With Ailsa's first birthday on the horizon and Christmas out of the way, I decided it was time to get started on planning her birthday party. There are so many things to consider when it comes to throwing a party that I always think it is a good idea to start planning at least a couple of months in advance. I have so many ideas running around in my head thanks to Pinterest so now it is time to get down to business and whittle down all the ideas to make a perfect party for our little girl.
1. Budget
I think this is a great place to start with planning as your budget can limit the number of guests you can invite, the venue, the amount of food and what food you serve. Do you bake your own cake, hire a cake maker or buy a supermarket cake. By working out your budget you can also decide what parts of the party are most important to you. For me I would love Ailsa to have a lovely cake, this means we are looking to have the party in our home so that we do not have the cost of a venue to cover too.
2. Guest list
I think second to budget, you need to work out your guestlist. Do you only invite your closest relatives? Do you invite every mum and baby you have ever met at baby groups? or do you go somewhere in between and invite family and some friends? We are trying to keep numbers to a minimum so we can hold Ailsa's party in our home. As we have 4 family members coming from Scotland to celebrate Ailsa's party (Her grandparents and Aunt and Uncle) we can invite a few more of our friends and even a couple of Ailsa's baby friends.
3. Venue
Where will you be holding the party? We have chosen to have the party at home to keep costs down, but you could use a village hall or maybe even a function room somewhere. If you are planning a party in the summer a garden party would be quite lovely.
4. Theme and Decor
Pinterest has been my friend for this one and there are lots of lovely ideas on there for themes for any type of party you'd like. We are having a pink and gold theme and the decor will match our ideas. I am planning on a banner or 2 and lots of balloons. Our decor ideas will be in a separate post.
5. The Cake
For me the cake is quite important for Ailsa's birthday and where most of our budget will be spent having one made by a cakemaker as she will only turn 1 once, but you can also make the cake yourself, maybe you have a friend or family member who can make a cake for you. The supermarkets also have very lovely cakes for sale.
6. Food
Will you have hot food or cold food? Will it be a meal or a buffett? We will be having a finger food buffet for Ailsa's birthday and we luckily have a costco card so will be buying platters of sandwiches and wraps from there along with other bits and pieces we can cook or make up on the morning of Ailsa's party. I will also be baking some Shamrock cookies for the party as Ailsa was born on St Patrick's day. There may be some other treats in the works.
So there you have it all the components for planning the perfect party. I am excited to do a post full of our theme and Decor ideas in the next couple of weeks.
Labels: baby, birthday, family, first birthday, party, planning
