How We Planned a Fun First Birthday Party

When our daughter was born over Masters weekend in 2024, I immediately knew I wanted that for her first birthday theme. Nick and I had the opportunity to go to the Masters in 2023 and it was such a fun experience! I love all of the ideas online around the theme - we went with "First Par-Tee".

We determined the date and I decided to host it at our home. Closer to the event date, we ended up hosting two parties because some family couldn't make it to Atlanta, which turned out perfect because both events became a smaller, more personal, affair. We were able to use my sister's home, which has a great outdoor space, for the second party.

Most of the items were purchased from Etsy and Amazon. I liked using Etsy for a few key items - such as the 1 year garland for the high chair and cake topper - because you can tell it is handcrafted. We also purchased custom cups that were similar to the actual Masters cups (kids had the tennis ball cups with straws to use)! Generic items like the hanging flags, cupcake toppers, wax paper and paper food trays were easy to purchase from Amazon.

I used Canva Pro to make the invitations, the coordinating signs, and the thank you notes that were sent out as well. The pricing is affordable and there are so many themes already available to make it super simple!

Activities

We ended up purchasing this inflatable last minute for something for the kids to do - it was LOVED by some of the older kids and held up well. Our daughter went on it but was somewhat too young to really enjoy it. We figured in the next few years she'll be all about it, so it was a justifiable purchase.

Something else that ended up being a hit were the inflatable golf clubs and white beach balls I purchased from Amazon - sometimes simple is the best way to go! We had a variety of kids ages 1 to 10, and they absolutely loved wacking the "golf balls" with the clubs. Neither survived both parties of wear and tear, haha.

Tips

• Prep as much ahead of time. I did a lot of the prep work the week and day before the party - this includes setting up the tables, deciding how I wanted things set up, and baking the smash cake.

• Hire a photographer. I had always planned this but ended up hiring two since we had two parties, but I'm still glad I did! It is amazing how you think you'll take a ton of photos but when the event comes, you are so busy with your little one and entertaining, you totally forget. I was so thankful I had someone capture the day!

• Pick a window that is after a nap time. This may be hard if you are planning a party way ahead, but at 1 year our daughter was napping around 10am and 2/3pm, so having the party 12pm - 2pm worked perfect. Now, at almost 16 months, she naps during that window! Giving a larger window allows guests the opportunity to drop by whenever they can, which is helpful as well. For all the parties we've attended lately, we've been la little ate because of nap or feeding times!

• Decorate and plan for easy clean up. When it came down to the set up for everything, we purchased a lot of individual items (juice boxes, sodas, and chips). This made the clean up much easier!

• Pick a theme and keep it simple! It was much easier for me to design the tablescapes and decorations once I picked the few colors I wanted to use. It also means the supplies can be used again, such as the pink checkered wax paper for the plates and the turf table runners.

• Plan for the unexpected. We had a bee hive form in our front yard I kid you not, an hour before the party at our house, so we had to quickly pivot to move everything downstairs to our backyard. It was also super hot that day, so midway during the party we put up a pop up tent. If you are planning an outdoor event, make a back up indoor plan. Or, if it one of the months that the weather can change day to day, have options such as fans or space heaters to keep guests comfortable!

• Don't overcomplicate the day. I planned a guessing game to do and honestly found that with all that was happening, I totally forgot to read off the answers. Not a big deal, but if you are planning specific games, set timers OR have someone else help you manage the event!

• Do a test run for things before the big day. The balloon arch was SO difficult to figure out. For the first party, we made one using a generic air pump, and they ALL popped while we were making it and during the party. At 10pm the night before, all I could do is laugh about it. For the second party, I used an actual balloon pump and they held up much better, but it was still a pain to attach to the arches. My tip here isn't necessarily to pass on it, but give yourself time to figure it out! I would probably have attached the plastic strip that comes with the balloons FIRST and then loop in each balloon. Also, stretching the balloons first and using the specific balloon pump is helped them to not pop.