Thursday, August 14, 2008

Birthday Party Blues???:Theme and Guest List






Congratulations!  You've set a date and time, and picked a location for your birthday party.  Now you're mind is reeling with the realization that you actually have to host people either in your home or a separate location.  What do you do now?

Theme

There are so many different themes that you can do with the various age groups.  I always have a great time coming up with something different.  It doesn't have to be a commercial character.  In fact, you may save a considerable amount of money by being more original.  Here are just a few ideas to get your creative juices going:

Farm Animals
Jungle Exploration
Frog and bugs
Monkeys
Teddy Bear Picnic
Construction Equipment
John Deere Tractors
Dirt Bikes
Butterflies and Ladybugs
Pirates
Fairies
Generic Trains
Generic Cars
Pink Poodles
Circus
Carnival
Street Fair
Dinosaurs
Cowboys/ Cowgirls and Ranching
Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Football
Kitties
Dance/Cheerleading/Gynmastics
Duckies
Night at the Oscars
70's/ 80's/ 90's

Just be creative.  Keep in mind the personality of your child and the location of your event.  Having a Dance party might not be much fun at a park.  Just as a 3 yr old will appreciate a Bug party more than a Sports party.  Have fun being extra creative.

Guest lists

Guest lists are a sticky subject in our house.  Personally, we cut every other corner that we can to enable us to have larger parties.  Although our kids are small, they tend to have bigger social lives than we do.  But you have to decide for yourself, how big or how small you are choosing to make your event.  There are just a few of the people to keep in mind while you're planning:

Cousins and family
Sports friends
Sunday School friends
School friends
Family friends
Grandparents
Aunts and Uncles

Just as a side note, if you're concerned about too many gifts as you have every right to be, some parents will specifically note on the invitation that gifts are not expected.  We attended a rather large party for a 2 year old recently where the parents commented on the invitation that a book would be very much appreciated.  This kept the clutter down in their home and challenged the creativity of the guests.  The little boy received some wonderful and unusual books for his library.

Invitations

While deciding on a theme, you may opt for a decoration package that includes invitations.  However, you may plan farther ahead and make your own.  This is the route we've gone in the past and not choosing a package has allowed us to be more selective about our decor and price.  I'll address this more next week.  

For now, if you choose to make you're own, here are some additional links to get you started:


Also check out last week's article for further links to invitations.

What's in store for next week?  Decorations and Entertainment.  I can't wait.


1 comment:

Beth Ann said...

good article! gives me good ideas!
Thanks for visiting me...and Im laughing because you said you bum laundry off other people...how do you do that?? LOL

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