Before you have children, people are always saying that once you have them time flies. It’s hard to completely understand though until you have your own children. Especially the first time you are pregnant, as typically you feel that time could not go fast enough. But, before you know it it’s time to plan first birthday party for your little bundle of joy.
For a first birthday party, it’s possible that you will want to invite more people than necessary. From family members, to day care workers, and even pediatricians you feel like so many people are involved in their lives it’s hard to not want everyone there. But, believe me, you don’t. Yes, your first birthday party is often one that is fuller of family than friends, it’s still important to not overwhelm the child or yourself! Be sure to snap plenty of pictures so that your child can look back on this day in years to come. Even though you are likely to remember it forever, they won’t remember it at all.
But, first let’s begin with that guest list. I always say to start with the most obvious guests like your parents and your spouse’s parents. Then begin to branch out to aunts, uncles, etc.. Not everyone needs to be invited but, it is nice to share those first moments with both friends and family.
Once you have your guest list written in stone, you may want to choose a theme. That is if you aren’t one of the moms who has been pinning ideas since before the babe was born. When they are this age, it’s easy to pick a theme you like as they haven’t developed too much of their own taste yet. Anything you think they enjoy or just the number one, will be fun!
Then it’s time to choose your invitations. Make sure to choose a date that is appropriate for everyone to attend. If the child’s birthday falls on a Tuesday, it is okay to have the party on Saturday the baby won’t mind!
Before you send out those invitations you need to decide all of your particulars. Like where will you hold the party and what times will the party take place. Typically once you place an order, it moves so quickly through production that we are not able to stop the order to make any changes.
Typically you’ll want to order invitations about six weeks prior to the event date. Give yourself time to look them over and carefully address them. Be sure to ask for a response from guests. Even if it is just a regrets only request with a phone number, it’s important to have an idea of how many guests to expect. Proper etiquette would ask for a reply about a week prior to the party and you will want to send the invitations out about three weeks prior.
At American Stationery we offer several different invitations many of which could likely fit into your party theme.
Item 9238 is a perfect invitation for a young girl. This adorable invitation is printed in flat ink with a lot of pink, animals, and flowers. The invitation also features to white boxes open for your wording. This is where you will list in your choice of ink color and typestyle, all the details of the event. For $36.00 you will receive 20 invitations with plain white envelopes. . If you really want a complete look, check out item 9237 the matching address labels! For $12.95 you will receive 60 standard size labels with three available lines of print.
Have a little boy’s party to throw? What little boy doesn’t love creepy crawlies? Show your little guy that bugs don’t creep you out and order item number 9258, the Bugs Galore invitations.
For $36.00 you will receive 20 vibrantly printed invitations. With plenty of space for all of the details these fun and flat invitations will let your guests know they are in for loads of fun. As always you may choose your ink color and type style for a totally personalized look!
Of course if you just can’t find something that you like on our website, we do offer custom work. If you have something in mind that we do not offer feel free to give us a call and ask to speak to a representative about a custom order. Keep in mind custom orders will take longer to produce as we will require you to sign off on a digital proof prior to production and there is an additional $50.00 fee for custom work.
Once you have decided on your invitations and placed your order you will want to look into food choices and cakes. In some instances you’ll want to order your cake even sooner than your invitations Depending on the time of year the birthday is (graduation time or wedding time). Also be sure to order that ever popular smash cake in addition to the cake for the guests. This is so called the “smash” cake because they typically smash their little hands and face into the cake right away. Of course they could always be like my oldest son and refuse while yelling what sounded like “fork please!”
It is customary for many bakeries to include a complimentary “smash cake” along with the large cake. But, do not make the mistake of assuming your bakery will do that. Also you will want to speak with them about how many you are inviting so that they can tell you how big of a cake to order. They are well versed in how much cake feeds how many people and will be happy to help you with those types of questions.
Once the cake is done, think of ways to make ordinary foods extra cutsie. Teeny tiny corn dogs and lots of sliced fruit are just a couple of ideas. Find a way to meld both adult and child tastes as best you can.
For drinks I always say you can’t go wrong with water. Everyone loves it, it’s good for you and it’s inexpensive. But, you will want to maybe have a juice or punch on hand and maybe even coffee for the grandparents.
Some of us who celebrate winter birthdays in cold northern states may be thinking about serving warm drinks like hot cocoa or hot apple cider in Styrofoam cups. Of course we offer item number 9055. For $48.95 you will receive 50, 16 ounce Styrofoam cups to be printed with your choice of ink color, type style, design, and wording.
If you don’t have a need to keep things extra warm or cold, remember that we have several different sized plastic tumblers available that can be printed to match your theme almost exactly.
Whether you want clear tumblers that serve up to eight ounces like item 6313 where you receive 50 cups for $48.95. Or something like item number 6317 which is made of flexible plastic and holds 14 ounces. For the flexible cups you can put them on the top rack of the dishwasher and personalize them however you would like. The 14 ounce size comes in a set of 50 for $60.95.
To carry with you and possibly mop up spills think of order item 8530. The set of 50 personalized beverage white napkins with your choice of ink color, design, type style and wording. We have so many designs you would be hard pressed to not find one that will fit your party needs.
They are all personalized with your choice of ink color type style design and wording. Something like Cameron’s first birthday bash! will look lovely in navy blue or even a green frog with the words Porter’s one!
Last but, not least don’t forget to hang a few streamers and blow up a few balloons. Expensive decorations might seem important to you, but remember it’s the little things that kids love. Haven’t you heard they’d rather play with the box the toy came in than the actual toy itself?