Nora’s First Birthday Party Recap | First Birthday Party Ideas

Nora’s First Birthday Party Recap | First Birthday Party Ideas

I started searching for first birthday party ideas soon after Nora was born. I didn’t get the baby shower that I wanted, so I knew I’d want to go all out for her first birthday. Unfortunately, COVID rates are surging again, but our family and friends are vaccinated and wore masks as an extra precaution. It took me months to put everything together, so I hope that I’m able to simplify things for you as you plan!

First Birthday Party Decor

I knew from the start that I wanted to go all out with party decorations. The setup was admittedly over the top, but go big or go home! We rented the letters from Alpha Lit Tampa and chose a balloon hoop from Poppable Parties. Alpha Lit’s letters looked amazing, and their owner helped us set up tables and chairs for the party when they got there, which was incredible. Staycie from Poppable Parties took a screenshot that I sent her and made it look like a dream. Poppable Parties is Black-owned, which is also important to me. I can’t recommend these vendors enough.

First Birthday Party Centerpieces

I didn’t originally budget for centerpieces, but I figured the round tables would look way too empty without them. I was admittedly out of patience and party planning energy, so I just looked for the simplest option I could find online.

Thankfully, we were pleasantly surprised with how everything came out! These balloon stands are worth the money but definitely take some trial and error to figure out, so I recommend testing one at home before your party. We blew up these balloons with a balloon pump, but I’ll warn you that the confetti ones didn’t stay inflated as long. The clear picture frames were a dollar store find, believe it or not!

First Birthday Party Games

I was very much opposed to the idea of a party game, but my mom convinced me to go for it. I’m glad she did — everyone had fun, and it segued well into the cake cutting. We bought this template from Etsy and I customized the questions and gave the winner a $10 Starbucks gift card. These are the ones I went with:

• What was my original due date? (because she was a month early)
• What were my height and weight at birth?
• What did my parents almost name me?
• Which hospital was I born at?
• Does mom or dad give into me more easily?
• What am I afraid of?
• What’s my favorite thing to do?
• How many hours do I sleep each night?

First Birthday Party Dessert

The original party theme was “Nora’s Sweet One,” a play on the fact that I call her #sweetnoraevie on social media. Admittedly, I got very lazy and didn’t follow through with signage or sweets-related decor, but the dessert table stayed. The smash cake was made by Temera Strather, a local baker that I love. We got the adult cake from Wright’s Gourmet, which is a Tampa staple. The donuts are from Krispy Kreme, and they were a huge hit. I didn’t get any pictures of the food because it was so good! We got barbecue from Deviled Pig and chicken fingers for the kids from PDQ.

I hope that this post helped you come up with first birthday party ideas! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments.