First Birthday Party Theme

I do not understand why a first birthday party needs a theme myslef, we only had a small gathering with some finger foods and a homemade zuchhini cake with cool whip frosting (loved it!) .. but a suggested theme would be Sesame Street presents the number 1! or Jungle animals etc.

I wouldnt go overboard either way. W/ my oldets we went CRAZY and spent sooo much money on decorations, they dont remember it. Im not saying not make it special, but remember the themes at this age are more for our own enjoyment. Just have fun and enjoy the occasion :)

Is there a particular cartoon that she likes more than others? If so, I would go with that. Otherwise, for summer I think ladybug themed stuff would be really cute for a little girl. Or flowers.

I found cute butterfly first birthday items at birthdayexpress.com. They have a bunch of first birthday supplies, even ones you can personalize with a picture of your child. Good prices and very fast shipping. Even took back the unopened extras I had with no problem. Good luck!

I would just take my daughters with me the first few years and hold up different colored plates or plates with images on them and they would point to the ones they liked the best. We'd narrow it down to the favorite, although a few times in the first few years of birthdays we had mixed-and-matched "themes." Don't worry so much about theming the party. People won't be judging the theme so much as enjoying the kids, the food, and complimenting you on how good you look only a year after your baby's delivery.

For my first daughter we did the little teddy bear plates with the #! on them. My dad had this big sign made up that said "It's the BIG 1". It was really cute. We did a backyard BBQ. For my second daughter we did a flower theme. That one I put a lot of work into it. It was so much fun. As party favors I bought and decorated little terra cotta flower pots. Lined them with foil and put Raisinettes into it. Then I "planted" a lollipop that I made into a flower. I also added a packet of seeds and then wrapped it all up in a clear cellophane bag. We did flower balloons (I saw it on Martha Stewart) and her cake was cupcakes that were decorated like flowers.

Just have fun with it and remember she will have no idea what is going on but you will have the memories and photos to show her when she is older!

Enjoy!

For my son's first birthday we did a monkey theme. I made this cake from Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewart.com/339242/monkey-cake, got plates and napkins with monkeys on them and had balloons in the center of the tables weighted down with monkey books that he already had. We also had his party in the park and it was a hit. Good luck!

For my daughters first birthday I wanted to have a theme, mostly because our friends have kids that were 2-3 at the time, so I wanted it to be fun for them too. We did a little barnyard theme from 1stwishes.com. I loved the little banner they had we had it say "Giddy Up and Have Some Fun, Madelyn is Turning 1" Then we took pictures with her in overalls and pigtails, next to my cowboy boots and her little barn toy for the invitations. It was adorable. Our plan was also to have it at a park so we had the playground for kids to play at, then at the end of the summer before I had bought a blow up pool for like a dollar and at christmas I bought bags of those colored balls and we made a ball pit "Pig Pen" I also threw a few pig stuffed animals from the dollar store in there for the kids to play with. My sister made an amazing cake, it was shaped like a barn and she also made cow and pig cupcakes. They were awesome!
It was cute, fun, and easy, and all the kids (mostly my daughter) had a great time.

I did a Ladybug theme for my daughters 1st birthday last year (also in late July). It turned out really cute. I made all the decorations and the cake and just did red and black plates versus ordering special ones with ladybugs on them which would have been far more expensive.

It should reflect something that interests your daughter. Does she have a favorite toy, or favorite book from which you can choose the theme?
Find the theme, and do little special things to carry it out, but don't make it too big a deal. As others have pointed out, the theme is more for your enjoyment than for hers at this point. Yes, she will enjoy looking at pictures of her first birthday in later years, but the day itself will be almost forgotten within a week of the party. Just plan for it to be a day of fun for all involved.

For my kids' first birthday parties.....they got cake.
They really didn't care about anything other than that.
They made a royal mess and had a blast.
We had a bbq, they ate, they got cake and konked out.
That was pretty much it.
I know people love going all out and I'm not against it by any means, but my kids slept through most of their first parties because of the stimulation with having so many people around and the fuss......and the cake.

When they're turning one....you can pick any theme. The older kids will have fun no matter what. Your little one won't really know what's going on.
Just make a fun time for everyone and enjoy the special day.