We had Mabel's birthday party this weekend, which was the first party we have ever hosted at our house. I hate to admit this over a 1- year- old's birthday, but I was kind of a nervous wreck. I always feel like I am going to majorly eff up when I am in charge of something like this. I feel like some people are born with this incredible hosting gene-- they seem to inherently know what to serve, how much to make, and exactly what decor to put up and where. Oh, and how to make those cool Fondant cakes. They don't leave out details, and their parties look effortless. While I'm sort of OCD when it comes to planning stuff, from vacations to parties (I made about six different lists for this party), I am definitely not one of those effortless- party- planner types. I had to think real hard about what we would need and make a bazillion trips to the store.
I really wanted the party to be at the house as a personal preference. I have nothing against parties at halls, but for my nervous- nellie self, I like smaller parties. We decided that since the weather wouldn't allow for going outdoors, we would have to trim our initial guest list substantially, which at first I thought stunk because it meant we couldn't invite many friends. J and I decided we would invite two friends each, with their significant others/ kids, of course: I had my bestie/ Mabel's godmother, and my other really close friend E. J had B and S come up from CT. Other than that, it was all family. I thought it would make me a little sad not to have other friends of ours come over and celebrate, but a little ways into the day, I saw we had the perfect number of people for a 1- year- old to have at her party, and since a lot of my girlfriends are single, they probably would have been bored stiff having to watch a 1- year- old eat cake and open puzzles.
Knowing we would have to massively clean our hellstorm of a house the morning of the fiesta, I didn't want to leave a ton of cooking to be done. We ordered two party pizzas and a 3- foot long sub from a local grocery. I made meatballs and a mac n cheese dish and a salad. My mom also made a salad and brought the cake and cupcakes. After we all housed cheese and crackers and a bunch of other apps, the main stuff went out, and I laughed at how badly I had misjudged. I was convinced it would not be enough food; meanwhile, we didn't even touch the second party pizza, and not even half the sub was consumed. Again, I lack that planning gene that tells you that you don't also have to do meatballs and mac n cheese. People just want to eat food and it's not all that important to have a ginormous variety.
By the time the cake part came along, Mabel was going on an afternoon of non- napping. There was no way this kid was gonna go down for a slumber upstairs with her party going on downstairs. Miraculously enough, she did awesomely-- the cake part was very cute, as it is at most babies' parties. To me, this marked the conclusion of the itinerary, and peeps could just sit around and continue to chow and talk and drink and whatever. Apparently, not everyone agreed. A family member was in the kitchen complaining that I wasn't having Mabel open her gifts in front of everyone, because "it [was] a birthday party after all." Ummm, really? Do YOU want to sit there and watch Mabel (me) open up outfit after outfit, toy after toy, and forcefully "oo" and "ah" at it all? I have learned that in family crap, you have to keep the peace. And so on we went to open the presents. Mabel wanted nothing to do with such a task-- who can blame her? SHE IS ONE. SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. She preferred to play with bags and bits of tissue paper and other toys that were already sitting nearby, and I let her. I flew through the opening (perhaps too briskly), but I have been at those parties where the gift- opening is an absolute effing eternity, and since this party had gone real well up to that point, I didn't want to slow it down with the ridiculousness of a 1- year- old ripping off wrapping paper bit by bit.
As Shakespeare said, all's well that ends well, and that's how this party went. No complaints. Mabel was great, our guests were great, and the food ended up being, I think, okay too. Lessons learned for you, or for me:
1. You don't need the amount of food you think you do, and people will bring more than you think. I didn't want to give anyone except my mom a job to do (there's a comfort in asking your own mom, but I hate for anyone else to be put- upon), yet my BIL brought baked brie and crackers and grapes, and my MIL brought a whole tray of apps. We didn't even NEED the apps J and I bought.
2. Always serve alcohol. Not everyone will drink, but many will, and a few beers makes gift- opening all the more palatable. I say if you have a tight budget, have fewer people so you can have alcohol. This is my same thought on drinks at weddings; you should always have at least one hour of open bar for folks, and if you can't, have fewer people.
3. You don't need to open the gifts. But if you do, don't have the baby do it. I am not being all "I did it perfectly" here. I almost DID have Mabel open them with me, but then saw it would have taken a century. People are standing around. They don't want that.
4. Even if you're not an emo person, you will get emo watching your baby blow out her candle and eat her cake. It's weird but true. I didn't feel sad or recognize that Mabel's first b-day party was monumental until everyone was gathered around singing to her. It was precious. And she was so happy. Melt.
5. No matter what you do for a party, it will be fun. I agonized over the Dr. Seuss theme, searching on Etsy for the perfect personalized cupcake toppers and making a couple of banners using Dr. Seuss letters. I got themed balloons and a themed cake, and we set up Dr. S. books and stuffed animals on the window sill. We had red and white napkins, and a decorative Dr. Seuss hat. It sounds cliched, but in the end, none of it mattered. Mabel certainly didn't know any better, and everyone there would have had fun with food, drink, and a few laughs. Do what makes you happy for the party, but keep in mind the baby has not a clue. :)
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