, and my husband and I are trying to figure out what to do as a favor. I really couldn't care less, because I feel that they are wasteful and usually crappy. But his family was actually hurt that we didn't have any for her baptism. Our preliminary guest list is 125-150 people. Did I mention he has a huge family?
My suggestion was personalized hard plastic cups, (saying something like, thanks for coming to my bday party) because they would be used for everyone's drinks at the party, cutting down on can/bottle waste, and then people can take them home and reuse them.
My husband wants to make each family a DVD compilation of photos of her 1st year. I think this would be 1-expensive, 2-time-consuming to try to get done in 2 weeks, and 3-a little disappointing, because people would have to wait til they get home to see what it actually is. I also think only half the people would ever watch it, and even then, only once.
Thoughts on the two choices? Other practical suggestions?
Any help is appreciated, thanks moms!
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Maybe I should mention that his family is Filipino, maybe it's a cultural thing, but there's usually favors at every kind of party (baptisms, grad parties, milestone bdays). I think it's nuts, but it's his family. They are also the reason our guest list is sooo huge. He has 43 first cousins! So it's about 100 his family, and 20 mine. Not including our friends! My daughter is totally used to tons of people though, so we aren't worried about her freaking out. (Who knows though? She's full of surprises!)
I do like the DVD idea for grandparents, although they all see her each week, so it's not like they're missing much.
I think I will do a small photo to hand out.
Yay! Another people who views favors like I do - hehehe! I think moms' stress levels would be lower if we lived in a world without party favors!
At any rate, if he wants everyone to have a DVD then HE can be in charge of the entire process. Maybe then he'll decide that next year it would be better to listen to his wife? I kid, I kid...
If you have to have favors, I love the cup idea. Practical, inexpensive, reusable, and easy.
Ok so I am hopelessly behind the times apparantly. Why would anyone assume they would be given a favour at a baby birthday party? Thank you notes I totally understand. They should come in the mail after the event. But why on earth does anyone assume that they would be given a favour. I understand treat bags for kids. But come on an adult is really expecting a favour at their place setting?
Wow, I can’t believe people were hurt for not getting something in return. Talk about being there for the wrong reasons!
A fun idea that I have done is a "Assorted Candy Bar". I did this for my daughters B-day and everyone loved it. I bought all different kinds of candy like, jelly beans, suckers, fruit shaped jellies, flavored candy canes, different chocolates...candy of all kinds and colors. I put each kind in a different glass container and gave each guest a clear favor bag to fill with what candies they like! I also put a little card in each bag that had a cute saying and thanks for coming.
For such a large crowd it won't be too costly, plus it will be something fun and unexpected.
A.
You ACTUALLY are having 125 people for a first birthday party????? Really, few will look at the dvd, more than once, unless there is the hope that there are many other family members in those pictures.
Making fancy, molded chocolates and having a chocolate shop create them is a nice gift. Small magnetic (suitable for a refrigerator) picture frames w/ your daughter's picture in it would be very nice - no larger than a 2" x 3". Place a nice caption on it and create a keepsake. You can possibly find something at Michael's or Hobby Lobby (possibly reasonably or buy a stack of magnetic backs, found at Michael's (one side is adhesive) for business cards and stick the magnet on the picture and add a cute little "thank you" saying or quote (again, with the intent that people will put it on the fridge and enjoy it.
I'm impressed that your husband is initiating this about the favors. Depending on a theme and, taking into consideration the number of attendees, why don't you do some kind of bakery-decorated frosted cookie or have some kind of table centerpiece prize (i.e. person at the table whose birthday is closest to your daughter gets the centerpiece!) You could make the centerpiece out of some kind of bubbly (i.e. alcoholic or non-alcoholic wine, champagne, or sparkling grape juice) and create a cool label on it with your daughters picture and great caption/quote. I've seen some really cool labels created on pretty basic computers! My sister did a Christmas wine label with her granddaughter's 5 month picture. Adorable!!! Another idea would be to make the give-away gift a "couples gift" (only if you are doing a seating chart, then you can give away less gifts!)
The dvd idea needs more than the two weeks that you can devote to it... you probably have many other things to prepare for besides the favor! Plus... I would imagine that your husband would want to have music added to dvd slide show. Unless, you are making something special just for a grandma, I probably wouldn't hand them out to all the attendees. Personally, I would rather have a beautiful candid still-shot as a refrigerator picture.
Good luck in whatever you do. The most important part of the event is your daughter! You never know how she will respond to so many people.
Hi A..
While you and your huband and the immediate family will love the dvd, probably not all 150 guests will watch and use it. I would go with something else.
Some ideas for that many people...
1. cookie
2. candy
3, sand bucket with her name and a thank you on it
4. i think the cup is a cute idea
5. a picture of your daughter clipped to apicture clip saying thank you for coming
6. you can order pencils that say thank you for coming from oriental trading co
I agree with you and disagree with the PP. I think a little party favor is nice. And I think its aqwesome that you ahve so many people getting together to celebrate your daughters first birthday!
Congratulations on your first year!
Wow, cheers to you for hosting 125 of his family members. I don't think I could do that. I am sorry that some shared with you that they were hurt they weren't given gifts at her Baptism. That is out of line. But, I don't think that should force you to provide gifts now if you really don't want to!
I agree the DVD would be labor intensive, expensive and not cherished by others as it should. If you have the time, I agree it would be nice for the grandparents and maybe some close relatives.
What is your budget for this project?
The chocolate bar idea would be cool and could be made for less than $1-2 a piece. But, you will be printing, wrapping and glueing 125 of them. I did that once for a shower and it took a whole afternoon.
Snapfish.com is a photo-upload website, or you could use Kodak or any of the many others. If your budget permits, you could order 125 of a small photo gift.
Good luck! But, don't stress over this. Enjoy the party and if someone complains, just look them in the eye and invite them to come over and help you create them for next year.
Time and Money...our biggest challenges!
Do you have a google account? The video could be very easy for you if you dowload Google's Picasa program for photographs. It's FREE! There is a feature where you can select the photos and the music and it will arrange it into a movie for you.
Another option is Windows Movie Maker. Again, usually FREE on your computer, and you can import photos, music and make a movie. Depending on what all you do to it, transitions between photos, captions, length, etc. you could do a short video in an afternoon. You could also have the video playing in the background of the party.
There are many free sites for royalty free music out there too.
Here's a link to one I did for my son's birth with Window's Movie Maker: http://heathers4.googlepages.com/memorymovies
I know the cups would be "easier" but I've made a few videos as 1st birthday gifts for my neices and cousins and they've been a very treasured gift to the grandparents, and parents of all.
Other ideas would be a photograph for a thank-you note. I have a Send Out Cards account which I LOVE and I use it to send out personalized cards to family members thanking them or just staying in touch.
How neat for Grandma in AZ to get a photograph of my son playing with his toy barn she got him as his thank you note. Took about 2 minutes total (including upload time for the photograph) and she has a picture to enjoy of him playing with the barn.
You could do one of your daughter eating her birthday cake, or opening her gifts or somehting and send a personalized card to everyone on your guest list all at once. That could be a huge time saver for you post party! People rave about these cards when they get them, and I usually get a phone call thanking me for the thank you card. LOL
You are welcome to send a card for free to try it out: www.sendoutcards.com/25194 and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
Oh, one more suggestion about a favor, candy bar wrappers. Measure a hershey bar and design a fun wrapper with your daughter's photo on it, and a Happy Birthday. In the ingredient section list sweet smiles, wet kisses, first words, etc. that make up a 1st birthday. I've done these for my older girls and they're so cute! Everyone raves about them too. You just wrap the 'new' wrapper over the candy bar and glue it with a glue-stick. It's pretty inexpensive too. ;)
Good luck and enjoy your celebration! H.
Hmmm.. after helping plan my daughter's wedding.. I have to say, you are going to be hard pressed to find much under at least a dollar a person. And in the end.. the dvd's or photos are probably going to be the most affordable thing to do. But just to share.. I'm on a roll.. so read on.. ha!
We ended up buying a really yummy cookie from a gift shop up in Woodstock Il.., called cobblestones..(or you could make your own big sugar cookie and decorate it..but gulp.. over a 100 cookies.. I don't know..??)
maybe some hershey kisses and hershey hugs..??
I have seen this for bridal showers and wedding favors.. something that you could write .. "kisses and hugs for the birthday girl".. that would be pretty affordable..I think its all in the packaging.. you could get very clever with stamping a message on a take home bag.
or doing some sort of photo attached to the bag with a cute saying. but back to the cookie idea..
the owner of cobblestones did a fantastic job. My daughter and I stamped a design on a small piece of cardstock and cobblestones did the boxing and pretty colored raffia ribbon with colors to match her wedding and season..(it was fall..)
The cookies ended up being less than a dollar each.. and I think we got 150 cookies and perhaps she charged us like I can't quite remember $30-$40 dollars for the boxing and ribbon. You could purchase clear bags from the craft store and your own ribbon. Cookies and cupcakes are pretty trendy now. I did like the candy buffet that someone mentioned. That is super trendy these days too.
And that would be sooo pretty on a buffet and definitely something I bet they haven't seen before. Or back to the kisses idea..
.. you could get two big glass jars with two silver scoop like things and put a ton of hershey kisses and hugs in the jars (you could also get the easter hershey candy in bags AFTER easter in the pastel color foil at a clearance price at target..)
and write that little saying on the jars.. that is probably the most affordable way to go..
I did buy a lot of bulk stuff for the cocktail reception such a chocolate nuts and pretzels and so forth at the fisher nut store if you wanted to add other things to the candy buffet. There is one in elgin and barrington. Their bulk prices are pretty reasonable. But really,.. I bet a big ole stack of DVD's would be way cheaper than that. It really just depends on your time, interest and budget..! good luck!!
That is what we did for our wedding openhouse. We got married in WA and had the openhouse in IL for those who couldn't make it. we gave everyone a dvd that had pictures from our wedding and honeymoon that we wanted to share. It was not very expensive. We alsohad some pictures available for all to see. So they didn't have to wait to see them. Everyone loved it.
A.
I think you are correct, a DVD wouldn't be watched by most guests more than once (on the other hand a GREAT idea for grandparents). I think it would be great to do one and show it at the party (I've seen them at weddings and love watching the couple grow up and grow together).
I'm not sure I'd do cups, but I wouldn't have 125 for the party either. We had 30 friends for my daughter's 1st birthday and she was so overstimulated she wouldn't eat the cake, she just cried.
I'm sorry to be giving only the negatives and no positives here, but I already saw some good ideas and I'm sure more will come. Good luck!
Hi A....sounds like you have a huge support system at least!! We did something similar to what you are wanting to do (ok, my dad did it for us because he works in the printing industry...but was a great idea) When my daughter turned one, he took pictures from her 1st year (one for each month) and compiled them into paper place mats for the party. Granted, we only had 30-40 people here, but he printed a whole stack. They were cute, framable if you wanted to and showed her progression throughout her first year. Just a thought...I would save the DVD for grandparents or special aunt/uncles. They will truly appreciate more! Best of luck and have a fun party!
We did Bookmarks at our wedding, maybe you can do some with her picture? Or you can do thank you cards with her picture on it saying thank you for comming like the christmas cards that people send out. You might be able to have more than one picture on it? Good luck. and Congratulations!
If you are going to do a photo, my frind did a photo magnet that went over great! She took wallet photos and posted them on magnet paper. They looked great and it was nice to put on our fridge.
