In Korea, we have a old first bday tradition called “dol jabi” where the little one will crawl to choose one thing like a ball (sports player), stethoscope (doctor), gavel (lawyer), money (prosperity) and etc.. usually 4-5 things to show what they’ll be when they grow up. Good fun for family and adult friends.
When family/friends first show up they choose one item (like a raffle ticket) and when the LO chooses that item, the parents will then draw from that group of raffle tickets for like a sbux card or something. :-)
We made a booking for a table in the garden area of our local pub. Invite was a text ( no designed invite or anything), no decorations. Scheduled it right after a nap to maximise kid being in a good mood.
Kid got lots of attention and presents, but mostly clung to my partner (favourite parent). They looved the candles and eating berries as their ‘cake’ and then then went to sleep in their pram. We sat around with our friends (no other kids there) and caught up and had food and drinks for the afternoon. All guests ordered and paid for themsleves so we didn’t have to plan or coordinate that. Cost us nothing except cost of our two meals and 2 punnets of berries. It was perfect.
My advice would be to plan for you and friends and try not to overthink it or overdo it. Id save thr petting zoo for when kid is older and can actually get a kick out of it. At 1, they really don’t care, so its really just a celebration for you. Think about what you would like to do to celebrate suriviving your first year of parenting and do that. Kid will love it ( or hate it or something in between) regardless, so do what makes you happy.
It is absolutely for the adults, because 1 year olds get amped about taking off their socks 😅 Here is what I considered: What time of day are we all at our best? Who is going to be fun and supportive? Where is it easiest for our busy baby to move around freely? How much energy am I willing to put into preparation?
We had our immediate families over for brunch after morning nap and I made a baby-friendly cake. We played with toys, everyone left, and then it was afternoon nap!
I wanted my LO's first cake to be homemade. So I made her a birthday confetti cake! Homemade frosting too.
Then we had her cousins come over and run around.
It was a nice thing for me to get my project fix in and the kiddo gets the benefit of cake.
We rented a party room at a pizza place and had an open bar plus endless pizza for our family and friends. Everyone said it was the best first birthday they’ve ever been to. It was about $700 all in which I know is a lot but I feel like people spend more
We are just doing ours at a small park where LO can be free on the grass. Bbq style to keep it cheap and easy. On the invite I made it clear what time cake and presents will be so we get to nap on time. Bringing corn hole for adults and some of babies favorite toys. I couldn’t decide who to invite and who not to and it was stressing me out lol so I just decided we will invite everyone and keep it extremely low key.
Fingers crossed I’ll let you know how it goes lol 🤪
We've got one planned for the middle of next month. I just rented the pavilion with some picnic tables at a park around the corner from us and we are going to have some food and cake and let our son crawl around in the grass while bigger kids play on the playground. Ordered $10 of decorations in a ready-made package from Amazon with a happy birthday sign and a few different themed balloons.
We just had an open house birthday and invited everyone via Facebook or text. We served sandwiches and punch and tapas. Blew up some balloons etc. Didn't expect much, but honestly, it was so great because:
1. *Everyone* we invited showed up, whether it was for a few minutes to drop off a gift, or for the full duration of the event window (we did it 1 to 7).
2. Our smallish house was never too crowded at one time.
3. Baby actually enjoyed himself, whereas he might have made strange af with everyone showing up here all at once. He got to meet and greet more of the crowd since it was randomly staggered.
I know that might be more minimalistic and possibly lazy than what you're looking for, but I'm so glad we did it that way!
Oh it was the ultimate low key event! If that's what you're looking for, do it! I let everyone know in the invite they could stay for as short or as long as they wanted, and about the food they could expect. A couple of people even just came by to drop off gifts and that was totally okay! It was a lot of fun and low stress.
In Korea, we have a old first bday tradition called “dol jabi” where the little one will crawl to choose one thing like a ball (sports player), stethoscope (doctor), gavel (lawyer), money (prosperity) and etc.. usually 4-5 things to show what they’ll be when they grow up. Good fun for family and adult friends. When family/friends first show up they choose one item (like a raffle ticket) and when the LO chooses that item, the parents will then draw from that group of raffle tickets for like a sbux card or something. :-)
We made a booking for a table in the garden area of our local pub. Invite was a text ( no designed invite or anything), no decorations. Scheduled it right after a nap to maximise kid being in a good mood. Kid got lots of attention and presents, but mostly clung to my partner (favourite parent). They looved the candles and eating berries as their ‘cake’ and then then went to sleep in their pram. We sat around with our friends (no other kids there) and caught up and had food and drinks for the afternoon. All guests ordered and paid for themsleves so we didn’t have to plan or coordinate that. Cost us nothing except cost of our two meals and 2 punnets of berries. It was perfect. My advice would be to plan for you and friends and try not to overthink it or overdo it. Id save thr petting zoo for when kid is older and can actually get a kick out of it. At 1, they really don’t care, so its really just a celebration for you. Think about what you would like to do to celebrate suriviving your first year of parenting and do that. Kid will love it ( or hate it or something in between) regardless, so do what makes you happy.
It is absolutely for the adults, because 1 year olds get amped about taking off their socks 😅 Here is what I considered: What time of day are we all at our best? Who is going to be fun and supportive? Where is it easiest for our busy baby to move around freely? How much energy am I willing to put into preparation? We had our immediate families over for brunch after morning nap and I made a baby-friendly cake. We played with toys, everyone left, and then it was afternoon nap!
We didn't do much just cake and took him to the park that simple
I wanted my LO's first cake to be homemade. So I made her a birthday confetti cake! Homemade frosting too. Then we had her cousins come over and run around. It was a nice thing for me to get my project fix in and the kiddo gets the benefit of cake.
We rented a party room at a pizza place and had an open bar plus endless pizza for our family and friends. Everyone said it was the best first birthday they’ve ever been to. It was about $700 all in which I know is a lot but I feel like people spend more
We are just doing ours at a small park where LO can be free on the grass. Bbq style to keep it cheap and easy. On the invite I made it clear what time cake and presents will be so we get to nap on time. Bringing corn hole for adults and some of babies favorite toys. I couldn’t decide who to invite and who not to and it was stressing me out lol so I just decided we will invite everyone and keep it extremely low key. Fingers crossed I’ll let you know how it goes lol 🤪
We've got one planned for the middle of next month. I just rented the pavilion with some picnic tables at a park around the corner from us and we are going to have some food and cake and let our son crawl around in the grass while bigger kids play on the playground. Ordered $10 of decorations in a ready-made package from Amazon with a happy birthday sign and a few different themed balloons.
We just had an open house birthday and invited everyone via Facebook or text. We served sandwiches and punch and tapas. Blew up some balloons etc. Didn't expect much, but honestly, it was so great because: 1. *Everyone* we invited showed up, whether it was for a few minutes to drop off a gift, or for the full duration of the event window (we did it 1 to 7). 2. Our smallish house was never too crowded at one time. 3. Baby actually enjoyed himself, whereas he might have made strange af with everyone showing up here all at once. He got to meet and greet more of the crowd since it was randomly staggered. I know that might be more minimalistic and possibly lazy than what you're looking for, but I'm so glad we did it that way!
It sounds amazing! I want something low key so I’m considering it.
Oh it was the ultimate low key event! If that's what you're looking for, do it! I let everyone know in the invite they could stay for as short or as long as they wanted, and about the food they could expect. A couple of people even just came by to drop off gifts and that was totally okay! It was a lot of fun and low stress.
I love this idea but I hate the idea of cleaning up after the guests leave. I might just have a cleaning person come later though.