*This is a guest post*

It’s that exciting time of the year where your child has his or her very first birthday. The excitement is kicking in and of course you want to throw a 1st birthday party that will be memorable for everyone. You want to organise an unforgettable party that you can one day look back on and show your child photos when they are 15 years old to have a laugh and reminisce their early years. This would no doubt be embarrassing to them at that age, however it will create a laugh and some hype around the family as you relive the memory. Here are some ideas to help assist your preparation.

Develop a Theme

The 1st birthday should be memorable and themes always leave priceless memories. Depending on their gender, choose a suitable theme that will create a buzz. For example for a girl, it would be ideal to have fairy costumes and boys are more into clowns. Be sure to decorate the area with balloons, streamers and other party accessories to allow your baby to acknowledge the excitement.

Invite Close Friends and Family

You don’t want to overwhelm your child with too many guests at their own birthday party. Trim the list to a dozen or so of their immediate family or friends. Start by making a personal birthday invitation hand crafted with a photo of your child and send out to invitees. On the day, each guest can have their chance to play and shower the baby with love and gifts. This will eventually tire the baby out with the abundance of emotion in the atmosphere, hence the reason to keep the guest list reasonably small.

Plenty of Food and Birthday Cake

Nothing makes a party more than the amount of delicious food available at your fingertips. Depending on what your baby can actually eat, tailor the party around their favourite snacks. Be sure to also provide suitable food for the other guests that are invited to the party. The best part is the birthday cake. They’ll love the fact that they will have their favourite TV character or toy as a birthday cake. This will be one of the most exciting aspects of the party, so make sure to have an appropriate cake made that will put a smile on their face.

Sing Happy Birthday

This can make or break the birthday party. As the day is all about them, be sure to sing happy birthday and really amp up the atmosphere and create excitement. The smile on your baby’s face and the laughter this will bring will be the highlight of the day and make all the preparation worthwhile.

Play Time

Set aside some time towards the end for them to play with their new toys. They’ll have plenty to choose from as they just received gifts from all the guests. This will give all the remaining guests time to catch up and have a little downtime.

Nap Time

It has been an eventful and tiring few hours and by this time your baby is exhausted and fast asleep. This is your chance to clean up from the celebration and go through all the photos from the day.

Written by Mick Cutcliffe
Mick has been a stay home dad for three years while also managing his home business. Mick enjoys a backyard barbeque with his three sons and his golden retriever.