First birthdays may not live long in the memory of your newly minted one-year-old, but they are an exciting time to celebrate their first-ever birthday and make memories for you and your loved ones—plus get some adorable pictures for the scrapbook of your baby covered in cake and frosting!
A first birthday is just as much a celebration of your little one as it is a celebration of parents too! Congratulations, Mom and Dad. You made it through the first year!
If you’re looking for a Quick Start Guide to Planning the Best First Birthday Party Ever, here are five steps to making it an unforgettable event (for those attendees with long-term memory capabilities, at least):
1. Pick a Theme
Where your child may have more of a say in future party themes, this is your chance to indulge in all of your aesthetic birthday fantasies and pick a party theme that you personally enjoy and find adorable! Don’t forget: it’s about you too!
Here are some first-birthday themes that we think are simply too cute to pass up:
- Wild One – Animal or jungle-themed party
- First Trip Around the Sun – Sun or space-themed party
- Winter ONEderland – Winter-themed party
- Baby in ONEderland – An “Alice in Wonderland” theme with your baby’s name swapped in for Alice (unless their name is Alice, in which case this theme is a must!)
- Berry First Birthday – What baby doesn’t love fruits and berries?
- Beary First Birthday – A woodland, teddy-bear-themed party
- One Hit ONEder – Music-themed party
- My First Rodeo – Cowboys, horses, or western-themed party
- One Ring Circus – Circus-themed party
- The Big One – A surfing and beach-themed party
- Hole in One – A golf-themed get-together
- Character-Themed Parties with your little one’s favorite (Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Bluey . . . the possibilities are endless!)
2. Plan the Menu
No party is complete without delicious food. Since this first birthday party will probably not be much of a sit-down meal with all the kiddos running around, we recommend a buffet-style experience full of your baby’s favorite finger foods! Keeping all the food safe for your baby means guests of all ages can indulge, plus it’s entertaining for everyone to try eating bananas cut into strips or quartered grapes!
In addition to finger foods and other buffet basics, throw in some sweet treats that add to the experience and give your one-year-old the chance to try something new! For a laugh, rent a cotton candy machine and let your baby try this mysteriously disappearing treat. Have that video camera ready to capture their reaction!
Finger foods that your baby loves and can enjoy alongside guests, plus some other fun treats to make it exciting like cotton candy or mini donuts to give your child an experience of unique firsts.
3. Get a Smash Cake
A smash cake is a smaller birthday cake just for the guest of honor. The idea is to give your birthday boy or girl an entire cake and let them smash it to pieces, keeping the cake or cupcakes for your guests safe from the one-year-old’s grabby hands. It also makes for a hilarious video or photos as your child paints themselves in frosting and indulges in the sweet treat!
4. Activities for Young Attendees
Don’t forget to include activities to keep other children entertained! While your child may be too young for things like bounce houses, the other young guests will love having something to keep them busy. It will also give the parents a nice break to enjoy chatting with you and snuggling the birthday boy or girl! Our favorite bounce houses for first birthdays:
- Blue Dog Bounce (great for a Blue’s Clues party!)
- Disney Princess Castle for your little princess or prince
- Elephant Bounce or Tiger Belly Bouncer for an animal-themed party
- Paw Patrol, Rugrats, or Winnie the Pooh for character-themed parties
Other activities that your one-year-old can participate in include finger painting, a little ball pit, or blowing bubbles. Party planners local to the Kansas City area can also create lasting memories and unique party favors with Wax Hands—something your one-year-old can also participate in to make a cute little memento from the day!
5. Don’t Forget the Photos!
Because your one-year-old won’t have any permanent memories from their first birthday, it’s your responsibility to capture photos of the day to share with them later in life (as well as any future significant others, of course).
While it’s simple enough to remember to take photos of the smash cake and other cute moments with your child throughout the day, it’s also nice to have pictures of your party guests to remember everyone who came to celebrate with you and your little one. Set up a Selfie Booth with a phone or camera to make it easy for your guests to capture photos of themselves that you can later put together in a First Birthday photo album!
Make Your Bash Better with Fun Services Midwest!
Fun Services Midwest has a large catalog of exciting and unique party rentals for parties in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas to make your child’s first birthday party a total blast for everyone! In addition to our inflatables, concessions, and party games, we also offer all the event extras you need to throw your party: tables, chairs, tents, you name it! Contact us to book your rentals today and reserve your party date.
