5 Tips For A Fun First Birthday Party

Hey all! I’m Jessica from Fantabulosity, and I am ecstatic to be here at Tall Mom, Tiny Baby! So I bet you have a “first birthday,” coming up, and you’re wondering what things you should do, to make it extra special, right? Well, I wouldn’t say that I’m a professional party planner, but I will say that I’ve been hired to design parties for others, and I’m pretty much obsessed with party planning and entertaining, so I may have some ideas that could help! {See some of the parties I’ve designed here}

Alright… you don’t have to do all of these things of course. Let’s be real, we would all like to be “supermoms,” and have it all together, but that’s just not reality. Maybe one or two of these ideas will be something that you want to do for your kiddo, so the pressure of doing them all, is totally off of your shoulders.

First Birthday “Must-Do’s”

  • Hire or designate a photographer– I am so thankful that I hired a photographer for my son’s first birthday. The day was so busy with preparing, greeting the guests, and making sure the food/drinks were flowing, that I feel like I missed so many of the important details of the big day. If you’d like to save on some cash, ask a friend or a family member to snap some pictures of guests/food/cake/birthday boy or girl, and you’d be set!
  • Smash cake– It’s so cute to watch the little ones rip in to that ball of sugar, without any restraint. If they’ve never had sugar before, watch out… it may be pretty cute to watch that face light up. Heads up… be prepared to stay up all night if it’s a night party. 😉 {P.S. don’t forget a change of clothes if the party is away from home. What a mess it can be.}
  • Time Capsule– Ask your guests to write the birthday boy/girl a short letter, so they can read it when they get older. Maybe this could be advice, a memory of the birthday party, wishes for the future, etc. You can store all of the letters in to a container marked, “Do not open until you turn {age}.” I do the age “21” for my time capsules. See the time capsule I did for my sons first birthday: First Birthday Time Capsule
  • First Birthday Shirt/Outfit– It’s super cute when the special birthday kiddo has a shirt that says something about the first birthday. If there is a party theme, its also a fun idea to have the shirt fit the theme!
  • Party Time– Make sure you schedule the party time around your kiddos naptime. Trying to keep that one year old happy for greeting people can be a nightmare, if he/she is super sleepy.

Lastly, make sure YOU have fun. Planning and throwing parties can be utterly exhausting on the host. Prepare as much as you can before the big day arrives, so you’re not overwhelmed on party day, and you lose sight of what is most important; celebrating that little precious life. Good luck, and happy planning! XOXO!


Many thanks to Jessica for writing this awesome First Birthday Party guest post.  Want to know more about this awesome blogger?  I’ll let her introduce herself:


Hi there! My name is Jessica Burgess.  I’m an early “30-something,” gal, from Farmington Missouri, who loves organization, decorating my home, good deals, and anything else that makes me feel like “Supermom.”  I’m so very fortunate to stay at home with my two little boys, while my husband works incredibly hard to support all of us, with his career in real estate development, and share all of my crazy stories and fantabulous ideas with you all.