tips on throwing kids birthday parties

My younger son’s first birthday is just next week and we are getting so excited to have his big bday bash! Some families choose to not have parties because the kid really does not even understand what is going on but others like to make it a huge deal. There is nothing wrong with the way you go, it’s really a family preference 🙂 If you rather not throw a party, check out these cool birthday traditions.  I love to throw parties so of course I wanted to go all out but that meant I had try to stay within a budget. Often times you set a budget, then the week before the party you all of a sudden have to get “all this stuff” and there goes your budget out the door.

Birthday

I did this with my first son! So this time I really took the time to plan it out the way I wanted but tried to stay reasonable about it. Here are some tips that helped me:

  • Make your guest list before you start creating the evite or invitations.  Create a column for adults, kids (ages 2 and up) and infants.  This will come in handy when it is time to figure out how much food you will need.
  • When creating your evite make sure you put an RSVP date at least a week in advance so you know how many people to plan for.
  • On the same spreadsheet of people you invited, create a new tab that has the people that you think will really come.  Some people you invited may just be family from out of town that most likely won’t come.  Estimate the number of people and break it apart into adults, kids and infants.
  • Based on that estimate set a budget for food, entertainment, decorations and favors.  If you are making the food take into consideration your groceries.  A rule of thumb people often forget, not everyone is going to eat one of everything.  A second rule of thumb for parties with a lot of little ones, often times parents don’t have time to sit and eat in peace, they are too busy running around with their kids.
  • Try to think of functional favors.  If you are going to spend the money get something the kids/families can keep using.  You can find cute recycle  lunch bags or themed cups for less than a dollar in lots of online stores.
  • Once you find all your vendors, look through your list and cut out what you think you really don’t need.
  • For parties with little ones, food on a stick is always easy and quick.
  • Go with mini cupcakes, they are a good portion size for everyone since there is so much other food at the party.  It may cost a bit more but you will have less waste.
  • Buy the small water bottles.  It’s not a ton of water but you will be amazed of how many bottles go wasted just because parents get so busy with their kids.
  • When packing for the party, make sure you pack extra foil paper, grocery bags, tupperware and Ziploc bags.  You will need stuff to pack up all the extra food in.

Hope these tips helped!  I love throwing parties so if you have any tips please share them 🙂

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