Valentine's Day First Birthday Ideas

[nkrumpfer]

Hello, Looking for some help and opinions.

My daughter was born on Valentine's Day and will be celebrating her first birthday. I was thinking of having her birthday at noon on valentine's day because it is a saturday this year. Would it be inappropriate to have it on valentine's day since it's a national holiday celebrated by all the parents that are invited?

Also any ideas for the party and tips you can give me since this will be the first birthday party I've ever planned..

Anything would be helpful. Thanks!!

-Nicole

[dottieflan]

Hi, Nicole. I am in the same boat.

My 2nd daughter was born on Valentine's Day last year as well. I am having her party on Valentine's Day between 12 and 2 (around naptimes) so that whomever might be celebrating Valentine's Day with their significant other can still do that earlier or later in the day.

Based on my experiences with my first, I am keeping this 1st birthday small and intimate, only inviting people with whom she has a relationship. We had 45 people at my 1st daughter's party (our family is large and local) and it was insane. She got totally overwhelmed and so did we.

For this one, I'm going with a Valentine's Day theme (hearts, red/pink decorations, etc.) so I can recognize Valentine's Day along with her birthday. You can find lots of easy party ideas by doing a Google search for Valentine's Day party ideas. You can also do a 1st Birthday Party theme inserting Valentine's Day decorations wherever appropriate. Or, you can really just focus on the fact that she is 1 and do your party theme around that. The Dollar Store is your best bet for inexpensive decorations, plates, balloons, etc.

Here are some useful links:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_celebrat...day_1493204.bc
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/valentines_party.htm
http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/pare...ay/index.jhtml
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/holi...-and-games-ms/

My advice - keep it small, simple and really enjoy the moment. It's a milestone in her life that should be savored, not one that should be stressful. :-)

Hope that helps. Good luck and Happy Birthday to your little one!

Dorothy

[charliesmommy]

I know someone whose birthday is on Valentine's Day and she absolutely HATES it because her parties always had a V-Day theme when she was a kid.

[WWmama]

I kind of agree with charliesmommy. For this first birthday, the Valentines Day theme will be fine, but for future birthdays, I'd steer clear of it. My birthday is close to Christmas and I have actually had birthday cakes with Santa on them. Nice.

[Disco Lemonade]

Hey my dads bday is also on VDay, what we did was throw noon parties like you, like that our guests still had their VDay plans if they had any. When we wanted to pull an all nighter we would just do it the day before or a few days before.

[Mom22Boys]

I think you could still get away with having the birthday party on that Saturday as long as it was an early party and didn't last too long (most kids parties only last about an hour to an hour and a half anyways). If you're going to do it and want people to come you better make up your mind and get those invitations out now!