from a Type A recovering overachiever, I thought it would be fun to pen out how I attempted yet inadvertently failed to scale back my Pinterest board dreams in creating a truly magical (yet totally un-memorable for my one year old) FIRST birthday party 🥳
So yes, anyway you slice this cake -- this party is for me. Ok, me and my husband. Because in all reality she obviously won't remember it, but she will have pictures, and I will remember it, and heck, I want to celebrate the past year!! This once incapable of holding up her head little being who now runs around the grocery store and has her own opinions (lord help me!) has grown SO much in 365 days and so have we, so why not celebrate?
Does the color coordinated balloons and extremely thought out food display equate to love? No. But it equates to me showing up for my babe and trying to create wonderful memories for her. So no shame if you AREN'T the Pinterest mama, or if you are the pin it and forget it mama, or if to you, birthday parties are about takeout and group texts "hey, the kid turns 4 so be here at 6" the day before. You all rock!
That being said, if you want to provide the aesthetically pleasing photo memories the same way I do, and perhaps you, too, are a recovering overachiever, then here's my how-to create birthday magic with MINIMAL stress (and cost!) in a half serious half teasing list of tips & tricks!
Pin and then be realistic.
Pinterest has great stuff but should be INSPIRATION. Know your crowd, know your space, know your kid.
Like, is anyone really going to take photos with a backdrop? Unless you are renting out a wedding venue level space, will it ever actually look like that picture anyway? Ain't nothing wrong with a community room at your church, town building, or fire department. Or my personal favorite.... home!!
But be realistic and accept that it won't look EXACTLY like the picture, don't set yourself up for perfection and let it stress you out or ruin your day.
Canva & text is fine, y'all.
Seriously, you don't need to mail invites to your sister-in-law or aunt Betty. A group text works great, or copy and paste the same message for that personal touch. If you wanna get a little extra boujee, Canva has SO many free templates for party invitations that you can just fill in the blanks from your phone, download it as an image, and then text out to your peeps. Plus, then you could add pictures to the invite! Seriously, no one keeps the invite anyway, save your time and money and don't re-invent the wheel.
Don't wait until the night before the party.
Seriously, don't do it to yourself. Even if you aren't hosting at home, you can prep the ever-important picture board ahead of time, you can organize the favors or whatever other boujee things your heart is set on, BEFORE 9pm on the day before.
Delegate, accept the help that is offered, too! When someone says, "can I bring anything?" why are we more ofthen than not, too proud to just TELL them something? Just me? Sure, bring some liters of soda. A bag of chips. Ice cream.
The crockpot is your friend.
Boujee on a budget, use that Instant Pot or the old tried and true, crockpot, and actually be PRESENT at the party. Throw it together the morning of, set it and forget it.
Don't schedule the party during nap time.
This one makes the list because my daughter nearly dozed off into her cake, y'all.
Hope you enjoyed reading my very lukewarm, opposite of earth-shattering takes.
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