There’s nothing I love more than a party! I love the planning, decorating, picking the invites, making the food, and enjoying the party itself. But I swear my children’s partying are in a league of their own. Here’s my very easy guide to planning a birthday party!
Step One: Picking a Theme
For myself, I always find it easy to think of something my child enjoys (usually a children’s show or movie) for the theme. For my boys’ first birthdays I did Mickey Mouse and Sesame Street. But for JT’s second and third birthday I let him choose between two choices. For example, this year he chose between Cars and Superheroes. I’ve been pushing anything but sports as the theme because as my boys get older I’m sure that’s something they will want. You can always use Pinterest to look up cute ideas for parties if you don’t want to go with a character theme.
Step Two: Pick a Date
I always choose a Sunday afternoon. The way I see it, no one has any big plans on a Sunday afternoon except, maybe, football. Both of my boys are born in the fall so I try to be aware of the football schedules just in case the games that matter are on at the same time. Next, I find a date and ask my family and my husband’s family if it works for them. Most of the time there’s no problems (my kids are the first grandchildren on both sides) and this is usually the easiest step.
Step Three: Set up Guest List and get Invites
The guest list never seems to change much once you get it done for their first birthday. I keep the list to family and friends because, luckily, the boys aren’t in school so they don’t have their own list they want to invite. But I always invite WAY too many people for my house. I usually have about 45 people that I invite to the Birthday parties. But your number of people depends on how many you want to host.
For the invites I turn to Etsy because there’s a lot of different choices on there. This is a very fun part because you can find invites that can include your theme and a picture of your child. For JT’s first birthday I included a picture of him in the invite but after that I just got invites with characters. The one reason I like Etsy is because you can buy the instant download and they will send you the photo within 48 hours. Then, after I get the download, I order about 20 copies at Walgreens. Lastly, I address and mail the invites about a month before the date of the party.
Step Four: Food and Decorations
The food is one of my favorites parts! I usually have a lot of appetizers that I make but for the meal itself we order pizza. The list of appetizers that I make are below and if you want any recipes for them just let me know and I’ll send it to you! I tend to make a lot of food for fear that I might not have enough. My motto is: Its always better to have too much than too little. I tend to make a list of all the appetizers I plan on making, then I make a shopping list by going through all the ingredients and seeing what I need. Also when it comes to the cake I always order it. I’m not good at baking and I’d rather not have that pressure of making the cake.
For the decorations I keep it simple: Balloons, streamers, and a wall decoration set with “Happy Birthday” banner. I don’t like having the whole house covered with decorations because I just don’t like to clean it up afterwards. I usually buy the decorations (besides the Balloons) about two weeks before the actual date to make sure I get it all.
Step Five: Clean Your House!
And now we interrupt our program to talk about the least exciting thing to do: Clean. Some people, like my mother, love keeping their house clean. Unfortunately I didn’t inherit those genes. I don’t mind a mess, mostly because I’ve made it and I know exactly where everything is. So when it is time to actually clean my house I have more than my fair share of work ahead of me. Don’t be like me. Be like my mom and keep it tidy day to day.
But if you are like me I hope you have an amazing family like I do. My family comes down the day before to help tidy and to help clean my house. I cannot express enough how much a appreciate this! My mother and sisters are a Godsend and I’m truly thankful for them.
Step Six: Get a Final Headcount
This step can sometimes be tricky. For Ted’s first birthday I forgot to have a RSVP date on the invite. So when it came time to figure out who was coming basically no one had said anything. Most people will tell you if they aren’t coming but if you haven’t heard from some people just shoot them a text. Or if you’re like me and you hate to ask people then you can just assume they are coming. You could leave out a RSVP if a head count doesn’t matter to you. But once you get a final head count then you can have a good idea just how many people are coming and hoe much food you might need.
Step Seven: Make the Food
When the party is a few days away I tend to look over my appetizer list and put them into two different categories. One: Things I can do/make the night or day before. Two: Things that have to wait until the day of. Usually the list of things for the day of the party are longer but I just make a big cup of coffee and wake up at an early to get a good start on the day. I don’t know if you can tell by this post but I’m a huge fan of lists. I make to do lists for everything! But now that everything is broken down I hope you feel a little bit more relaxed. Here’s a tip: Try to get as many things done the night before the party as you can.
Step Eight: Enjoy the Party
By the time the party has started I’m sure you’ll be exhausted but carry on Mama! This day is about celebrating the little life you brought into this world and to celebrate another year of joy. Promise me you’ll take a moment during the party to drink it all in. See the love in everyone’s eyes when they look at your child. These are your people and your child’s guiding light through the world. Cherish these people and these moments. Also don’t forget to do thank you notes!
Kel
