Need Help with Locations/ideas for 1St Birthday Party ....

Hi C.,

I would say for a child that age, the best place would probably be Chuck E. Cheese. Also, I don't know where you live but in the Sanford Mall...Seminole Towne Centre... there is a place called the Silly Monkey and it is a really small version of CEC. They may do parties there. HTH

V.

Hello

Well not sure how big your place is but the best place is probably your house since it is her first birthday thats where both my kids had theres and then when they get older you can have it at other places if you want you can even get a bounce house if you have the room well i hope this helps

Wow 1st B-day seems like yesterday for my son but yet so far away....he is now 12...haha! Anyways I just had a home party. They are really still to young to REALLY enjoy some place like chuckie cheese or something like that in my opinion, not to mention the prices they cost for something that wont be remembered. Also a little fyi..not sure if you know but if you order your cake tell them its for a 1 yr old bday and some places will give you a small extra cake for the child to dig into...I ordered it from publix here and they did it.

Ohhhh C.!!! I just got over my daughter's first birthday party and let me tell you it was a nightmare!! I wanted to have a nice big party at my home and I wanted a magician with bunny's and entertainment for the kids. Well to make a loooooong story short, I ended up with 50 adults and 20 kids!! It was so out of hand that my husband and I didn't know who had our daughter most of the time, and there were so many people that she was just not a laughing mood because everyone was constantly surrounding her and she was extremely overwhelmed. My budget went totally and beyond out the door to the point that I finally added it all up two weeks after the party and the total was around $1200!!!!! I was in a state of shock that whole day. So if I were you my best advice is to take her somewhere or keep it small!! If you need other advice feel free to respond and I can send you websites for party favors and stuff. In the end we ended up doing the 1st birthday theme from Party City. Which worked out great. But really my best advice, keep it SMALL!!!!

Hi C.

I can just say that when my son turned one, it was'nt about his friends, it was our friends, so we did a wonderful party at home, played volleyball and outdoor games by the water. Everyone had a blast and of course had a special cake and celebration. We all enjoyed my son and the other little ones played the games with us. We did the celebration thing early on, so everyone could take naps. (not the adults).

Later on, we did the event parties, but even at a park, if your house is too small or you don't have your own space. The children aren't social enough yet and they enjoy and want to be with their parents at this age.

Hope you get lots of input and most of all, don't stress! It was a great memory for me, my son walked that day, for everyone to see and we all applauded. It's the memories for you, they won't remember, you'll be telling them the stories!

God bless!
D.

I too started planning my son’s first birthday party very early. I was also a first time mom who works full time and wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I am new to the area so I don’t have advice as to where to have the party, but I did order party supplies on-line from Celebrate Express. This company has many themes to chose from and it was one-stop shopping with everything from basic necessities to banners, party favors and keepsakes. Happy planning!

My advice to you is to definately keep it small. Your daughter wont remember any of it, its pretty much a photo oppurtunity to capture the " first birthday". Too many people in one place at a time tend to make babies grumpy and irritated. I had my daughter's first birthday party at my home and had about 7 kids and 5 adults and THAT was too much.

Good luck and take alot of pictures :-)

FYI, Publix gives you a small free cake if you get a cake from them so your daughter can "dig in" to it.

Not sure where you live, but we can do little intimate Kindermusik parties in your home for the birthday child and a few of her little friends... We travel in the Orlando area only though.. All activities are incredibly age appropriate so it's fun for the baby (egg shakers, scarf play, dancing). :) I agree with everyone else, keep it small, otherwise the baby gets so overwhelmed...

www.growandsing.com

Good luck!!! :)

H.

For my daughter's first birthday I just had very close friends and family over. We still ended up with 39 people in my little house. It was over whelming for me and her. Make is small. The thing I did that I liked the best was a personalized plate. I went to Glaze Under Fire and painted the rim of a plate with "Happy Birthday Hailey" and a design in the center of the plate, I left space for everyone to sign when they came in. As long as they use pencil you then take it back to GUF, paint the signatures onto the plate, then have them fire it. She now has a plate she will use every birthday to remind her of all her friends and family that love her. I also made a small scrapbook with premade pages. Everyone took their picture with Hailey when then arrived then wrote a message to her on their page.

Good Luck. Have fun planning.

Congrats on your little one's upcoming Birthday! But PLEASE remember: she's only turning ONE. If she's like most babies, she still needs a nap (or 2!) during the day and can get overstimulated and overwhelmed easily. She is also most comfortable in familiar surroundings i.e. home (especially since there will probably be a few unfamiliar faces there). When my oldest turned one, we had about 8 people over (grandparents & aunts & uncles)- we didn't even have any other kids since at 1, he didn't even really have any friends yet (not enrolled in daycare). I did send invitations to out of town relatives though, so they still felt included- and they sent some really nice gifts! I had the most fun planning the theme and decorating the house (balloons and streamers are a big hit with little ones if there aren't a ton of new people to meet). It was very casual and we enjoyed it- instead of being overwhelmed by a huge party (there will be plenty of years for that in the future!). I read someone's suggestion for Chuck E Cheese.... for a one year old. PLEASE don't torture yourselves, your child, or your guests with this. CEC is really geared for older toddlers & up. Not infant friendly at all. I highly recommend Party City for decorations and Publix for cakes- Good Luck!!