If you’re following me on Instagram or YouTube, you already know that my adorable baby Kaia recently turned one, and that we had an amazing party to celebrate this milestone. If you’re a mom, mom-to-be, some tips on how to successfully plan and throw an amazing birthday bash for a one-year old may be helpful, so here they are!
Pick a Theme
The first step for a great party is to pick a theme. Ours was a unicorn theme, but you can choose anything that suits your baby’s interests. Selecting a theme is very helpful, because it can assist you in choosing decorations, a color scheme, and more. In fact, just about every decision you make after choosing your theme can be narrowed down some by what your theme ends up being!
Make your Guest List
A party isn’t a party without friends, which is why its important to think of who you want to invite (and send your themed invitations to). Who are the important people in your baby’s life? Make sure you let them know their presence is requested for this special day!
Create a Safe Area for Kids
Surely your guest list will include children, since it’s a baby’s birthday bash… So the environment for the party should have an area that’s appropriate for the younger guests! When choosing a location (or setting one up in your home), a child-proofed area is essential, so that everyone can enjoy themselves without worrying about any of the kids getting into trouble, or even worse – getting hurt.
Decorate Accordingly
As I mentioned, once your theme is selected, you can choose your decorations. For our example, we decorated with unicorns and chose items in a pastel rainbow color palette that goes along with unicorns. This sets the stage for the whole party, and will help to put your guests in the proper frame of mind for celebration, and of course – will make it completely instagram-worthy!
Plan Some Activities/Games
Having some activities and games planned that go along with the party’s theme can be a great way to help integrate some friends and family that may not know each other to break the ice, and ensure that the party is fun! Having some games for the adults present as well as some for the kiddos ensures a good time is had by all!
Cakes
That’s plural for a reason! First of all, is it even a party without cake? Second of all – have you ever seen a baby eat cake? For those two reasons, I recommend having two: a smash cake for the birthday boy or girl, and a cake for the guests to enjoy. And of course – the cakes should be on-theme, or at least match the party’s color scheme.
Luxuries:
Both babies and parties can be pricey, but there are a couple of luxuries that I strongly recommend if you have them in your budget. The first is a photographer, or someone who is good with a camera (or even smartphone) to take pictures. This is valuable of course for the baby pictures of the smash cake, but also to capture all of the guests and happenings so your baby can have pictures to commemorate this occasion. This also frees both you and your guests from having to worry so much about taking pictures, so they can enjoy themselves and participate in the games you’ve planned! Another way to help your guests and yourself be more relaxed and enjoy the party would be to hire (or assign an older kid) someone to help watch over the children. Of course, parents will want to check in and keep an eye out, but if there’s someone whose sole job is to watch the children, that frees more time and energy for fun for everyone!
Hopefully, these tips will help you plan a successful and memorable first birthday party! What would you add?
