Im not sure if you knew, but I was an event coordinator for a convention and arena center before I had my daughter! I planned concerts and conventions for thousands! Planned weddings that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars!! But planning my first kid’s bday party was its own adventure!! You think, eh it’s a kid’s birthday party, how much effort could it really entail?!

A LOT!!!

I now have my first baby, so my first kid’s bday party!! Here are a few things I’ve learned:

• It’s ok to buy items from Etsy or other small shops! You’re not a better mom because you made a decoration yourself!! This was my hardest one! I’m a crafty person but it’s hard to get ALL of the crafts done with a baby running around! I had baby footprints all over one of my projects that went straight in the trash!! 🤦🏽‍♀️ After buying all of the supplies it would’ve been close to the cost of letting someone else make it! And worth the extra few dollars for my sanity and time!! Although, I made some amazing memories having a craft night with 2 of my best friends making a few things!
• Get the food catered!! Same reasons as above! You have enough going on without trying to cut fruit for 40+ people the night before the party! Let’s find ways to enjoy this party a little ourselves!! Plus who really has that much room in their fridges for all of the food being prepped?! Who’s kid’s leave them alone long enough to prepare all of that food?!
• Don’t take it personal when someone can’t make it to the party!! It’s hard because you think you’re child is the greatest human on earth and you want others to feel the same way and want others to celebrate their life!! Life happens for others too!! How many parties have you missed because life came up! Give them the benefit of doubt!!

• Kid’s parties are exhausting!! Even if you order the decor and get the food catered/ordered! They are still exhausting!! Running after the kids, coordinating everything, entertaining the adults, decorating, making sure everything runs smoothly!! Penelope fell asleep walking out to the car and slept her longest naps ever after! I wanted to take the longest naps of MY life after!! Which reminds me, don’t plan their party during their nap time! Oh and eat! I was starving for something other than finger foods and cookies! lol
• People don’t RSVP anymore! No matter how much you bug them either 😉 Ok, most do once you bug them! If people not RSVPing bothers you because you can’t plan food, games, cake, seating, or anything else; make sure you aren’t that person the next time you get an invite!!
• Don’t wait until the last minute!! Start ordering items and booking venues as soon as you can!! Fun little story: We had the venue for Penelope’s party booked months in advance! 2 months before the party they jacked up the prices (thousands of dollars!!!) so we had to find a new place! A week before the party, the new place called and said they accidentally double booked our party time so we had to change the time to early in the morning! It was absolutely hectic!!
• Overbuy party favors! This might make you nervous, but always be prepared for a few extra kids! One of the worst things would be running out of favors for a kid! Consider each sibling in a family getting a party favor too! I grabbed a few extra and a few extra kids showed up and I had the exact number of party favors to hand out!
• Find amazing friends and family to help you set up and tear down! I would not have survived without my tribe!! We had 15 minutes to decorate and lots of decorations to get up!! After, you’re so tired you just want to rush and throw it all away! One of my best friends brought me a Starbucks on her way! How perfect is she!?
• Picking a Theme: As soon as Penelope was born I was set on having her 1st birthday be One In a Melon theme with lots of watermelon! As Penelope grew, she fell in love with Finding Dory! I considered changing the theme to Dory there for a little bit. I decided that I wanted to do the cutesy theme while I could! I know when she gets older, she’ll want those character themes so I’m going to enjoy my cheesy themes while I can!! Pinterest is full of fun party themes!!
• Don’t forget to enjoy the party yourself!! I kept having to step back and remember to have some fun! I survived this past year, I deserve to celebrate my daughters life!! I went down the inflatable slide a few times with her and it was amazing!!
• Send Thank You Cards as soon as possible!! We took a photo of Penelope in her birthday outfit with a gift bag and sent it to everyone saying thank you! Now they have a keepsake too! Make sure to send them out as soon as possible because you will forget the details of who brought what and any extra little things you’d like to mention, like who helped set up and tear down!

We are thinking of mixing it up a little! Doing a party every other year and then the in between years, going on a fun family vacation! We will see what happens though!

You can find all of the details of her party HERE!

What are some fun birthday party tips you’ve learned from experience?

Until next time,

B