Halloween Baby and 1St Birthday Party

Morton Arboretum!! http://www.mortonarb.org/main.taf?p=1,5,5,3

They have a FANTASTIC kid's area, tons to do, and it is gorgeous that time of year!

http://www.mortonarb.org/main.taf?p=2,1,2

I agree with not having it at home. I had 100 guests at my twins' 1st birthday party and i say "go for it!" I dont care what anyone says, the 1st Birthday Party is a Special one. I had mine at the ElK Grove Park District in the Carousel Room. We catered and everyone (adults & kids) enjoyed the merry go round. I just did a 1 yr old theme. Halloween falls on Friday this year but maybe have her party after like on nov.1st or 2nd. I wouldn't do a Halloween theme and make it more a special 1yr old Birthday. Hope this helps.

T.,
I have a 2 year old who was born on October 30th. I did a small costume party for his first birthday. I wanted to let you know that Toms Market in Algonquin is very cool in the fall. They have a corn maze, animals, pumpkins, etc. They may do hayrides and probably have picnic areas. Here is the website:
http://www.tomsfarmmarket.com/Default.aspx

Hi T....

I don't have a Halloween baby, but I have an Independence Day baby. While it is cool that she was born on that day, I don't want her identity to be tied to it. I don't want her birthday's to always be all red, white and blue and firecrackers every year, so I think we'll just do that occasionally in moderation. For her first birthday (this year), we did a princess party that was ALL pink and white. We had it a couple weeks after her birthday (this past Saturday, actually) and that helped.

As far as ideas, check out www.birthdaypartyideas.com This is a phenominal website with tons of ideas, from regular mom's, not "Martha Stewarts". Have fun!

CONGRATS!! That's so great! Despite your dismay....having your daughter's birthday on Halloween can be a lot of fun! My son was born on Halloween 2006 and he turned 1 year last year. We had a costume-themed party where he was baby Elvis. Of course everyone else dressed up in costume as well.

At the time, we lived in a small condo, so we hosted it at Musical Magic (www.musicalmagic.net) on north-side of Chicago. They provided the space, music, gift bags, balloons, etc for guests. We only provided the cake and refreshments. It was a lot of fun because it got the kids and the adults interacting with music and song!

If you don't live close, you can have it at Gymboree (my friend had a party there and it was fun too).

This coming year, we may have it in-home because we have a bigger place now, but it still fun to rent a musician to come in (Old Town School of Folk Music, etc) or rent an inflatable if it's nice outside. If the weather is chilly, you can always go to Pump It Up and let the kids jump around in the inflatables!

Let me know if you need other suggestions...I would love to connect since my son and your daughter share a birthday. :) S.

Yes, I've done the 50+ guests for my first-born's 1st birthday, which is around Halloween, and believe me....the second born had a MUCH smaller party for his 1st b-day! That said, there was fun to be had in all the chaos.

One of the fun things we did was fill a baby pool up with leaves and let the kids rummage around for hidden prizes. We had the kids go in age groups so the little ones wouldn't get trampled, of course! We've also done blindfolded pumpkin "guts" scooping with the older kids, which is a real hoot to watch, too. My daughter has always enjoyed having her b-day that time of year, so enjoy!!

My daughter was also born on Halloween. (Actual due date too) I have never really been a fan of the holiday myself, but the kids love it. She will be turning 12 this year and so far I've never had a Halloween theme party for her. That is, until she asks for one. So far she hasn't.

For her first birthday party, we kept the usual 1st birthday type of day and kept the Halloween idea out.

Hi T.,
I would love to help you if you are in need of adorable invitations. I have a mom-owned stationery business located in Oak Lawn and if you would like to see samples please let me know and I would be happy to email them to you. I just started creating my own photo invitations and also I work with 2 spectacular designers. Thank you!
D.
Good Times Invitations
email: ____@____.com

Hi for my daughter's 1st birthday the theme was "Hap-Bee 1st Birthday". I dressed her up like a cute bee and I made a big cake with colored chocolate bees on it and a little bee cake for her. The favors were little mini jars of honey and I had these little tags made that said Hap-bee 1st birthday with a picture of a cute bee on them. I used a flower cookie cutter to make little cheese flowers and put them on lollipop sticks and stood them up in little metal buckets that I bought at Michaels. They were cute. If you want to see some pictures email me back.

Hi T.,
Both of my children are October babies, 3 years apart though. My son on the 12th & my daughter on the 24th.

I have bought tiny gourds to decorate the house & front stoop with, and small pumpkins for the kids to decorate. Might not be a lot of decorating for one year olds, but you could look for peel and stick halloween foam faces. Try a farmer's market, and see what price they might give you for a lot. I usually went the week ahead so they would bring items that were set aside for me.

I like the fall theme too because then any leaves, or pumpkins, etc can be used for fall decorations after the party is over.

Our parties are usually small, and spread out sometimes. Our family lives a few hours away. But, ideas for places to have your party: Try the YMCA, a local gymnastic center may have a kids party room, VFW, American Legion. You may try Lake county public resources like a park district, shelter, or fairground. If the weather is nice, you could always get a bunch of hay bales for seating in your back yard.

Primo Pizza in Barrington has good food, and they cater. They have a website.

Good luck

I don't know where you live, but in Plainfield they offer a bonfire and hayrides at one of their parks. they tend the fire and give as many rides as they can for like four hours. It wasn't that expensive and would be fun for everyone.

First of all I think you're going way overboard for the child's 1st birthday. She's not going to remember it and going anywhere like a pumpkin patch is going to be too much for all involved. The best 1st b-day parties are the ones with the family and close friends who really just want to spend time with the baby and see how she's grown, etc. Then of course they want to see the baby try to eat cake all by herself. If you have too many people you'll be stressing out and won't have time to take the candid pictures that will truly be the memories you want years from now.
Save the outing to a pumpkin patch or apple orchard for when she's in 1st grade and can invite a couple of her best friends when she can appreciate it.

Hi T.,

well it sounds like a lot of fun. What about blending a Princess theme with Halloween. You could have other children dress up in costumes as well but highlight the birhtday girl in a beautiful princess outfit. I have great ideas for a spectacular Princess party table. There is a place in plainfield that hosts parties and offers pony rides. Would she like that? I can help you with this special event so that you can enjoy this special day without being overworked and missing all the fun. I will come to your home or any party place you choose. Let me know if you would like more information.

Happy Birthday to the big girl!

My son's birthday is Oct 29th and I faced the same problem that you did. I bought tiny pumpkins and painted faces on them and made them party hats. The pumpkins were the gift to the kids that where there. I did not go overboard with the Halloween theme and still had the Elmo first baby theme. I found that I did not want to go all Halloween but wanted to add some. I just had to find the right balance to our party.

The Pumpkin patch is a good idea, but you wanted to go cheaper at home, you could also do a 'fall' theme with bobbing for apples, a scavenger hunt, and a treasure map with halloween candy baggies hidden in a chest for them to find. you can also do a costume fashion show, and give prizes for the costumes (you have to come up with a prize for every kid, I think).

Martha Stewart has some great fall and halloween ideas on her site that are easy. I used her 'monster repellent punch with gummy work ice cubes' to the delight of the kids at my son's first birthday (monster theme). I also used dry ice for a 'smoking cauldron' with flavored bottles of pop in it. It was all very easy. She also has great ideas for cupcakes, snacks, and other stuff that will be in the theme without being too over the top, and then no one has to feel like they missed out on halloween.

My son's birthday is 12/21 (also his due date--hah!) and I had over 50 people in my 1000 square foot house. I felt overwhelmed and like it was too much, but my guests all insisted it was fine and that they had fun. You can always look into getting a room at the local community center or VFW-- those usually aren't too expensive, and are easy to decorate with plastic table cloths and streamers and the such--and you don't have to worry if it gets messy!

Hey T.,
Just letting you know - you're not alone in that 50 number :) I have about that many for my kids parties as well. We always have them at home and it isn't so bad. I have a couple of cousins that help with all the clean up. And I designate my hubby to be our camera guy and another cousin to be the videographer :) So having that many can also be a blessing. Unfortunately, I don't have any ideas of where you can hold the party (I do like your pumpkin patch idea) but BE CAREFUL of weather! If it rains, you're SOL! So if you aren't going to have your party at home, I would advise you try to find an Indoor Event Place. Try looking around at your local park districts and see what they have to offer and try looking to see if there are upcoming events in your area that are being held indoors around that time. Best of luck! Just enjoy her first birthday :) It goes by way too fast!

My son was born on Halloween. His first birthday party was a blast. I had it in our house. I predicted there would be 40-50 people, but in the end over 75 came! All of his little 1 yr old friends looked ADORABLE in their costumes. I think the parents were also happy to have a place to show off their little ones in their holiday garb. We have so many cute pictures. The older kids had fun, too. Several adults dressed up as well. Everyone came. It was one of the most memorable parties we had. The party was scheduled at noon, but people stayed into the evening. I was shocked by how much fun everyone had. There are several Halloween decorations geared toward kids that are cute and not scary. I also cut most of the food into Halloween shapes. The gift bags were easy - I filled Halloween pumpkins with age appropriate toys (Oriental Trading Co has good Halloween goodies - but beware of the quality, some things are great and some are NOT) and then everyone had a pumpkin for trick-or-treating later. If you do not want it in your house (I'll never have another party in our house - fun, but SO much WORK), there are a lot of places that will host Halloween parties. They fill up early. We have had subsequent Halloween parties at Park District buildings, Lincoln Park Zoo (that was fun), My corner playroom, and any other local pary place. I have never had a proble bringing the Halloween theme to them. I find the places are excited to do something festive for the Holiday.

If you are not a fan of Halloween, then do whatever you want. She is your baby, and you should celebrate in whatever manner pleases you.

Have fun and congratulations on your first year!

My son is 4 and was born on Halloween. I love it. We have a library with a community room that we can rent for free. That is where we have had 3 of his parties. Last year we had it at my parents house in the country. We did a hot dog roast and a hay ride. It was a lot of fun. I personally don't recommend a costume party until your child is older, due to the fact it might scare them. I use a halloween theme. I bought Halloween decorations and last year it was a pirate theme. With a little boy pirate brownie. I used a cake pan and did brownies instead of cake. It was very cute and less work. Hope this helps.

T.,
My daughter did the Pumkin Patch for my 2nd Grandson's first birthday. It was fun. The kids had a ball, they went thru the corn maze, had hayrides, did the pumkin toss and got to go home with a pumkin they picked. We had cake and ice cream at the picnic table area. The invited guests all enjoyed the day. Good Luck and Happy 1st bday to your little one!
A.

P.S. Here is another idea, for party favors for the kids, you could buy mini pumkins and have decorating party. Also if you didn't want the pumkin patch, you could have a hayride( if you have the means to do so).

My friend, I feel your pain. My son was born the day before Halloween but the theme still haunts us! We did not start doing theme parties for the boys until they turned four though because quite honestly, the only ones who remember are the parents! We always did family parties at my parents house (make them clean - HA!).

If you are thinking of entertaining that many people, try the Morton Arboretum (sp?) or even a shelter at the forest preserve. Just because her birthday is Halloween does not mean you have to have the party on that day or close to it. Or even have pumpkins involved. =) We pick a day in between my boys' birthdays (Sept 16 and Oct 30) and have a party then.

Good luck and happy planning!!!

Hi, T.,

I just wanted to let you know that I also used to be a teacher (until I quit to stay home) and my husband is a firefighter. It can be a great life, huh? Two years ago my sister-in-law set up this get together at a pumkin patch in Crown Point, IN. (not sure where you live). But we grilled and they had a hayride out to the patch. I'm not sure where it is or how to arrange it, but it was fun for the kids. I'm sure other patches are like that too. There is that really cute on in IN, Countyline (I think) they have mazes and animals, apples to pick (you could do an apple bob) AMAZING apple cider donuts. I love fall and think it's a beautiful time of year to do ANYTHING! My 3rd baby is due the 22nd of Oct. I am so excited about that! I think you could also just do a fall theme, not Halloween. I wish you luck and it seems like you got some great ideas from other moms. It will be fun no matter what you decide to do. I always felt the 1st birthday was also a milestone for the parents. NO more night feeding (or fewer in my daughter's case), No more bottles, walking on their own...you survived the 1st year, yippie!! So take the time to celebrate yourself and getting through this past year!

I don't have any great ideas for you but wanted to let you know that my birthday is also on Halloween and I love it. In school I thought is was so cool to have parties on my birthday. I have 2 older brothers and they always said I was their little witch. Now I have 3 kids and they think it is neat that mom's birthday is on Halloween. Good luck and just have fun with it.

My daughter was born on Oct 24th...and we were actually HOPING it was on Halloween!!! ha! Think of how easy future bday parties will be!?!? Have everyone dress up, come over and trick or treat or go on a hayrack ride!! :)

But for her first bday party, we did have it at our home. We had probably 30 people or so. We had a "pumpkin painting party" and all the kids took markers (instead of paints) and made their own pumpkin! That was what I gave as the party gifts too, a medium sized pumpkin that I had made name tags for and put on each pumpkin stem. (gotta find ones with stems if you do that!). You can also have a pumpkin "hunt party"....just like an egg hunt with small pumpkins if you have lots of toddlers coming - they will like that! I did serve food, which was actually easy...we made a big thing of pasta, and served beef sandwiches, pumpkin cookies, and of course a "our pumpkin is turning one" cake!

The invitations were the same theme "our pumpkin is turning one" in fact, here is what it said exactly:
"It's been a year of love, laughter and fun...
Now our Pumpkin is turning ONE!"

You can find some (not many, but some) Halloween/Bday party invitations online. Takes alot of searching on google, but just type in "Halloween birthday party and invitations"...things will pop up! Or just try to find a blank halloween invitation, and change wording to be more bday like!! (a invitations with pumpkins on it of course)

Colors we used were orange and purple! A little black in there too! But I thought the orange/purple combo was cute for a little girl still and not quite as "dark" as black!!

This year will be "our little boo is turning two"! ha! Of course, my due date this year - is Oct 30th...go figure!! ;)

Have fun with it! I think it's a GREAT day to have a bday! She'll always think people are dressing up on her special day!!

Oh...and we had her party on Oct 24th...and it was 70 outside!! So you never know what chicago weather will be!! But yes, one of these years we'll be taking everyone to a pumpkin patch too! You can google that also...there were 3 or 4 pumpkin farms that have special areas for bday parties! Weren't very expensive either! Included pumpkins and a hay ride!

good luck!!
Leslie

Yeah - Im a FF wife too! This year halloween is on a friday - so really I think you could do whatever you want - that is the joy of having it be for YOUR child. If you celebrate on Sat. Halloween is over - and maybe everyone is tired of halloween anyway - Im sure when she is older she will have plenty of opportunity to dress up in costume for her birthday. If you dont want everyone in costume - just say it in the invites - and if you want to do cute pumpkin things - You could play - "Hide the pumpkins" Hide a bunch of small pumpkis around the house and them let the kids find them - and then decorate them for their "party gift" Good Luck - Im sure whatever you decide Halloween or not - everyone will have fun. Who doesnt love a 1 year olds birthday?

Hi T.!

I'm a mom with a birthday 2 days before halloween. On Halloween despite the festivities it would be good to start some simple traditions that will last a lifetime with your daughter. For instance, my dad grew pumpkins in our garden every year and let me pick the first pumpkin out to carve. I always looked forward to it and it made me feel special. First year birthdays are usually for the adults because babies don't remember. So, make it fun for them this year and in the future, let your daughters help you plan. Individual preferences for them will be more important later. Theme parties are good especially if they can dress up, like a princess party or something creative. I know a family where every person played a part. One year they all dressed up like power rangers, (even mom and dad) another year they were the characters in Wizard of Oz. Have Fun.

I know three people born on Halloween! That is so cool! Decorations can be beautiful - the prettiest centerpiece I have ever seen is a hollowed out pumpkin filled with tall mums, sun flowers and branches of red maple leaves and other stuff! Renting a hayride in your area could be a very fun option and an outdoor fire pit is fun. Good luck!

I am sure that there are farms that can accomodate 50 people, and that would be festive without over doing it. You could have a petting zoo and there would be plenty of pumpkins and fall leaves! My nephew was born on October 7th and we always have a costume party for the kids with bat shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Halloween crafts, then we have a birthday themed portion with the adults. It has always been fun!

Hey T.,

I'm a Halloween baby and I LOVE it. Growing up everytime the decorations started to come out in the stores I would think the whole world was getting ready to celebrate my birthday. Plus you get cake and candy. It's a slam dunk as far as being a kid. It's every kid's favorite holiday and I was very popular as a result. I felt like a rockstar the way my friends were so envious.

2 suggestions: embrace Halloween. There's no getting around it. You might as well start your annual costume party but give people themes to dress up as. So a fairy tale party for instance. Or a witches and wizards, favorite TV characters, etc. I like the idea of a pumpkin patch or apple orchard. I've only ever been to Goebbert's farm and they accomodate groups. They have a very cool zoo there.

Second suggestion. 50 people at a first birthday party?!? Are you crazy?!? That is taking on a huge amount of stress for a milestone that is basically irrelevant to your precious bundle of joy. I say invite a few close friends over, have some party hats and cupcakes, take lots of pictures for the baby book and be done with it. But that's just me.

Good luck with your little pumpkin! And seriously, enjoy it. If you enjoy it you'll teach her to enjoy it.

My friend was born on halloween and they often had costume parties which of course everyone, old and young, loved. His best party was a barn dance! 1yr olds can go on hay-rides!

Hi T. I am a teacher too, and have two daughters (baby will be 3 months next week, and my oldest will be 2 on Halloween. She was a week early and we love that she is a Halloween baby. Last year we rented a place through our park district & decorated it, and had costumes optional (we had about 50 people and maybe 5 didn't dress up). It was fun and it gave the adults a good excuse to wear a costume. We figure every year we will do a family costume theme.
Good luck and have fun with it :)

My birthday is also on Halloween and I think and have always thought it was a great thing. As a child I not only had a birthday party and lots gifts but all the candy I could eat what more could a child ask for. And when my mom planned a birthday party for me it was a costume party how great. Everyone including myself had a great time. Have a party and enjoy.Halloween is a great day and a great day to have a birthday and a party.