A Step-by-Step Guide to the Best 1st Birthday Ideas & 1st Birthday Decorations

1st Birthdays are a milestone in every child`s life and they must be celebrated to be remembered. Whether you are looking for 1st birthday ideas for boys or 1st birthday ideas for girls, we are here to help your organise  a 1st birthday party to remember.

Our experience demonstrates that a 1^st birthday party can be quite a stressful event for the parents as well as grandparents. We usually get calls from parents in a panic mode not sure where to start with organising their child`s 1^st birthday party. As a result, we have decided to create a guide with the most popular 1^st birthday party ideas. And in fact, this guide will help you organise your 1^st birthday party from start to finish. We will guide thorugh the process on how to find great 1^st birthday party venues, how to decorate them with 1^st birthday decorations and 1^st birthday balloons, what is the best 1^st birthday party food you can serve and finally what is the best 1st birthday kids entertainment.

Determine the budget for your 1^st birthday party

Before even trying to call party companies to enquire about their party services, determine the budget to accomplish your 1^st birthday party ideas. And I can hear many of you asking ` But how can we determine a budget without even knowing the actual prices of the services and products?`. Well the answer is very simple. The prices vary, that is to say, you can buy 1^st birthday decorations or 1^st birthday balloons from a dollar shop or you can opt for a better quality decorations that will make your 1^st birthday super special. The same applies to the food you are going to organise for the first birthday. You can ask your friends or relatives to help you with the food preparation and save some money for the items such as balloon decorations, 1^st birthday backdrops or other birthday decorations that you are unsure how to create.Another important point to mention is that when it comes to finding a 1^st birthday venue,the prices vary dramatically depending on where you would like to have the 1^st birthday party organised.Certainly, hosting a 1^st birthday at home would be the most affordable solution as you won`t need to pay for the room or venue hire,however ask yourself whether your home is big enough for the number of children and adults you are inviting at the party.

1^st Birthday Party Venues – 1^st Birthday Party Outdoor Ideas

When the budget has been determined, the next step is to determine the 1^st birthday venue.There are many options when it comes to choosing a venues for your 1^st birthday. First we will discuss the most affordable options – The 1^st Birthday Party Outdoor Ideas:

1. a) Your closest park – Parks are amazing for a 1^st They are open and wide space, usually have some playgrounds and can fit as many guests as you would like to invite.We always suggest our clients to choose a park far from the road so they won`t need to get stressed about their kids`safety. A great addition to the park parties is our ball pit hire and soft play hire. They are great for kids age 10 months to 6 years old and parents love playing in them too. If this sounds to you like an idea to include as part of your party follow the link HERE & find out more about our ball pit hire. If interested in soft play hire, feel free to visit out page on softplay HERE. Even though parks seem to be one of the best 1^st Birthday Party Outdoor Ideas, yet they require lots of preparation. This means you will need to find some chairs for the adults and the kids, picnic mats,tables and bring all the food and drinks to the park so make sure you have helpers with you.However, if organising your party in a park you must always ensure that you have a back up option in case of rain (unless there are covered areas in the actual park).Many parents forget about the rain and on the day they are in a panic mode about where they can have their party.So never forget the rain!
2. b) Your local bowling club, your local Café or even your local RSL club might have an outdoor area too so this can be great 1^st birthday party outdoor ideas.However, unlike the park that usually comes at no cost ( unfortunately, some Councils have started charging park hire fees so it seems the concept of free park will disappear soon ),in the clubs or the Cafes you won`t be allowed to bring your own food or drinks so there will be a higher cost for you as a parent.

1^st Birthday Party Venues – 1^st Birthday Party Indoor Ideas

The number of 1^st birthday party indoor ideas is much higher than the outdoor ideas.However, this option is definitely more costly.The 1^st birthday indoor party venues include:

a) Community Halls – mostly community halls are more affordable, however you will need to bring your own food and drinks and usually it is required that the hall be cleaned by the person who hired it.If you are on a budget,this is a perfect solution for your 1^st birthday party. Unlike the parks where you need to bring chairs and tables, community halls offer them as part of your hire so there is no need to worry about this.Even though community halls are spacious and kids can run in the outdoor area,they rarely have playgrounds for kids to play in. We always suggest to parents to hire a ball pit or hire a soft play or even a jumping castle so kids can have fun and adults can enjoy the party too.

b) Restaurants, Cafes , Function Centres, Bowling Clubs or Play Centres is another option for an indoor 1^st birthday party venue. This option is great for those who have a bigger budget to allocate towards their 1^st birthday party,so they don`t need to worry about any food preparation,drinks to name a few.Nevertheless, the kids entertainment is usually organised by the parents. For example, we can set up our ball pits in any venue or restaurant you can think of but the set up of the jumping castle depends on factors such as the ceiling height, the access and we will need to discuss this before you book any of these items for your 1^st birthday.

1^st Birthday Decorations and 1^st birthday balloons

After the decision regarding the venue has been made, it is time for you to determine the 1^st Birthday Decorations and 1^st birthday balloons. But before jumping on a call with us we would like you to think about the following : the party theme – ask yourself what does my child like? What is his/her favourite cartoon character? Or maybe what is the colour/colours I want to see at the party? Browse through the many photos we have in the Balloon section HERE or visit Pinterest for some more cool ideas.   We can certainly help you if you get stuck or if you cannot decide on the theme or the colour. Or if you don`t want to be bothered with the party planning , we can take over the process and plan the entire party for you. So the options are there.The most popular 1<sup>st</sup> birthday party theme is the Hot Air Balloon theme as this theme is very gender neutral, it is classy and creates that beautiful atmosphere at the party. However, if you like a girls 1<sup>st</sup> birthday party theme, the most requested themes are colour themes with purple,pink and white,Minnie Mouse theme,the Unicorn theme,Peter Rabbit parties,Twinkle Twinkle little star,Peppa Pig as well as Woodland party themes.Some themes popular for a boys 1<sup>st</sup> birthday include The Wild One,Winnie The Pooh,the Teddy Bear theme,Safari theme,Monster Truck theme,Baby Shark,Paw Patrol or even the Rocket theme.We can certainly help you with the 1<sup>st</sup> Birthday Decorations and 1<sup>st</sup> birthday balloons so let`s talk!

1^st Birthday Party Food

When it comes to party food for 1^st birthday, the range is quite extensive. As mentioned earlier if you are on a budget, you can organise your food at home. Your relatives` and friends` help is always what is needed in these situations as it can free up some of your time you might need for the other preparation required for your 1^st birthday. Popular kids food we often see at 1^st birthdays include fruit skewers, fairy bread, sausage pies or meat pies, donuts, cupcakes and most important – the birthday cake. When it comes to the adult food, great 1^st birthday party ideas include barbecue, pizza or even some home made sandwiches.If you are not willing or running out of time to prepare the food at home,then you can order catering or a very popular option is mobile pizza catering or mobile barbecue which will prepare the food just in front of your home or in your backyard.If organising the 1^st birthday in a venue or a restaurant,the food should not be of your concern as it will be prepared there.So the options are endless but everything depends on your budget and whether you would like to be involved in the preparation of the food.

1^st birthday party entertainment

You have ticked the boxes for the 1^st birthday venue, 1^st birthday party food and 1^st birthday decorations but you have not organised the kids party entertainment. Who will look after all the children while adults enjoy their food and drinks? It is time to hire a ball pit, soft play and/or jumping castle! It is your child`s 1^st birthday and we always advise parents to think about how could their child enjoy his/her 1^st birthday. 1 year olds, toddlers and children up to 7 years old love playing in the ball pits and in the soft play areas.Older children, older than 4 years old prefer jumping in the jumping castles too. Or how about hiring a facepainter who can face paint the children or even a balloon twister to make cool balloon animals? Bounce and Party has been entertaining children for more than 15 years and we are confident we can help with your kids entertainment too.

1^st birthday photography

Don`t forget to book your 1<sup>st</sup> birthday photography! We are saying this as we have heard many times parents say “We wish we had a photographer for our child`s 1^st birthday“. Mobile phones or home cameras are usually not used in the moments when you have the best time at the party. Parents tend to forget to take the best photos at the party as they are either busy chatting with their guests or they need to look after their children. Hence, we always suggest the investment in the 1^st birthday photography is well worth it when you see the final product – the 1^st birthday photos. For more info on our 1st birthday or Christening photography please follow the link HERE

These are the basic baby steps when organising your 1^st birthday party. I hope we helped you with your 1^st birthday party organisation  and if you think we have missed anything, we will be happy to hear your thoughts.

Ready to book your 1st Birthday Party Package?

Services we provide for 1st birthday include :

• Ball Pit Hire

• Jumping Castle Hire

• Kids Entertainer

• 1st Birthday Photography

• 1st Birthday Decorations (hall decorations,home decorations,venue decorations…)

For more information on our 1st birthday party package please visit our First Birthday Party Page HERE

Call us now on 0420207713 and let us create a complete 1^st birthday package for you!

For more First Birthday Tips check out our

1st Birthday Party blog below.