The Guide to Planning Your Child's Birthday Party
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Meal time, laundry, dishes, carpool/drop-off, soccer practice, holidays and school events... The list never ends when you’re a parent. Then every year (or more if you have multiple children) you get the job of birthday planning, too.
If party planning is stressing you out, this list is here to help!
Start with a quick brainstorming session
Set aside 15-20 minutes to get those creative juices flowing and make a quick outline for the party. I like to use the Maple app to get organized, more on that below!
Topics include:
Budget
Location
Theme
Guest List + Invitations
Food
Decorations
Party Favors
Special features and/or vendors (bounce house, face painter, visit from spider man, baby goats, caterer, etc.)
I often find these topics cover a majority of party planning details and a great way to get started is to just put some ideas down.
Get organized and ask for help
The best way to stay on top of all the party planning to-dos and track your progress is to MAKE LISTS—for this and most everything else I use the Maple App.
I create a new section or “topic” in Maple for each party to keep it all in one place. For example, I can make a new topic called “Princess Birthday Party” and set tasks for everything related to the party under that topic. This helps to stay organized and on top of everything that needs to happen for planning…AND I can delegate & assign tasks to my partner and other family members through the app, so everyone can manage their own tasks!
It can be hard to ask for help - I’m guilty of thinking I can/should do it all, too. But you do NOT need to do everything. Ask for help and include your partner and other family members in the planning and execution of the party. You don’t need to do this alone, and you may be surprised at how many people want to help out. Maybe your partner can order and pick up the party food, or your mother-in-law can help set up the streamers and balloons on the day of the party. Does your neighbor work for a local bakery? Ask them about cake options, you never know what great help and advice you can get if you don’t ask.
Delegate as many tasks as possible. Whatever you can do to lessen the day-of/week-of party stress, the better!
Break everything into chunks
Start planning as far in advance as possible to take some of the pressure off as the party date gets closer. Here’s a breakdown for tackling each chunk of the party planning:
Budget
This is very personal for every family and party, but definitely the starting point for planning any party. For some this may be simple and sweet with minimal cost and planning needed. Others may decide to hire a professional party planner and/or caterers. Sit down with your partner and decide what you feel comfortable spending for the party overall, then work from there!
Venue & Theme
I think the best thing to do chronologically once a budget is in place is to start with selecting a venue (if necessary) and theme for the party. Once you’ve narrowed down the theme and vision for your party, you can delve deeper into each topic. Then move forward with making the guest list and take care of invitations.
A few fun theme ideas:
Superhero / Princess Party
Party Animals / Zoo
Carnival / Circus
Dinosaurs
Mermaids / Pirates / Under the Sea / Pool Party
Frozen / Winter Wonderland / Ice Skating
Tea Party
Fire Trucks / Cars
Arts & Crafts / Painting
Movie Night Party w/Popcorn
Don’t be afraid to get creative with the theme and make it personal to your family. You can take anything that means something to you or your child and turn it into a party idea. My daughter’s first birthday was an Elton John themed “Onederful” party, her second birthday was an Alice in Wonderland Tea for TWO party.
Guest List + Invitations
Once you have a general plan for your party’s budget, theme and venue you can start on the guest list. Invitations are always a bit of a pain, especially if you’re tracking down mailing / email addresses, but I highly recommend going with an electronic invitation to cut down on some of the stress and paperwork. Try a platform like Evite to manage invitations and RSVP’s easily.
Menu
Next you can move on to the party menu. Food is an important aspect of most parties, but it can also be one of the most complicated - and can easily take up a majority of the budget.
I do try my best to curate a party menu that is:
Full of crowd-pleasers
Food allergy-sensitive
Works within the theme of the party
For example, if I’m throwing a tea party I’ll serve tea sandwiches, scones and little finger foods that work with the theme. I’ll try to have a variety of flavor options and combinations so there’s hopefully “something for everyone”.
I also highly recommend adding a place to note any food allergies in your invitations / RSVP options, that way your party guests can let you know if there’s a specific allergy or sensitivity to avoid serving.
That said, don’t worry too much about pleasing everyone - because you can’t. Just try your best to serve a few options and try to make a menu that’s not too complicated or labor-intensive.
Decorations + Party Favors
I usually try to plan and purchase decorations as far in advance as possible so they’re essentially off the to-do list until the day of the party for set-up. This works with almost everything except balloons or any other perishable decor you may include (not sure if a 3 year old needs an ice sculpture, but I guess you never know).
Some common decorations and accoutrements you may want to consider are streamers/tassels, signs, balloons, party cups, plates, cutlery, napkins and hats. If you’re feeling a bit “extra” and want to kick things up a notch you can also include things like a photo backdrop or floral ice cubes.
Party favors are not something to stress over - you’re throwing an entire event and providing food, cake and probably some sort of entertainment for your guests. Try to go easy on yourself and do something simple for favors - especially for a kids party. There’s the tried and true bag of candy & stickers, bubbles, or there’s always the option of doing cookies or some other edible treat. Look for something simple and low in cost to make this a (hopefully) stress-free part of your planning. Again, order and pick up in advance if possible.
Special Features
As someone who personally enjoys planning events and really loves a good theme, finding a special feature for a party gets me pretty excited. BUT I know that for most this can easily add another layer of stress and usually another big cost to the party budget. There is absolutely no rule that says your child’s birthday party needs anything more than pizza, cake, a few balloons and some friends. But if you are looking to hire something or someone as a special feature for your party, I recommend looking into the cost and availability as early as possible - and then going ahead and booking it well in advance. Once again, the focus here is to make the days leading up to the party much less stressful so everything falls into place easily on the day of the party.
A few ideas for special features: bounce house, petting zoo/animals (who doesn’t love baby goats and tiny horses?), superhero or princess guests, face painters, clowns, dancers, live music.
Execution and party day
If possible, try to set up as much of the party in the days leading up or the day before. Save the day-of setup for last minute things that can’t be done early like the food and any finishing touches for decorations.
During the party you should be able to mostly focus on greeting guests, letting them know where the food, entertainment and bathrooms are - and most importantly soaking up the memories of your sweet birthday child. Don’t forget to take plenty of photos, too! ;)
No matter the size or expense of the party you’re throwing, the most important thing is to have fun and spend time together celebrating with family and friends. Many kids won’t remember their early birthday parties, but those memories will last a lifetime for you and the other adults involved.
Make a plan by breaking everything into manageable pieces, ask for help and delegate tasks, and try to complete as many pieces of the party puzzle in advance as possible. The end result will be a fun and memorable event for friends and family to enjoy!