First Birthday Party

lrocvilla

Hi everyone! 

I know this question has been asked before, but I can't seem to turn up anything in the search. I'm looking for suggestions for a first birthday party venue--it's hard to believe that B will be turning one at the end of August. I would really love to keep things low key and have something at our house, but we just don't have the room for our intended guests ( with grandparents, aunts, uncles, a few close friends with babies, we are probably looking at about 30 people). Does anyone have any suggestions for local parks or other venues that could work? Would prefer to stay in Philly, but could be open to nearby suburban areas (Delaware County, for example).

Thanks in advance.

babe2331

I somehow managed to pull off Mikey's first birthday in my little house in the winter by doing an open house.  That way, everyone shows up at different times and doesn't linger longer than they want to.  My mom offered her house which is way bigger, but with my dad being sick at the time, it just wasn't an option when the time came for it.  We have lots of space out back and in the front, but that's useless in February (sometimes I wonder why they gave us a huge front and back yard and a little house).

Is doing a block party type thing an option for you where you can put some tables and tents out front of your house in the street?  Dino's on 9th Street rents those items I believe.

I think Franklin Square has a pavilion you can rent.

We just took Mikey to a party at Little Gym on Saturday.  It was the child's second birthday and they did age appropriate activities.  Not sure if they can handle kiddos who are 1. 

Good luck!

kross605

I know this is not very helpful, but I like the open house idea for a 1st birthday party. At that age the kid doesnt care about pomp and circumstance, games, events, or even most of the food. Its all about the family celebrating the year and you surviving one year of parenthood! If you do an open house you'll have more time to visit with each guest and them with the guest of honor. You could have cupcakes so everyone can have cake no matter when they come and then actually do a smash cake "event" at whatever time works for the baby's schedule.

Smith park does birthday parties but I dont know if they are age appropriate for a first birthday or not.

Kernel14

We have a small house too but a decent sized yard, however the twins turned one in March and that was too unpredictable. We also wanted low key and not a lot of people so we invited our families and just a small handful of friends to go out for ice cream at a self-serve frozen yogurt place near our house. It was nice - we threw up a few balloons, everyone got to mingle and the cost wasn't too bad.

lrocvilla

Thank you ladies for these ideas! We did look into Smith Playground, and the cost is reasonable, but I'm still not sure if B and the other kids we invite will really get anything out of it. Babe, I don't know why I didn't think of the block party idea, but that is definitely a possibility and Kernel, the frozen yogurt place is a great idea. There is one that just opened around the Italian Market that has a room in the back for parties. So glad I asked!

NewQueen

We're doing the open house party for Henry's first. I also can't believe how fast this first year is going!