First birthday party

[loeylo]

Okay I'm going to sound stupid here buy I'm stressing about Gracies first birthday (how can she be one in 5 weeks?!)

Do these ideas sound okay? Her birthday is a Saturday which may influence your answer!

Idea 1- immediate family only, evening to night do in our house. Approx 15 guests, simple buffet and cake, Gracie can go to bed whenever (usually 10:30ish) and guests can stay later. We would provide drink for guests. Our house is a short taxi ride from all guests or they can obviously drive. We would be very pushed for space.

Idea 2- wider family and close family friends and immediate friendship groups, approx 50 guests. Hire a hall from 7pm-1am (standard hall hire times) - hall allows byob and buffet which can be heated in their kitchen (family members have food hygiene certs as required) - hall holds up to 60 and has soft play. Approx 5-6 kids aged 6m-10y. We wouldn't bother with DJ, take own music and speakers.

Idea 3 - local pub, cornered off area, need to order from food menu and pay bar prices for drinks, children to be out by 9pm. No charge for exclusive use of area.


Now, I'm not saying our families are big drinkers, but we do like to have a few glasses of wine for special occasions. Is it tacky to have wine at a babies birthday party in a hall, even if there are hardly any kids going and the kids are all family? Is it unheard of to have a babies birthday in the evening? - she would probably go home with her grandparents afterwards as my parents are due back from holiday that day, hence we can't have the event earlier in the day.

I spoke to the hall and they were okay with it as technically it isn't really a kids birthday party since it is almost all adults, they described it as a "family gathering" which tbh is all we really want. I'm not doing characters or anything.

Am I overthinking it? If we had a larger house it would be fine, but the only house which could maybe fit everyone is my parents, and that means turning people down and cutting our guestlists.

I'm quite stressed as you can maybe tell!

 

[CRWx]

I would go with the hall idea! Then you can go back to your house and not have to worry about tidying etc!

 

[Haezy24]

Wow! These are some good one's

 

[smileyfaces]

Honestly, none of them! For a first birthday I would much rather have an afternoon tea party. No offence intended of course, but I just don't see it as a babys first birthday party if its just adults having a drink in the evening/night.

 

[MrsT&Ben]

Honestly, none of them! For a first birthday I would much rather have an afternoon tea party. No offence intended of course, but I just don't see it as a babys first birthday party if its just adults having a drink in the evening/night.

This.

 

[Eleanor ace]

Honestly, none of them! For a first birthday I would much rather have an afternoon tea party. No offence intended of course, but I just don't see it as a babys first birthday party if its just adults having a drink in the evening/night.

This.

Yeah I'd do a family party at home, earlier in the day if possible so that LO has longer awake and perky and its more focused on LO, and then have people stay on through the evening for more of an adult do.

 

[MindUtopia]

I don't think it's tacky to have alcohol for a kid's party as we always have, but I do think it seems a bit odd and inappropriate to have it be an evening thing where she won't even really be there with everyone. I would do a lunch/afternoon party. We usually do a buffet lunch at our house for probably 10-15 people, mostly family, our adult friends, and also our daughter's friends and their parents. We have wine and beer and non-alcoholic drinks and then a mix of hot and cold food and then cake. Personally, I would be turned off about going to a baby's birthday in the evening as it doesn't seem to be about the baby and certainly it limits whether other people with kids can attend (obviously, you may not know that many other people with kids yet, or they may not care about keeping their kids up, so maybe it's not a big deal).

I would save that sort of evening do for one of your birthday parties. I'd feel really sad sending my daughter home with somebody else on her birthday. It's a really special day and you only get to do it once, so I'd make it about her and not about your guests. If you can't do it that afternoon because your parents won't be there, then I'd either have it another day, or do it that day and then plan a smaller celebration just with them another time.

 

[loeylo]

With the evening do we only really planned to stay until 10pm, we weren't actually going to stay til 1am, I doubt I would last that long!

The only children going will be my partners two nieces who always outlive the adults at family events (they are 11 and 7) plus potentially a friends kid, but she would likely have childcare for him. Two other kids from my partners family might come along for a while, but they aren't a massive priority.

The main problem is that my mum and dad wont be home until 4-5pm as they are coming home from their holidays on that day. We can literally only have the birthday on her actual birthday too, due to work commitments.

I did just want to have family over from 5pm, dinner and drinks etc, but most people wouldn't be able to come so it put me off.

I could maybe enquire about getting the hall earlier in the day.

We are now leaning to moving out the furniture from the living room into the spare room and just putting chairs in.

 

[JumpingIn]

I would do a party for her at yours in the afternoon and do something aimed at children her age like singing nursery rhymes with a few little friends and having a mini buffet, then I would invite family over in the evening when she was in bed if you wanted to drink/have an adult gathering.

My son's party was 8 of his little friends/my mummy/daddy friends playing in the garden with paddling pool, toys, sensory pools etc, then we sang nursery rhymes with them and ate the cake. The whole thing was over in a couple of hours. He was exhausted by 4pm when he went down for a nap, and a few of the friends without children stayed to chat while he slept

 

[loeylo]

She has no friends who we can invite! My friends wee one is 6 months, but that is about the only other baby she interacts with. There are only two other kids in our family, and they are 11 and 6 Her dad looks after her when I'm at work and he finds baby clubs awkward. So a baby party is out the picture. Really, it is only older family members and our childless friends who will be going, none of our friends have kids yet, hence why the party is mainly for the adults.

During the day we are going to take her out swimming and to soft play, and to the park if it is nice, out to lunch if it isn't as nice, so we are doing things just us three during the day and most of the day is focused on her, it was more just a way for the adults to celebrate if that makes sense. She is also going to try cake for the first time!

 

[Kiwiberry]

The first Birthday party is going to be amazing no matter what you choose! Especially if you get a smash cake!! Just remember a tarp to put under the high chair lol, I forgot to get one so we had to improvise.

 

[loeylo]

The first Birthday party is going to be amazing no matter what you choose! Especially if you get a smash cake!! Just remember a tarp to put under the high chair lol, I forgot to get one so we had to improvise.

I am going to need to make her cake as she is dairy free, but I'm making two and doing a cake smash with her - with sheeets aplenty! The pictures are going on her invites 👌