How big was your child's.... About This Page:

[wdwlovers]

1st birthday party?

I am starting to get DD's party planned and it's getting bigger than I anticipated. So DH and I set a rule...big bash this year and small parties for the next few. She can have bigger parties later on. I am doing a Tinkerbell Theme and bought alot of plates, napkins, etc the other week as the party store had the stuff 50% off. That's a huge savings. Right now we are looking at approx 50 people. Her bday is May 3, but will be having the party on May 23, so I can get through finals and my mom and me's vacation. We are having it at the big park here in town. Hopefully it will be warm out! I know this is probably one of the only parties I'll get to have decision making over, so I'm taking advantage of it!

So what kinds of things did you do for your child's 1st birthday? Big vs small party?

[DISNEYGOOF]

Sounds like you have quite a party planned. Our
boys 1st was just family and a few friends. The parties
have grown as the boys get older b/c of school and
making more friends. I've found that parties at young
ages are pretty much for the adults but that's not a
bad thing. Ours kids at one year old where just smashing cake on their face and playing with the boxes the gifts
came in. It's fun watching them on their special day. Have
a great time and get lots of Happy Birthday little one

[statelady01]

I learned a big lesson with my first child's bday- they can easily, easily get overwhelmed- we had about 25 people and he cried off and on the whole time- it was all Pooh. For my next three kids, we kept it really small and all three did great and really took it all in- and were able to enjoy it as much as you could expect it to.

Depends on the child though I think really.

[joyjoy]

[ QUOTE ]
he cried off and on the whole time- it was all Pooh.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aw, c'mon, Maureen, I'm sure it wasn't that bad.

We had a very small party with family and close friends. I have a picture of her standing on the table next to the cake holding her Raggedy Ann.

[denwol]

We always have a huge 1st birthday party, as well, with smaller parties for the following years.

By the time we invite aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins, we have about 60-70 people on the list. Luckily, they usually they don't all show up. 40 is a more likely number...

My kids have never had a problem with it - even Joey (my shy one). I say, Have fun and take lots of pictures!

[Queen of Everything]

My daughter's first birthday was small. Just immediate family. That was stressful enough for me.

Amy

[graygables]

All of our children's birthday parties are immediate family only, so have ranged from 10-20 people, depending on where we are at the time and who's close enough to come.

My 15yo DD had a sleepover when she was in the 2nd grade and I swore never again (fighting, hissy-fits, and, best of all, head lice all around! )

Now, we let the younger 2 have a shared "friend party" (no gifts) at their art studio once a year. Birthday celebrations are for family only and include the child's favorite meal.

No ponies, no clowns, no lice. That's my rule!

[loobyoxlip]

Kylor's was a choo choo train theme - just family.

Jalen's was a Disney Babies theme - it was a huge snowstorm and ended up being just the family my dad could load into the truck

[wdwlovers]

I wish I could get away with a small party, but we've just got too big a family. My DH's parents are divorced and both remarried, he has 4 siblings and their respective others and kids. On my side I'm so close with my aunt & cousins, that I consider them immediate family. So the list is at 48 right now, but I know not everyone will come. (hopefully ...did I just say that?)
As for the number of people, at least I know DD will do okay. My cousin's daughter just turned one in Dec and they had a huge party and DD handled it better than the birthday girl.

[DISNEYGOOF]

Denise, I meant to tell you I love your DD's
picture with the pink roses. Adorable!

[MegglesMom]

Ooooh, I am soooo far behind! We've nailed down the time, date, and location, but that's it! We have to get shopping apparently! It's going to be mostly family, and whatever PassPorters can make it (hint hint).

[goofy4goofy]

I had a pretty big first birthday party for Alex. I had planned it outdoors, but it rained that day so we had to go inside. It was a Pooh themed party and there were about 30-35 people here. It was a little nuts, but a ton of fun.

Kelly

[luvnwdwgal]

Wow! 50 people! Our DS's 1st birthday was on Thanksgiving so I had dinner for both sides of our family at our house. Even so there was still only about 14 people and no other kids cause he was the first grandchild on both sides. Our families kinda all agreed on no more big family birthday parties after age 10. Good luck on the birthday party! I'm sure it will be a huge hit!!

[stretch2864]

We had probably 25 people or so over for DD's first birthday. We had it in the afternoon and she was so tired and fussy that she fell asleep in her highchair with her face in her cake! If I had to do it over, I would have had it in the morning instead. By the way, Ariana's new picture is so cute!

[Colexis Mom]

For both kids, I actually did a party at my parents, and then one at DH's parents. We live about 2.5 hours from both sides of family (right in the middle) and there are only a few that will come out to parties at our house (mostly my family comes, DH's does not ).

That said, there were probably about 20-25 people at both parties, and I was lucky that both sets of parents pretty much did everything and we didn't pay for anything, other than the decorations