To spend £100 on a 1st birthday cake?

[FannyTheFlamingo]

DD is almost 1 and we're having a small family get together to celebrate. I've seen a couple of beautiful cakes and would like to have one made, but it costs around £100. DP says this is ridiculous and wants me to get a cheap(er), supermarket cake. I'm so excited for her 1st birthday and just wanted a special, unique cake. I know she won't remember, but she'll see the pictures one day.

For info, we can afford it, so it's not a budget issue. The small party isn't really costing us anything as it's at home with a bit of party food and some balloons. If I had the time and the skill I'd love to be able to make my own, but it would be a disaster!

FWIW, DP thinks a family party is a silly idea and I should have a get together with mums and babies from the baby groups I go to, which I've tried to explain is a silly idea because I only talk to a couple of the mums, so it would just be awkward!

The op doesn’t want to make her own cake. She wants a specific number cake. She’s already seen it and wants that one. She wants to create memories (I think) and have a nice wow moment. Of course the one year old won’t care. That isn’t the point. I say go for it op. My only worry is that other people there make comments on the price of the cake, offer their thoughts on what you should have done and then it spoils the moment for you. How do you think the others at the party are likely to react?

I love nice cakes and I totally get why they are so expensive but I also think £100 is a lot to spend on a cake for a first birthday. I always got nice personalised cakes for the dc birthdays often M&S they do lovely ones, ds2 had a '1' cake from there for £25 I think it was.
I have also bought from some fantastic cake makers locally but I think £100 sounds a lot for what you are after.

I think it’s a bit ridiculous but if you’re dh was on board then it would be ok to be ridiculous! I was ridiculous and spent hours making my 1 year old dd a unicorn cake. She enjoyed eating it but she’d have enjoyed any cake and wouldn’t have noticed if there was no cake! Same with her first Christmas; she had no clue it was Christmas but we will took a gazillion photos of her wig presents, the tree etc.

You can still get one from a cakemaker for less than £100, I think I paid about £40 for one, a bit nicer than a supermarket one (you can chose the design) if you can't make one.

Have had posh cakes like this and they ALWAYS taste crap! Usually nasty synthetic buttercream and quite dry sponge (my mum said the cake for my baby shower which was ££££ was picked up 2 weeks in advance as the baker was going on holiday - she said it would be fine ) Make your own! Good practice for the next umpteen birthdays to come! Pintrest has some great ideas.

If it's just for the photos I'd find a cheaper one. Kids won't care looking back at photos what the cake was.

A party is a bit OTT for the first birthday so I'm with your DH on the expensive cake too.

She doesn't want to make her own! A cake from a proper cake maker will not be dry and made with synthetic buttercream.

There is nothing worst than a crap tasting cake.

I say go for it

I think if you can afford it and it’ll make you happy, go for it!
We spent about £70 on a cake for our DD’s first birthday, which was also just a family tea. It was pretty and absolutely delicious and DD, now 3.5, loves looking at the photos of it.

Also I don’t think a 1st birthday part is OTT at all!

"Have had posh cakes like this and they ALWAYS taste crap"
Which is why I said earlier -never buy a cake from a maker who won't give you a sample to try.

Had 100 people at our 1st birthday. Hired a party planner. It was great

"Had 100 people at our 1st birthday. Hired a party planner. It was great"

I don't even know 100 people. That is a huge bash for a baby's first birthday. Is this a "thing" in some cultures?

We're not religious so it was instead of a christening.
Took us 5 years of ivf to have kids so we wanted to celebrate.
The following year we had 2 kids to tea
😂

Go for it!

2014 that sounds great! But this is MN where celebrations like you describe get looked down on by some people. As do any birthday celebrations for you if you're an adult. Any excuse for a party for me!

You should have and do what you want. Well done and congrats!

I do disagree with the DH bashing though. It sounds like he's trying to nudge you into making some friends for you and the baby. Did you do nct or anything?

Whilst it's not the end of the world or anything it's great to have a gaggle of mums going so the babies can mess round together, go on trips, learn social skills etc etc. They can also be great in an emergency.

The 1st birthday party is a great excuse for you to invite people round and develop these relationships. Do you have any mum friends you would feel comfortable on inviting along as well perhaps?

I do not know anyone who at a birthday party would comment on, let alone criticise, the cost of a cake . Such a person sounds so horrid they would not be invited to many parties one would imagine!

@tomatotornado We don't have NCT where we live, but I have spent the past year going to dozens of baby groups, and have fully immersed myself in the world of making new 'mum' friends, so when I said I didn't socialise with them, that was perhaps a slight exaggeration. There are 2 or 3 mums that I do get on with well, but not enough for a party! I really wanted the family party and it seems most of the new mums I know will be doing the same.

@KERALA1 You sound like my sort of person! Unfortunately MIL will criticise the cost of the cake, but she has something to say whatever o spend my money on, so that's a whole other thread!

Why do you even have to tell her how much it cost. She doesn't need to know.

Why not, if you can afford to and will enjoy it? You're presumably in for 10 years of Paw Patrol/Frozen soon, so make hay while the sun shines! And I'm speaking as someone whose wedding cake was a £60 M&S job.

Cake can (usually) be frozen too, so having more cake than cakeholes isn't a disaster.

YANBU

If you can afford it get it

To the person that suggested the Asda photograph one - have you actually tasted that cake? 🤢

YANBU if you can afford it. Life’s short and if it’ll make you happy, do it. Although don’t diss Colin the Caterpillar, he’s a good cake.

I’v occasionally looked at the photo of me with my 1st bday cake. It was made by my mum (parents skint), was about the size of a pork pie (no huge gathering), and was dwarfed by the single big candle.

I’ m looking mildly amused like I did at pretty much everything at that age. I doubt having a Technicolour Wonder Cake would have made a difference - and its absence didn’t put me off looking at the photo.