Congratulations! – you’ve survived the first year of what was probably the longest time in your life, and now you want to celebrate. The first birthday party is the most important party in your child’s life, and you should make it the most memorable one too. Your little one is growing, and so is your family, and there’s no better reason to gather all your friends and family and celebrate everything you’ve gone through. Any new parent will agree that bringing their little bundle of joy back from the hospital feels like it was yesterday. After all the sleep you’ve lost, long nights, spilled milk and washed clothes, it’s time to relax and plan that birthday bash. There are a lot of things you need to pay attention to, but don’t stress and don’t waste too much energy. This checklist will guide you through the most important things and help you get everything done.

The theme

Of course, the most obvious themes are princesses and cartoon characters for girls and boys respectively. Sure, these are great choices and there are plenty of things you could do with them, but maybe you should be more creative. Try to think of a theme that will be a sum of the previous year – maybe your little one likes dancing, watching sports, spending time outdoors or even dressing up. Based on that, try to think of a theme that will center on that activity and it’ll be the perfect option.

If you like to plan ahead, think of a few connected themes which you can use in the upcoming years – recreating different chapters from your favorite childhood book, such as The Little Prince, for example. It will be great to reminisce all those memories once your child grows into a teenager.

The outfit

Although it’s cute to see a little boy dressed up in a shirt and a bow tie and a little girl in a princess dress, maybe you should think about different options. When it comes to boys, dress them up as their favorite cartoon character or let them pick some interesting costume. For the girls, take them shopping and let them pick a few combinations themselves, and see which one will be right for the party.

Parents often pay too much attention to making their children look adorable, but they’ll look happier dressed in something they chose than in something they’re not comfortable wearing. It’ll definitely be great to look at those photos when your kid is all grown up.

The food

When it comes to food, there are two food groups you have to pay attention to – the adults and the kids. When it comes to the children, talk to the parents just to make sure there are no allergies or different diets. Any parent will be thrilled with this thoughtful gesture and maybe you’ll start a trend among your group of friends.

Picking food for the grown-ups is much easier because they’ll probably eat whatever is on the table. Don’t settle for finger food, but opt for something unusual like a barbecue, and you can even make it fancier by trying out some different barbecue styles by regions to make it more interesting. Everyone will love your idea and enjoy the amazing food.

The cake

Needless to say that you’ll need the best birthday cake in the world to make your kid’s first birthday party even more special. Unlike your wedding cake where you make the design clean and elegant, here it’s time to go all out and include as much as you can. One way is to create a cake replicating your child’s favorite cartoon or book character. You can even make a 3D cake which the kids will surely find interesting.

Other creative ideas you can explore include making a Lego cake, a cupcake cake the children can help you decorate, a cake that replicates your kid’s first doodles or an interactive cake teaching the children some new things.

The decorations

This is optional, of course, and it all depends on your time and budget. If you have enough time, you can make some DIY decorations in accordance with the party theme. A great way to really celebrate the first year is to hang your family pictures all across the venue and let the people write down birthday wishes for your youngster. You can even use some items from the nursery and display them. You can create space for your children and make it suitable for birthdays.

Be sure to include some party games to keep the kids entertained – make a creative area, a gaming or even a reading spot. You’ll be amazed by how little it takes to keep the children busy!

The invitations

Store-bought invitations are perfectly fine and these can be the quickest way to finish this part, but you should think about creating your own ones as well. One of the options is to include your child in the design with a little personalized photo of the birthday boy or a girl. Who won’t melt down after seeing a doodle in different colors and keeping it on their fridge after the party?

Apart from that, you can play with the design yourself and add different pictures from different periods of your child’s first year and leave the last part blank. Simply add a message like “Me and you at my first birthday party” so that everyone can fill in this last blank space with a photo taken at the party. This will be a true showstopper!

All you have left to do is prepare yourself for the next period of your life and enjoy the new things that come along. Organize a photoshoot before the party starts and think of it as a first family celebration where you’ll start creating new memories. You can even make it interesting and recreate some of your favorite first photos and make it into a family tradition – just imagine a pile of the same photos twenty years from now! Parents always enjoy this special day, but they can’t help but feel a little bit sad because they realize that their baby is growing fast. However, that also brings new benefits and new things to learn.