how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

DD is only going to be 8 mths Jan 6, but with all the gifts she got for Christmas it got me thinking about her birthday. I have no idea how to plan it. I want it to be great but not too over the top and too stressful for me and DH. Any pointers?! What do I HAVE to do and what should I AVOID doing?

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

I have already started to think about DS's 1st bday and he was 6 months last week. But, DS will be 1 June 24th. Because of it being the beginning of the summer I was afraid of a lot of people/family being away on vacations. I have already set a date and sent an email to kind of give everyone a heads up.

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

I started planning DS's birthday in January - and he turned one on June 28th.

I just got the big things settled early on - the tent, the entertainment, the food etc.

Then I had a few months of downtime once everything was booked.

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

I started thinking a litlle about DS also! His will fall the Monday after Fathers Day.............so I am going to set a date for the weekend before or after.

Have to have? Have to do? Whatever you want! My plan is a backyard BBQ! No games or entertainement.......>DS is too young for that!

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

Um, I planned DD's 1st birthday about two or three months ago . . . she's only 10 months old! I love planning this stuff though.

We (I) decided to have it in my living room b/c we're not having that many kids and adults. Probably around 6 kids and 25ish adults. We'll bring pizza, wraps, salad and cake. We're also going to have DD's music teacher from Music Together come for entertainment.

If you don't mind spending the $$$, you could have it at a place like My Gym, Once Upon a Treetop, etc. It seems pretty hassle-free/low maintenance, but you pay for it!

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

DD will be one in May and I have already started looking online for ideas!! I already saw invites that I love, color scheme, entertainment(which I have to book soon since I know this specific vendor books fast)God I love this stuff!!! If you have an idea of what you want her party to be, you can start looking online for favors, supplies, entertainment, invites and the most important thing HER OUTFIT!!!

ETA: spell check

Message edited 12/29/2008 8:45:02 PM.

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

Well, since DS's birthday is May 31st I was going to plan early thinking it was memorial day weekend. Turns out his birthday weekend is the weekend AFTER memorial day. I may just choose what day (sat or sun) I am going to have it and send a save the date email to family members. I will plan everything else later, maybe 1-2 months in advance. We are going to do it in my backyard.

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

I did it 2 months before. I just did a kid's Gymboree party so there wasn't much planning other than booking and invitations.

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

Rylan will be one March 28th and i've been thinking about it lately. I wish it was in the summer so I can have a backyard party and not have to rent out a place.

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

Probably 3-4 months in advance. We had it at our house and for entertainment we used Nick The Balloonatic who was awesome! We got a hero and we made the rest of the food to save money. In the long run we probably only saved about $300 in the end by doing the food ourselves. I wish we had it catered like we did for her Christening! I would have enjoyed myself a lot more!

Re: how soon did you plan DD's 1st bday?

we had a very large 1st bday - about 105 people. I started planning when she was about 8 mths.