When you have birthday parties for your LO(s), what size is your guest list usually? Do you go all out, or do you like to keep things simple?
DH tends to think the more the merrier. I, on the other hand, am always happy to scale the guest list back.
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So far the first has been the big invite aunts, uncles etc party which comes out to about 30ish. Then DD1''s 2nd and 3rd have been just low key grandparents, uncle and us. I was laid off / unemployed for both.
I'm really hoping to throw her a friend party for her 4th. Fingers crossed I'm still employed. 
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All the family is invited - grandparents, aunts, uncles, all cousins, and close friends. To me it's not huge just family and close friends, but maybe 20-25 adults and about 15 kids?
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I'm big on the smaller, more intimate parties. LO's parties will be immediate family only (roughly 8 adults + 6 kids) until he gets into school and starts making friends, and then I'll open it up to his classmates and friends he makes.
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I try to do simple, but always end up spending a lot more than planned and with at least 20 guests.
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About a dozen kids and 25 adults
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We just did 20 kids 20 adults and that was our max.
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the first 2 were pretty small since i lived in a small space. But now that we have a house, i'd still like the guest list to a minimum. when i go to parties with tons of people, i actually find it more boring than if i;m with a few good friends that i actually talk to and let our kids play.
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the first 2 parties were 30-40 people. subsequent ones will probably be less.
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@californiadreams: That's how I feel hosting such big events. We literally had 70+ at our last one and I feel like I never get to talk to anyone because I'm so busy trying to take care of everyone.
Our last event was a first birthday, but even other parties are usually 40-50 people and I find it overwhelming and not as enjoyable as it can be. DH's argument is always where we draw the line at family, which is all we ever invite.
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We have never done real birthday parties, just family parties with us, and occasionally the grandparents if they are in town. This year though, my son turns 5 and I think it's time for a real party. We will invite everyone from his class (12 kids) and one or two outside friends. Parents will be welcome to stay. I need to figure out where we are having this party though!
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This is kind of an interesting topic for me because the different cultural aspects of living abroad (that I've never thought of before) is coming into play.
DD will be turning 4 next summer and I really, really want to have a big girl party for her. But she's born on the end of June and everybody is either getting ready for, or leaving on vacation, or has already gone. Her preschool/daycare is even shut down and there's hardly any kids left by the time her birthday comes around. In fact, the whole country (Sweden) practically shuts down every July. Not to mention the fact that everyone here seems to only celebrate with immediate family (preschool age).
To add to my apprehension, the other girls in her age group at daycare/preschool are all born just weeks of each other. It's a small daycare and so far, no one has had a big party yet. So, I'm kind of waiting to see what the other parents do, but at the same time, I know someone has to start it. All the while trying to figure out how they celebrate here while not going completely overboard - which is soooooooo easy to do since Swedish culture is so very much into doing things "just enough" or lagom!
Lol. I wrote a book. The quick answer: so far it's just been family, but whenever she's old enough to invite her buds, it'll be 30+
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My son is 1.5. I used his first birthday as an excuse to reboot my postpartum social life. Many of our friends have preschool-aged kids, and we just invited everyone and scheduled some children's entertainment. It started at 2pm so we put out tea sandwiches and scones. We had lemonade, beer, wine and sparkling rose. I expected some attrition in the guest list but we had a really high RSVP rate and wound up with about 50 adults and 15-20 kids. The kids entertainment (music guy) was at the beginning of the party, and then we did birthday cake. The invitation stipulated that the non-parents could arrive in time for cake and just stay for a drink. People were in and out but the party lasted til 7pm. We ordered pizza at 5pm.
It was great, and it helped me feel a bit more like myself after such a crazy year. I don't know what we will do for his second birthday, but I don't expect it to be quite so large.
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I vastly prefer small parties. I don't enjoy hosting parties where there are so many people that I can't feasibly have a conversation with each of them, so our guest list is always around 10 or so for 'big' celebrations. We do lots of small dinner/lunch parties with different friends and family throughout the year instead. I handle birthdays by arranging special small outings/play times with LO's friends either individually or in pairs over the course of a few weeks.
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For DS's 1st bday, we had over 100 guests. It was pretty crazy. For his 2nd bday, we kept it to family only and we still had about 30+ guests! DH has a big family.
Our regular parties (friends only) are about 30+ people unless it's a special occasion like a big football game or a special birthday (30th), then it gets pretty large.
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Family isn't close by so its just friends - the biggest we had was for DS's 6th and it was 13 kids - DD's 4th bday had 4 kids - I love having small parties!
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I tend to be in the more the merrier group and I have a big family, so our parties tend to be bigger. Our house warming party had 100 people and DS1's 1st birthday had probably 75. We scale it back a little with each year. However, I drive DH crazy as I cater the whole thing myself. He doesn't understand that it's actually fun for me to do so!
I'm really hoping to throw her a friend party for her 4th. Fingers crossed I'm still employed. 
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