How to Plan a First Birthday Party on a Budget

Not sure how to budget for a first birthday party? These are my four ways to successfully plan a birthday party on a budget under $100.

When preparing for my daughter’s first birthday party, I tasked myself with not only having a party worth celebrating about, but also keeping it under a budget. To make things interesting, the financial planner in me decided to keep the goal of $100 or less. And we did it, successfully!

Here are a few things to consider when hosting a birthday party:
1. Determine your budget
2. Outline the day
3. Recruit friends and family
4. Save Money (Without cutting corners)

Determine Your Budget:

• Before purchasing anything or pinning inspirational ideas on cute first birthday themes, decide a budget! The party budget can be broken into different categories with monetary amounts based on importance. For example, some people may not spend money on decorations while others want the backdrop of photos to be a stunning ballon arch. Or some want an elaborate themed birthday meal while another desires easy party foods like chips with dips and pop.
• The $100 birthday budget can be broken down like the following:
  • Food and Beverage – $40
  • Dessert/Smash Cake – $10
  • Decor / theme – $20
  • Gift(s) (for little one) – $20
  • Grab bags (optional – for attendees) -$10
  • Location of Party (at home) – Free
  • Invitations (via text or Paperless Post)- Free
    • Overall Total: $100!

Outline the Day

Outlining the birthday party in advance saves time and energy to focus on what really matters – celebrating with family and friends! To achieve this, be strategic about timing, clean the house in stages, prepare decor and party supplies early and have a few tools on hand to build and open gifts.

• Strategically plan your day to fall between meal times and nap time (when possible).
  • By hosting a party between ‘main’ meal times (outside of breakfast, lunch and dinner), it can be affordable to serve snacks, appetizers or horsdourves only. To avoid main meals, optimal party times include 10AM – 12PM, 2-4PM and 3-5PM. These times also ensure people leave around the end of the ‘scheduled’ party time to depart for a main meal.
  • If you have an idea of when little ones nap time will be, try to schedule guest arrival and departure times. No one (especially the little one’s parents) wants a grumpy, overtired / crying baby when the day should be around celebration! If your little one is on a two-a-day nap schedule, work around this when possible.
  • Mom-To-Mom Tip: One thing we would change for future parties is the time we hosted little one’s first birthday. We welcomed our family from 11AM – 2PM. People showed up as early as 10:30AM and left around 3PM. We ended up serving an entire meal for lunch. Though cheap because parents chipped in with delicious additions to the meal, we still had to serve a main course for around 20 people.
• Plan extra time to clean the house by tidying up areas which will be used frequently (living room, bathroom, entry way).
  • This might include shoving all the toys into a closet until after everyone leaves or running the vacuum after people depart rather than both before and after.
• Start preparing decor early.
  • Items which can be set up in advance may include balloons, backdrop, stationary or a picture wall. If there are items which need to be moved into the event space on the day of, make a list for the morning of. For example, a coffee machine, ice bucket, serving utensils, cups, plates, bowls, etc.
• Mom-To-Mom Tip: If people bring gifts, be prepared to have tools including a screwdriver, batteries, scissors and (in our case) an air pump. This was something my husband was tasked with and had to to run around the house looking for items which caused him to miss gift being opened.

Recruit Friends and Family

Asking friends and family for help can be difficult, especially if maternal gatekeeping is a occurring. Many times, people want to help (especially if it’s 10 minutes until everyone is arriving and the pre-party shower still has not occurred – speaking from personal experience..).

• Ways friends and family can help with the first birthday party include:
  • Picking up or make food, beverages or dessert
  • Assisting with cleaning
  • Setting up tables and chairs
  • Be a door greeter
  • Taking videos and pictures throughout the event
  • Taking notes of gifts and who provided them
  • Helping clean up after the party is over

Save Money (Without Cutting Corners)

There are a variety of ways to save money when planning a party. Start by having a party theme, utilizing free resources for invitation and thank you cards, scouting stores like Dollar Tree and using decor already on hand.

• The Party ‘Theme’
  • First, consider whether planning a first birthday party theme is important. After all, the center of the birthday is the little one However, party themes can be fun! If choosing a theme, use what is already on hand or use gender and year neutral birthday supplies.
  • Try a picture garland. To make this picture garland use twelve photos (one from each month) to see the little one grow like the time capsules they are! Additionally, this garland can be used for years to come as a flashback to the first year.
  • Purchase reusable items like cake stands, ribbons, candles, hats, napkins and baggies.
  • Set the mood with free playlists on YouTube, Spotify or pandora radio.
  • Mom-To-Mom Tip: Shop at the Dollar Store. Our first birthday theme was ‘Sweet Little One’ as our daughter’s birthday falls near Valentine’s Day. Seasonal decor we used to match the Sweet Little One birthday theme included cupcake liners with hearts, heart shaped sunglasses, red and pink decor to amp up our picture wall, pink cups/bowls/plates/napkins and disposable silverware.
    • The Dollar Store also commonly stocks items including: Happy Birthday banners, goodie bags, thank you cards and number balloons. Who can beat the $1.25 price for party decor staples!
• Utilize Free Invitation and Thank You Card Resources
  • Companies like Paperless Post and Punchbowl allow people to send invitations to family and friends for free.
  • Canva is a free website where one can create and download virtual invitations and thank you cards for friends and family.
  • Finally, ‘invitations’ could be as simple as emailing, calling or texting family or sending an ‘invitation’ via Facebook Event pages where people can RSVP for the party.
• Party Location
  • Consider hosting the party at a free location like at home or at a willing friend or family’s home. Use caution with outdoor locations like parks or villas which may have fees to rent the spaces. They also may have specific rules and regulations for when the space can be rented out due. Additionally, there may also be event calendars due to competing community events like sporting events, family reunions, weddings and birthday parties.
  • Similar to parks, hotels and meeting spaces often charge a rental fee. They also may require a cleaning fee or damage deposit up front to hold the room.
• Food: When in Doubt – K.I.S.S.!
  • Keep the food simple! If items can be made homemade or purchased in bulk, do so.
  • Ask friends and family to contribute items such as pop/soda, chips, fruit or vegetable plates.
  • Two ways to keep dessert options cheap include:
    • Making the cake (and smash cake if you so choose) from scratch
    • Upgrading a boxed cake mix by using cookbooks like ‘The Cake Mix Doctor‘. We like to use The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook for boxed cake mix. Then we elevate the recipe by making homemade frosting.
  • Mom-To-Mom Tip: But, when it comes to dessert, items like candy, bars, Rice Krispie treats, cookies and cupcakes can do the trick! We made two dozen cupcakes and shaped them into the number one. Everyone had their own taste of dessert and the smash cake was the perfect size. Because we used cupcakes, there was no sugar rush over here!
• Goodie Bags
  • Finally, goodie bags or party favors are not a requirement for birthday parties. A simple thank you card or desserts to go can be enough. However, if goodie bags are a must try providing a selection of gently used toys or books from thrift stores, yard sales or re-sale shops.

Overall, planning a first birthday on a budget can be a breeze with a little thought and commitment. By establishing a budget, outlining the day, enlisting friends and family for help and using money saving tricks, a $100 or less birthday party is on a step away. Do you have any recommendations on ways to save while party planning? If so, share them in the comments below!