SPEND
How to throw a
PINTEREST-WORTHY BIRTHDAY PARTY
(AND STAY FRUGAL) Elizabeth VanCamp
As my daughter’s first birthday approached, the stress about planning her party hung over my head like a dark cloud. As I researched ideas, I was quickly inundated by images of perfect first birthday parties—adorable cake smashes, elaborate decorations and party favors, and perfect arrays of food—and I felt slightly defeated. In addition to not being a born party planner, I’m also very frugal, so I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on a party that my daughter wouldn’t even remember. But, my husband and I wanted to make the party enjoyable and cute for our guests (and for us). I began my search for an affordable way to throw a Pinterest-worthy first birthday party that wasn’t a total snoozefest.
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MAKE A PARTY BUDGET
DECIDE ON A THEME
PICK A LOCATION
First thing’s first: decide how much you want to spend on the party. Once you know the maximum amount you want to spend, you can divide that into sub-budgets for invites, location rental, decorations, and food. Knowing the budget for each aspect of my daughter’s party made me feel slightly less stressed and better prepared me for planning the party.
Whether it’s a cute, coordinated theme (like “Mr./Ms. Onederful” or “Wild One”) or something simpler, deciding a general theme will make buying decorations and party favors easier on you. For instance, our theme was pastels, so pretty much anything light and cheery was welcome for her party. Nothing really matched— we used flowers, word balloons (which said, “Party”, “Yay”, and “One”—so cute!), and table cloths with different patterns—but everything was pastel colored, and we loved how fun and simple it all was.
This step will require you to have an idea of how many people will attend the party. Once you know that, you can decide if you can host it at your house (or at a loved one’s home, if they’re willing) or if you’ll need to rent a space.
PATHFINDER
If you need to do the latter, there are plenty of inexpensive options at community centers or churches. Some places in the Quad Cities cost as little as $20 per hour (like the Bettendorf Community Center), so don’t despair about your party budget if you need to rent a space!
