I Need Your Help with Birthday Location Ideas

The more low key the better with 1-yr-olds. Honestly, by the time you pack up to go somewhere else, you'll have worn out the guest of honor. We timed our kids' first birthdays to be at the house when they woke up from their afternoon naps. So, if nap was from 1 -3, our friends and family started arriving at 3-ish.

Also, I did cupcakes for my daughter's first and I will never, EVER do that again. Took forever to icing all those things and put me in a bad mood before the day got started. A friend of mine had a great idea to make a small cake for the birthday boy, then buy a larger one for guests. Super Target has great cakes! However, I will say the cupcakes were darn cute. Still, I learned my lesson and bought a cake for our son's first!

As far as feeding everyone, we grilled for one, then ordered pizza for the other. I definitely enjoyed the pizza party more than when I was having to play hostess and set up a serving line, refill forks, find napkins, etc.

For party favors at my daughter's party, we gave the kids each a sand bucket and shovel with plastic sunglasses. I think we only needed about 5 of them, and I got everything at the dollar store. I might have spent $1.50 per favor.
At my son's we got a bunch of rubber duckies and tied a ribbon around each one. The duckies were $1 each at Wal-mart. You could probably find packages of little bean-bag sports balls at dollar general or wal-mart for an easy parting gift.

As far as planning this far in advance, it IS wise to go ahead and set a budget for the party. We've done 6 birthday parties between the 2 kids (ages 4 and 2) and it's very, VERY easy to spend $200 on even the simplest party. I spent $40 on adorable paper plates and napkins alone at one party. Throw in a $30-40 cake, drinks, $60 in pizza, $15 in party favors, balloons and decorations...
Since we can't seem to get away from the $200 mark, we've adjusted the budget to accommodate it so we aren't left wondering why the birthday made us broke. These are parties with 15-25 people (we have a large extended family, all local!), so if you have fewer guests, you might get away with a little less.
Good luck!
Happy planning!

You might check out www.familyfun.com or www.parents.com for great party planning ideas. I have a 3 1/2 year old and a just turned 1 year old. I get great cake ideas and party planning ideas from those websites. We've also always had their parties at our houses and we've always just invited family and close friends to their first birthdays.
Good luck!
D.

You can reserve the pavillion at Kids Kastle in Highland Village (I think it is free, you just have to reserve it with the city). The kids can play and it stays cool even in the summer with all the trees. The $1 bins at Target are a good place to find party favors and if you don't see anything the fist time just keep checking back as the variety changes. Hope this helps!

Hi J.,
I just wanted to drop you a note about your son's 1st B-day. My son is almost 2 (will also turn in June) and I remember that last year I got myself flustered over it as well. But as someone wise reminded me, "HE won't remember -- the only memories he'll have if it are from the photos YOU take and YOU tell him about..." -- So try to have fun with it -- first birthdays are so cute afterall.
As far as places ... hmmm...at 1 yr, my son was just crawling and cruising...so I squeezed just my dearest family into our home and set up camp there -- I found it very hard to find a place that was set up for a kiddo that young -- but, since you said your home is not set up for large groups... how about the play places at a nice, AC-ed mall? you could set up a table in the usually neighboring food court with all the cute trimmings and then have guests meet you there -- plus if any guests are bringing tots along, they'll have a place to entertain them... also the club room you have access to wouldn't be anymore boring that a room in your home I wouldn't think...-- it really depends on the age of your guests -- First birthday parties are about cooing and playing with your wide-eyed cutie-pie -- I can't imagine your adult guests are going to come expecting to be "wined and dined" in any sense -- and the little ones -- well, again, it all depends on their ages--if they're little like your baby, you could always set up a small kiddi-pool and fill with those light plastic balls and perhaps a crawling/sitting activity blanket with simple stations of baby proof toys (sport themed if you like)....if they're older, how about playdough or other arts/crafts -- you could also gear that towards sports -- well, anyway -- kuddos to you for wanting to invite multitple guests-- I stuck with my 2 sisters, my parents, husband and baby... but it turned out to be adorable anyway, we got some great photos for the book, and all was well...except the cake I made...but we still get a good laugh out of it..it will be fun to plan my son's upcoming 2nd b-day -- I'm sure you'll see my birthday questions on this board in a few more weeks. Best of luck to you, and happy early birthday to your little tike.

Hello
My daughter just turned one and my husband didn't really want me to do anything real big either. We also had a problem with having enough space for our family and friends. We ended up having her party at Chuckie Cheese Toddler area.....I know it might sound crazy but she had a lot of fun... because the Toddler section is off by itself away from the older kids area and they have a couple of rides in there and a slide and the part where your baby can crawl up under. It was an excellent choice and we were on a budget. We brought in our own cake and table cloths and little signs to say reserved for Nyla. The only thing we paid for a Chuckie Cheese was the pizza and drinks and we had coupons from the Sunday paper and off of Chuckie Cheese website for that. The kids had fun and it was a mixture of one year olds, babies under 6 months and older kids. You get free tokens with your pizza orders and it’s a lot of FREE things for them to do at Chuckie Cheese. If you decide on Chuckie Cheese make sure to do it around 11:30 or 12:00 though so you can reserve your tables yourself and actually have it in the Toddler section. I went in at 10 and set-up all of my stuff and the party actually started at 12.
Sorry so long, but I also asked for advice on my baby one year old party on here and it was a SUCCESS!!!!!! (I had party bags for them filled with bubbles, hand clapper, animal cookies and a miniature soft ball.)

http://dallas.parentzone.com/index.asp?

This has a list of places and things to do in the DFW metroplex. I think your clubhouse would be fine for the first bday since you don't have room in your home. I don't know what the ages of the kids are, but mostly people are there to eat, visit, and watch your little one open gifts and smear cake all over his little face.

Don't stress it, just enjoy the reaction of your son.

Jodi

Hi J.,

My daughter turned one last year on August 27th. I think their first birthday is more for the adults than it will be for the birthday boy/girl. We had a party at our house with close friends and family. We barbecued ribs, cooked hot dogs for all the kids, everyone had a great time. And of course the birthday girl got her little cake too. I think you'll be fine having the party at your house. Most of our guests sat outside in the backyard and the heat didn't seem to bother anyone (even my parents who are in their late 70's!). We also borrowed a bounce house from some friends and set that up for the older kids. And we didn't do goody bags either.

Good luck and have fun. But don't stress yourself out. :-)

-Char

Hi J.!
I'm starting my company in event planning and would love to help you out, pro bono. Just e-mail me at ____@____.com if you are interested! I had a fun 1st birthday party for my son for about 60 people!! I have some ideas for your sports party!

Thanks,
A.

We spent a lot of time & money on my 1st son's first b-day. The first one is more for you & the family than the child. The childs first b-day we had at home w/family. He was much more comfortable in familar surroundings. My oldest turning four & this is first year he is old enough to play w/his friends at a party. (Per pedi explination as well). If money is really tight I would rethink it.