TIPS FOR PLANNING YOUR BABY'S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY 🎉

Your munchkin is turning one! Congratulations! This is such a BIG milestone , and I believe it should be memorable whatever you do. I initially didn't want to plan a party because I never like planning parties but as we got closer to the date, I began to feel more celebratory - I wanted to turn up gaaaan. I got a lot of questions after sharing my baby's Cakesmash photos and 1st birthday party photos, so I want to share tips on how to plan your baby's first birthday party!

1.

I didn't have pictures when my son was born as is the trend now and I really wanted to. So I decided having cake smash photos were a big deal. I found an awesome photographer and within hours we set up and appointment for the shoot. I loved it. These photos were used on the birthday to decorate the venue and the grandparents loved it. We also agreed the photographer was going to cover the party,

2. 

Decide how big you want to have this birthday turn up. You can have a parlour party (just invite closest friends over), or have a creche party (take a cake to your baby's creche along with party packs +take photos) or have big party inviting family, friends and all the jamboreee

3.

If you are having a big party, decide on the number of guest you want to have. I chose my guest by how active they have been in my baby's life. If I had to invite everybody we would not be able to cater for it so I invited my nearest and dearest. 

Don't forget the grandparents and great grand parents. It was after the party I realised I didn't invite my grandma, Tito's great grandma ...

4. 

Pick your venue. I wanted to have the party in a park that already had swings and games + playing area for kids. 

I discovered Kanu Ndubuisi park in Alausa a few weeks before the party so I had to go to their office to get a permit. It took a week and was about N50, 000 to use it for a party, you are not allowed to bring your own food (they had only 2 food vendors you MUST choose from) and not allowed to play on the grass. I didn't like all the restrictions :(

5. 

Create a theme for the party because themes are always fun. You can choose your theme on your baby's favourite cartoon or toy. My Tito loves Barney but it was difficult to find barney decor so we had just the cake, photo props a barney themed. The rest of it was mickey mouse and winnie the pooh. You can't go wrong with cartoon characters.  I already have the theme for his second birthday planned out. LOL

6

Make sure the party runs only for a few hours. Remember kids get cranky. So your party should start and finish within 4 hours.  Everything should be sharp sharp!

7.

Don't forget the details: get a photographer (all you have after your party is memories and photos to show your child when he/she gets older), get a DJ (music can create a mood,  family member can volunteer to handle music and cue in the right songs and the right moment). Don't forget to get Clowns too! My clowns doubled as the MC and that was one of the highlights of the day. All the kids wanted to meet the clowns. The clowns came all the way from the United States of Aguda. 

8. 

Most of the catering budget will be spent on the adults even though this is a childs party. Don't forget to give the kids a variety of meals: chicken and chips, cake, candy, sweets, biscuits.

9.

Get friends to help. Shoutout to friendship mi Tomi aka Clarine aya Fikayo Otun, she made sure guests were served food. She's awesome like that!

10.

Remember to get gifts for the children-this is why a guest list is important. Kids love party packs and you can find them at Iporin market in Lagos. The party packs contain toys, sweets, biscuits, books, pens, and anything you feel appropriate for their age - you buy the contents in bulk and distribute evenly. I decided to have unisex party packs because it was too much hassle figuring out how many boys/girls were coming.  Get the bag kind of party packs as the box kind I got were difficult to handle (they were so cute though!) plus they are more expensive. So you can save money by buying the bag kind. 

11.

Things will not be perfect. C'mon! It's a 1 year old's party...don't beat yourself up if you feel it is not good enough. My baby spent only 30 minutes awake at his party and I'm glad the photographer was smart enough to capture those moments quickly. Getting him to pose for the group photos was A LOT of work too. 

Have fun at the party!