How much did you spend on your LOs 1st birthday?
How much did you spend on your LOs 1st birthday?
132 votes
watermelon / 14467 posts
Less than $100. We had it at our house, did not have catering or pro photography, and did not do much in the way of decorating. I designed and printed the invites at home. We splurged on a bakery cake for guests, but I made the smash cake.
pomegranate / 3779 posts
We provided a full meal, but decorations were pretty minimal (garland, balloons, printed photos, and I made a high chair tutu), so somewhere around $225.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
With food, probably like $200-250. Most of that being on food and a some decorations. I didn't go crazy making most stuff at home, but it was perfect. This is my plan for #2 too. At home with me doing the food and décor.
coconut / 8472 posts
I think it was somewhere around $500 but I'm not sure. We spent maybe probably $400 on food including a cake, plus invites, decorations and things like plates/cups/plastic utensils.
We had about 50-60 people and we used Wegman's catering services for most of the food. We had a lot of heavy apps, salads and sandwiches. We also got a bunch of food and apps at Costco.
pomelo / 5660 posts
@chopsuey: lOl I don't even know how much Bs birthday party was... I lost count
pomegranate / 3032 posts
We had 60 people at our house, made all the food and ordered the cake.
Invites/stamps - $30
Clothes - $25 for her, $35 for me
Cake - $40 (10" strawberry short cake & cupcake)
Food - $200 (Apps, Chicken salad, hot dogs, pulled pork, other dessert items, sides)
Decorations - $60 (garland, balloons, craft supplies, cake stand)
Favors - $50 (for 14)
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
$420 totally for 35 guests. It was at home, I DIYed everything, baked the cakes and we cooked a full meal. But we always have a TON of food and beer. Staying in that range for DD2's first as well.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@avivoca: can I ask how many guests you had? I got a quote for 24 cupcakes and that was $50! I have no idea how you ordered a fancy cake and served food and drinks for under $100! Shoot, even if we did pizza and cake it'll be more than $100!
pomegranate / 3411 posts
definitely more than $100 due to cake and decor, but definitely less than $500 since we did it at home in our then apartment with a small number of guests (less than 10 adults and a few toddlers), so food and drinks did not cost much. even with his gifts and the helium balloons i splurged on, i would say we were still under $500. I never added it up though.
cantaloupe / 6206 posts
Ummm probably $150. All of that was a big cake and appetizers from trader joe's and some cheap decorations from iParty. Not an important event, in my opinion.
grapefruit / 4819 posts
Just over $100 for DD1 - we didn't send out invites or splurge on crazy decorations. Everyone was invited by word of mouth, I made the decorations myself, made the cake, and we just did a BBQ, plus appetisers and snacks, for the food. The only reason the cost went over $100 is because Australia is ridiculously expensive (ie $8 for one little punnet of raspberries or blueberries, etc, which makes fruit kebabs a little bit pricey!)
For DD2, we spent under $100 - once again, I made the decorations and cake myself, and we made all the food.
As a disclaimer though, we are living overseas so both parties were fairly small - less than 20 people at each party.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
- I made/printed my own invites and hand delivered (maybe $10)
- Decorations/paper goods $30
- Party activities for kids $30
- Food and drink for 40 $150
pomegranate / 3565 posts
Too much. Cake was about $125 and bounce house is $150 or so. Then add food, drinks, favors, outfit, etc. I voted over $500 but maybe it was close? And for food that means a lot of food not just apps. It was maybe 30 adults and 15 kids?
grapefruit / 4545 posts
I didnt keep close track but for 30ish guests I prob spend $250ish...with $75 being diy decor and the rest food and beverages. I made all the food myself.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I want to say around $500? His cake alone was already $100 something and we had over 100 people at the house!
pineapple / 12802 posts
hmmm. Probably between $50 - $75.
Cheap/DIY decorations, made the food/cake, used my own camera, dollar store party bags. It was a fantastic day!
ETA: approx. 30 peeps.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@regberadaisy: I'd say there were between 15 and 20 people. The food was sandwiches, hummus, cake, fruit salad, and chips. I bought lunch meat from the deli and plain bread (the kind I get is usually 2 for $4). The cake wasn't too expensive, maybe $40? We didn't do sodas. I always have tea on hand for iced tea (I buy the big box of Lipton), so a lot of stuff we already had and didn't buy specifically for the party. It was so cold and windy that day that we stayed inside.
GOLD / papaya / 10166 posts
Too much both times! We had about 50 people at each party and this is a rough breakdown of the costs.
$ 90 - Bouncy house for the older kids (all day)
$100 - Wine/Beer/other non-alcoholic beverages
$100 - chili bar and other snacks that went with the theme $ 30 - cake/cupcakes
$125 - decorations and other party supplies
$ 50 - favors
grapefruit / 4903 posts
We spent $200 for 25 people. I ordered invites, and made the decorations, food and cake. That also includes activities and favors.
grapefruit / 4418 posts
It was $1000 just for food. She's a winter baby so we rented a private room in a moderately priced restaurant. This was for $25 people. It included an appetizer, main course and desert. I only did a smash cake for DD. I probably spent another $500 for decor, favors, invitations, her outfit, etc. I tried to use stuff I had at home where I could like frames and prints from her nursery that matched the theme.
Sadly,it fell on the day we had our one and only storm so some people couldn't make it and I just worried about everyone else traveling to and from the rest of the time! It was still worth it though !
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
I'm guessing around $600 but I didn't pay close attention. My guess is $150 on beverages (beer/wine/etc), $300 on food, $150 on party favors, decor, miscellaneous. My MIL and SIL always make a fancy cake (think Martha Stewart) or cupcakes. We have it at our house and there's usually around 30 ppl.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
We had a party at home, about 30 people. My biggest expense was the cake, at $175. I think all in, we probably spent about $500.
clementine / 854 posts
Try Costco for the cake. Their sheet cakes are delicious and so cheap.
We spent about $350.
Invites: $25
Lunch: $150 (pizza and salad from a local place)
Dessert: $75ish. cake pops, made a small cake, had some Buckeyes and other dips too
Decorations, outfit, random crap that I didn't need: $100
grapefruit / 4400 posts
We had it at our house with around 40 guests, but we had to rent a bunch of stuff (canopy, tables, chairs, bounce house) and we did a full meal for everyone. Plus cake (local grocery store), booze for the adults, pinata, invites/postage/thank you cards, etc. I think we were between $501-$600.
For C, I hired a new photographer to take candids during the party so I wouldn't have to worry about it. My good friend took photos for H's party, so we spent that extra $50 on a face painter for an hour for the kids.
pear / 1672 posts
It was just me, DH, my mother and her nanny in our apartment. My mother made a cake. We had a few balloons. Definitely less than $100. We had a bigger 2 birthday party.
persimmon / 1188 posts
To be honest, I didn't set or stick to any kind of budget but it was a fairly simple party. We got most of the food from Wegmans so it was good and simple. We rented a space so that was an expense but a necessary one. We decorated but nothing crazy. We invited about 100 people so that was kind of crazy. I think 70 came. I just wanted to make sure everyone was well-fed and I think they were. His next party will be much smaller but I'll probably do something. His birthday is around Thanksgiving so we usually have family in town.
eggplant / 11716 posts
Maybe around $200-$300? We just had extended family and used the community room in my in-laws condo building. MIL and SIl made most of the food and we picked up some other foods from a local catering place. SIL made the cake. DH took photos, and I bought the decor at dollar stores and online.
pear / 1622 posts
LO's 1st birthday is coming up in a few weeks and since our families are unable to come and celebrate, we are keeping it simple and celebrating at a local donut shop - his first cake will be a donut. We've gotten him a few gifts but we're keeping the celebration simple. Our pediatrician actually told us not to throw a party and just go out to celebrate making it through the first year.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
We had 40ish people. I made all the decorations, bought a cake for $25 from Costco, but I still probably spent $500-$600. It was a lot of food, all snack stuff for a 3pm party. But beer was the biggest expense. My family likes to eat and drink.
pomelo / 5524 posts
If you count in the cost of invitations, I'd say about $200. We had it at our house with us picking up catering at Wegman's, so it wasn't outrageous. The food was the most expensive part, but it was worth it for me to not have to worry about cooking...especially since I had surgery earlier in the week.
coconut / 8430 posts
I think around $200-250 for 50 people? I don't remember exactly but we ordered large party trays from a Chinese restaurant which kept our lunch costs pretty low. I also picked up tons of snacks/appetizers from Costco. I didn't spend much on decorations and we didn't hire any entertainment.
persimmon / 1043 posts
It was a lot... invites, food, cake/sweets, table setup/decor, favors, entertainment, photog, venue, etc.. but I'm Korean and the 1st birthday is akin to a quinceanera.
cherry / 181 posts
My LO is still about 5 months old, but I don't plan on having a huge party. It'll probably just be a small family gathering. I love baking, so I will always make my son's bday cakes, and my husband loves cooking so he'll probably make something. Once my LO is older we'll have bigger parties, since he'll have friends, but for now it'll be just a small family gathering.
pomelo / 5660 posts
@Smurfette: We had 2 kegs at B's 1st birthday. We had the party at our house. I am not having the party at our house this year. I'm anti house parties because I don't like the mess.
eggplant / 11287 posts
Way too much for my DD1's first birthday, so I learned my lesson and knew how to cut corners when it came to budget for my DD2's first birthday. Both were equally nice, but I feel like I had a better idea of what I was doing the second time around, and what was really needed in terms of food and decor. I busted my ass and stressed myself out way too much for DD1's birthday (like putting fresh floral bouquet centerpieces on every single guest table), and I wasn't going to do that again! DD1's party cost was probably in the third category, and DD2's party cost was probably in the second category.
pomegranate / 3845 posts
We had it at a kids' place. I think it was ~$200 for 10 kids and included admission and decorations, plus paper plates and forks for cake.
We could buy pizzas for like $10 each, so we bought a few and brought some sodas and water, plus the cake.
Maybe $300 total? It was kind of pricey but I wanted to do something LO would enjoy and I didn't have any desire to host at my house with an early spring baby! The weather is too unpredictable that time of year.
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