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1st Birthday Party Woes....
We're having the party at our house.
With just family, and ONLY friends with babies under 2 y/o, we're at 60 adults and 10 babies. 
That's ridiculous, right?
I'm not usually one to let stuff like this stress me out, or to feel bullied by family to do something that I don't want to do, but I'm having a hard time whittling down the guest list without causing any major family upsets. DH's aunts/uncles/cousins are all very close - they are wonderful, and we love them all, I just don't think we can fit them all in our house. I shared my concern with MIL at a wedding recently and her response was, "We'll help you! We'll bring food! You can't not invite so-and-so..."
I don't entertain very often, so maybe I'm over-estimating how many of those invited will actually come, how much space they will take up and how much food they will eat!
I don't really know what I'm looking for - anyone have a 2000 sqft house and entertain often? I feel like I'm trying to have a wedding in my house... ugh
Re: 1st Birthday Party Woes....
I think it's doable, just hope the weather is nice and some people don't come.
My house is considerably smaller than that, and it's old so it doesn't have a nice modern open floorplan, basically it sucks for entertaining. We had I think 10 adults and 6 kids at Cooper's 1st birthday and it wasn't bad, it was cold and rainy though so we were all crowded inside. I definitely opted NOT to have his 2nd birthday at home though. LOL
We did it for the first bday party. I think I stressed about it much more than was necessary,I know how you feel. I think it also helps that people will come and go.
Everyone just wants to be there to celebrate with you guys and Miss H on her big day. It will be perfect.
I think it is doable. I live in a townhouse and outside isn't an option, the biggest event I have hosted was a shower for about 45 people, which overwhelmed me to start, but wasn't bad at all.
Not everyone will come on the guest list so that is some help. I would set it at a time where you don't need a full meal. If outside works, that is perfect.
So Tasty, So Yummy
We have 2700 but it's not all party appropriate space, and I'd freak with that many people, so I really feel for you. I'm stressed out enough as it and we only have about 19 total coming tomorrow for Tracey's 3rd birthday party. I guess i"m lucky I have no family in town to add to the list.
Do you HAVE to invite all those people. All the cousins? Honestly, if a relative or friend told me "we're having a small affair with us and the grandparents" so we can't invite you, I would completely understand. It makes me super thankful that we were out of town for Tracey's first and just had us, my parents, and our friends who were staying in the condo with us at Mardi Gras. I got the pictures I wanted of her with her cake.
that sounds about like every single family gathering we ever had growing up!
we always did tables in the garage as well, and that's where we kept the coolers. some people won['t be able to make it, and some won't stay that long. it'll be fun : )
my family is probably like your DH's... and there's no way you could only invite a few.
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That would stress me out to the point I would end up having just our parents and our siblings over for something small. My baby's first birthday "party" was just our family of four plus my in-laws and sister-in-law. It was perfect for us. I wasn't up for a big to-do, and he was quite content with a couple of gifts and some cake.
You can certainly have that many people over, and it will go just fine (although I would realllly hope for decent weather). It's all about what you are comfortable handling. I would be way to stressed out at the notion of a party that big, but I am not much of a hostess to begin with.
We had about 20 very close family and a few friends I grew up with. I was in no way going to have more than that.
We have a entertainment friendly space but they all stayed indoors since it is a jillion degrees outside in mid August when his birthday is.
I wouldn't stress out but definately cut the list down!
We had an even smaller party for his second birthday and just ordered pizza and had a small cake.
I think for his 3rd birthday we might invite around 15 or so and do Chick fil a so I do not have to kill myself and get the house clean.
I should add that for me a party is important but not where I would spend $1,000's on it when he is this age.
The money that we would spend if we would of gone all out in past parties we put in his college fund.
My parents write a check for his college fund as well and buy a few small gifts.
That means more to me than having all the frills but that is just my opinion.
DH has a large family and we have a lot of friends - most with kids. So, yes, we usually have large GTGs for holidays/birthdays.
We have a larger house, but it's a 2-story. Almost everyone stays downstairs, so we are probably working with around 2,000 sqft, as well.
We usually set out all of our outside kiddo toys (slide, small bounce house, plastic t-ball set, plastic golf set, kid mowers, etc.) and usually the kid parents are outside watching their kiddos play (weather permitting). We also make a toy corner inside and set all of the babies together to play with each other. Again, the parents are usually close by. The family is usually roaming inside and outside. We set up plastic tables (we get a LOT of use out of those long tables since we host Thanksgiving every other year and they collapse pretty well to store) in the garage and outside, along with EZ up tents and camping chairs (we have a lot of these b/c we tailgate at A&M games) to help push traffic outside. I don't remember your LO's bday and whether it will be ok weather for outdoors - but that is always a good way to manage people. Ask your friends - you would be surprised at how many people will have card tables/outdoor plastic seating that you could probably borrow for the day. Same goes for the kiddo outdoor toys, since you might not have a lot of them yet, since it's just now LO's 1st birthday.
It WILL be pretty stressful, but in the end, it will be a lot of fun. We really enjoy spending time with all the family and friends. A tip - I would probably skip opening gifts, if you can. Your LO isn't old enough to keep their attention, and will wander off. With so many people, it's just all eyes on you, as you open everything, and it's very time consuming since so many people are there.
You can just do finger foods/snacks/dips - just make it at a time where people aren't expecting a meal - say 3pm or so. Definitely take up offers for help on food! It won't be anything for them to make a quick dip tray, but it will be an enormous burden lifted off of your planning list.
Just go balls to the wall with his 1st birthday, then if it ends up being not your cup of tea, you can pare it down for future years. :-) For DS, we had a large party at home for 1 y/o and 2 y/o, but I think we are going to forego the party for the 3rd bday and do a trip to Sea World instead - honestly, just to avoid all the extra toys that we don't need!
GL!
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Thanks everyone! (Especially Carebear!!)
I think we've decided to have the party at the clubhouse/park in our neighborhood and I feel SO much better about it now. We can invite everyone that we want (including some more of our own friends!) without leaving out any family members. DH's family is really awesome - there are just a lot of them, and that can be overwhelming at times!
And at the park there will be things for older kids to do, and a place for everyone inside if it rains. 
I'm glad you found a resolution. We went all out for DD's 1st birthday and had approximately 63 people at our house. I would never normally think that our house could/should hold that many people. Luckily, it was in May and we had the backyard pretty well set up. We've agreed that we're holding the party elsewhere this year and cutting down the list.
Others had a great point to make it during an "off" time so that you don't have to provide a meal. I think we did 2-4 and had lots of finger foods, cupcakes and other sweets.