first birthday

my daughter turns one at the end of February and I am having a serious debate on a big party vs just our immediate family coming to our home to celebrate. I feel she deserves to be celebrated with all our friends and family but at the same time feel she won't remember it and I've always been set on keeping it small. also our house is not big enough to allow us to have the party there if we invite outside the immediate so then we would need to have it outside the home. please help me with pros and cons of having a first birthday! and helpful ideas of where to have it if we go that route!

first birthday

DD's birthday is coming up. We're doing something small at the house (family and close friends). I don't feel it's necessary to spend a fortune on a party she won't enjoy.

first birthday

We had it outside. We have close friends that we knew wanted to celebrate with us. Plus i didn't want a bunch of kids running around our place or the clean up afterwards. In total we only had 25 people including kids and we didn't spend too much.

Re: first birthday

We had a big first bday party at home but DDs bday is in the summer so everyone was outside for the most part. We had a tent and covered wrap around porch so there would still be shelter if it rained (which it did the morning of). We invited 120 people. For her 2nd bday, we kept it more as a "kid" party so it was much smaller--immediate family and our close friends & their kids. We had around 50 people at the Holtsville Ecology site. But, winter b-days are obviously different.

first birthday

For DD's 1st birthday we did low key at our house with immediate family. I ordered a bunch of pizza and some half trays of stuff and then got a sheet cake from BJ's. IMO, spending a lot of money on a birthday party for a child that wouldn't remember it was a waste. This year when she turns 2, we will likely have her birthday at a place (Little Gym, White Post Farms, etc.) and invite the kids from her class at daycare and the children of our good friends that she's familiar with.

first birthday

Im trying to decide the same for Jillian at the end of Jan. It sucks because its cold so were forced to do it somewhere. But we had a big party for Haileys bday so i kind of want to do it for her too...

Re: first birthday

first birthday

We had a "medium" sized birthday for our DS. About 70 people at Nunley's. I'm usually partial to house parties but he's born in early April so weather isn't quite warm enough to be outside. And I feel like restaurants are to stuffy. I am glad we had a big first birthday, in no way was it over the top, but he had a ball, even if he won't remember. It was a celebration for us too as parents :) Honestly. I always say I want to "keep it small" but I find it so hard to once I start making a guest list. My family is so close knit that I cant really make cuts. We're pretty close to our friends too. Whatever you do, big or small, you won't regret it. A one year old doesnt need much to be entertained.

Re: first birthday

We had a huge first birthday party at an American Legion Hall. It was fun but a lot of work and expensive! I'm glad we did it for his first birthday but we're going to keep it small from now on.

Re: first birthday

We had this dilemma - we had a nice size 1st birthday for my 3 older ones in the backyard, but my youngest is a December baby so the house was out if we were going to do it. I felt bad if we did for the others and not him. We ended up doing at the Irish American Society on Saturday and it worked out great. All the kids had fun and had plenty of room to run around.

Re: first birthday

Don't believe in big 1st birthday parties I feel like they are a waste of money. They don't remember the party at all.
We did a "big" party for the christening instead (and this wasn't that elaborate)

Re: first birthday

Re: first birthday