Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Parties/celebrations

Whether you're planning a birthday or a hen do, you'll find plenty of ideas for your celebration on our Party forum.

Flip

Original poster

what did you do for your LO's 1st birthday? - and would this bother you?

21 replies

Dorasboots · 20/02/2008 16:03

We are planning a family day with DS for his birthday, just the 3 of us, presents, birthday cake and a day out.

We're having a tea party the next day for family & friends, i'm only inviting friends with babies / toddlers that DS plays with. I'm only planning on doing literally a tea party, so am baking fairy cakes, madeira cake, biscuits, rice krispie cakes, birthday cake etc. (just call me nigella ).

However, we've recently been to friends' LO's 1st parties, with elaborate food put on for the adults, lasagne, curries etc. party bags for the LOs to take home and I'm not planning on doing any of this. If you'd invited me to your elaborate party, then turned up to this at ours, would it bother you? - just curious, I'm sure my friends are not going to judge me, but this is how I see DS's party being this year.

Be grateful for any replies! TIA.
p.s. we will have beers, wine and crisps/nuts in for any parents who don't want just a cuppa!

OP posts:

RubySlippers · 20/02/2008 16:04

party bags for a one year old?!

your idea sounds spot on especially the wine

RubySlippers · 20/02/2008 16:05

i did a tea party for DS's 1st birthday - sandwiches and scones and plenty of booze

was lovely

nailpolish · 20/02/2008 16:07

your party sounds perfect

mistlethrush · 20/02/2008 16:07

We had tea party for ds's 1st bday - a few small friends, plenty of older children and adults - ds loved strawberries (1st taste) and cream scones.

PortAndLemon · 20/02/2008 16:15

For DS's first birthday my parents came round (at their suggestion). We had a chocolate cake with a candle. Blew out candle, sang "Happy Birthday", put a plastic sheet on the floor and let DS loose with a slice of chocolate cake. Then we went out to the playground at the park. MIL and the SILs came round the day after his birthday, polished off the rest of the cake, and went to another park.

One of DS's "friends" (she is a friend now, but let's be honest, at the age of 1 she was merely "a baby we know of the same age") did pop round with her mother (who'd been in postnatal group with me) for half an hour or so, but that was it.

We did know one person who had an elaborate party, but I think they'd have been happy to admit themselves that it was for the benefit of the adults. Most people did something along the scale of what we did or nothing at all, and no one got offended.

Original poster

Dorasboots · 20/02/2008 16:15

oh thank you! I was starting to wonder if it was just me...how I miss the days of jelly & ice-cream and paste sandwiches. I judged how rich my friends were by whether they had squash or real fizzy pop at their parties! (as we had squash.)

OP posts:

MirandaG · 20/02/2008 16:15

I agree - your party sounds lovely and totally age appropriate. Nice to have a drink and nibbles for the parents too. My DD1 (4y) has been invited to some incredibly elaborate parties (up to £500-£600 being spent). I do something much more simple and I know that one mother in particular was not impressed and told me how much she had spent on hers, but frankly I don't care. I don't have that kind of money and if people are doing this at age one, what in the name of God are their children going to expect when they're aged 10!!! Dinner at Gordon Ramsey's? The children enjoy the simpler parties just as much - after all, they are mostly there for the cake!
Have a lovely time

LadybirdG · 20/02/2008 16:16

I agree, party sounds fine

sophiewd · 20/02/2008 16:17

We did exactly the same, enjoy it.

LadyOfWaffle · 20/02/2008 16:18

DSs first birthday we went to Odds Farm with a friend, her DP and her 2 children (one was 5 days older than DS) then back to my mums for a small party, with my mum, my sister and DSs godmother and the bunch who came to the farm. What you are doing sounds spot on, you have got years to come of your LO wanting a big party/bouncy castle/clown etc. etc. This year for DSs 2nd we are having the same people and doing pretty much the same thing, but going to the zoo instead.

BirdyArms · 20/02/2008 16:20

Your party sounds lovely.

MrsMattie · 20/02/2008 16:21

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. We did a big shindig for our son's 1st birthday - loads of adults and kids, tea party spread for the kids, proper food & booze for the grown ups, it went on from 2pm until about 10pm (!). Since then, we haven't had parties for our DS. His 2nd and 3rd birthdays were both very low key, with just close family. Both the big party and the little tea party for family were nice in their own ways. I certainly wouldn't have any expectations of other people's parties - just to be invited is nice enough for me :-)

Flum · 20/02/2008 16:22

Sounds lovely. All parties are different. Gets tricky when they are older as they want this and they want that that so and so had.

I stayed up half the night making a 'Barbie' cake as would not buy one for £45 at Waitrose!

keep it simple while you can. some people get more into birthdays than others.

Me, I would just be SO CHUFFED to be improtant enough to be invited. i would be happy with a stale wotsit and a cup of warm flat coke, me.

ConnorTraceptive · 20/02/2008 16:28

We did a BBQ for our families and invited a couple of other children ds's age. We had a cake but now I come to think of it I don't think I made any special party food for the little ones. Certainly no party bags.

sleepycat · 20/02/2008 16:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

feetheart · 20/02/2008 16:40

For both DD's and DS's 1st birthday we have gone swimming as they both love it. We told friends what we were doing and said they could join us if they wanted, everyone was invited back to ours for cake afterwards whether they came swimming or not.
It was lovely and wore everyone out.

I think your idea sounds lovely, enjoy it and sod the competitive mothers

easterbunbuns · 04/03/2008 20:24

sounds nice to me! Keep it simple - I did do party food for the adults that dropped in but did it in a way that it was so retro it was great fun- i.e had all the party food that i would have had as a kid and relived old memories! Home made cake, sauasages on sticks, butterfly buns, jelly and ice cream, jam sandwiches - great fun to do and good to eat as well! Party bags were in the old days just to take a slice of cake home in - so thats all we did! Cheaper and nicer!

devonsmummy · 04/03/2008 20:37

For DS's 1st birthday we had a party at a soft play centre as our house was too small to invite the people we wanted.

We had a separate room too and took our own food- sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes etc .

The adults stayed in this room having a beer/wine while the kids played in the soft play with a few of us supervising.

I must say I felt quite stressed by it all and would much rather have had a low key celebration at home! Your plan sounds perfect.

liath · 05/03/2008 17:09

Party bags??? For one year olds????

Good grief!

Your party sounds lovely.

sfxmum · 05/03/2008 17:18

On the day we just went to the playground and had a family dinner,just the 3 of us, it was a Friday and we wanted to just spend the day together.
the following day we had a picnic with the extended family I baked a simple cake and decorated it myself. it was very nice

lydiathetattooedlady · 06/03/2008 20:57

for my dd's pending first birthday we are having a party for family only, (it is also going to be a sort of naming ceremony but not elaborate!) anyway we're just doing a tea party with cake, i think its a bit extravagant to be putting on a full buffet for a first party, ours will be tea and cake...have told her "odd parents" to bring a hand made sponge each!

Flip