It has been a whole year since you brought your little princess into this world and now it’s time to celebrate with a special 1st Birthday Party! Give your little one the royal treatment with our 1st Birthday Princess Party Ideas, complete with decorating ideas, and food, game, and activity suggestions.
Planning & Invitations
The first decision you will make is where to have the party. We feel the best place to hold the party is somewhere familiar to your child, such as your own home, a relative’s home, or a park you visit on a regular basis.
There are two ways to create your guest list. If a lot of your family members and family friends live close, you may want to host a large party so they all can be invited and everyone can share in the baby’s special day. However, if you think your little girl would react better to a smaller party, consider only inviting a few immediate relatives.
In our experience, the best time of day for a baby’s birthday party is immediately after their naptime, and should last about an hour. A well-rested baby is much more likely to enjoy a fun and exciting party, and keeping it short will help ensure that your child doesn’t get too overloaded.
And remember that first birthdays are really more of an opportunity for the parents to celebrate making it through the first year! Your baby girl is more likely to enjoy playing with the wrapping paper and balloons rather than most of the gifts! And remember to be flexible! Little ones can be unpredictable, so expect un-scheduled rests, tears, and accidents. Our advice - just relax and go with the flow!
What do I need for the Party?
If you plan to use paper tableware and 1st Birthday Princess party supplies, our Suggested Party Supply List may be helpful while you shop. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it is intended only as a guide.
1st Birthday Princess Party Invitations
Creative invitations are a way for the people who love your baby to get excited about her first birthday before the big day arrives. For a 1st Birthday Princess theme, you can play off the theme, or make it personalized to your little girl. Here are some ideas:
- Fold a sheet of construction paper or card stock in half to create a card-style invitation. Print out a picture of your little girl’s favorite princess – such as Cinderella or Snow White – and paste it to the front. Write the words “You’re Invited” next to the picture. Inside, paste a picture of your little princess on one side and the party details on the other.
- Copy photos of your little girl in some of her most memorable “first” moments – like the first time she sat up, the first time she slept through the night, the first time she tried solid foods, ect. Paste these photos in a circle on the front of your invitation and write “You’re Invited” within the circle. Write all the party details inside.
- Paste a picture of your little girl on the day she was born to the front of the invitation. Write “From 0…” underneath. On the inside, paste a recent picture of your little girl. Write “…to 1!” underneath.
- Dress the birthday girl in a princess outfit, complete with tiara and pink slippers, and take her picture! Make the photo your invitation and write the party details on the back.
- Cut a large number 1 from pink cardstock and write little tidbits about the birthday girl on the front, such as “She loves watching her big brother play video games” or “She started sucking her thumb on January 10th” or “She only allows her daddy to brush her hair”. On the back, write the party details.
- Seal the mailing envelopes with 1st Birthday Princess stickers.
If you do not have time to make invitations yourself, consider our personalized First Birthday Princess invitations, which include your child’s name and all the party details on a pretty pink background. We also offer blank invitations.
Whichever invitation option you choose, remember to include any special instructions on the invites along with the basic party details like date, time and location.
Decorating & Food Ideas
1st Birthday Princess Party Decorations
Simple decorations work best for a 1st Birthday Party, since little fingers can be destructive if decorations are set within arm’s reach. Here are some tips to make your princess party perfect for the little ones:
- Form a canopy using pink and lavender streamers. The streamers should cascade from a bow in the middle of the ceiling (or from a chandelier, if you have one) to the sides of the room.
- Tie pink and lavender balloons in bunches of three, and weight them with balloon weights. Attach them to the backs of chairs or let them float up from tables. For effect, add 1st Birthday mylar balloons to the bunches.
- Hang huge tissue paper flowers from the ceiling or attach them high up on furniture or walls. Use 6-8 sheets of pastel-colored tissue paper for each flower. Lay the sheets on top of each other in a pile, and fold the pile accordion-style. Tie the layers together at their centers by twisting a piece of fuzzy pipe cleaner over the middle. (The pipe cleaner also forms the flower’s stem.) Then fluff each layer of the tissue, one at a time, to complete your flowers.
- Cut star shapes out of white card stock and cover them in glitter. Hang them from the ceiling with fishing line.
- Make the birthday girl really stand out by decorating her high chair with our adorable highchair kit.
- Play a princess movie (such as Cinderella, Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty) on mute. The moving images add to the décor.
- Set out a baby book or a photo album from your baby’s first year for guests to look at.
- Display a newborn outfit and an outfit in your daughter’s current size to show how much she’s growth over the past year.
Food Ideas for the Wee Ones
Keep in mind your little guests and their parents when developing your food list.
For the little ones, stick to familiar foods such as graham crackers, fish-shaped crackers, dry cereal (like Cheerios), animal crackers, and teething biscuits.
For the adults, consider that many of them may be holding their babies or toddlers as they eat, so foods that are easy to eat with one hand are preferable. Try sandwiches cut into quarters, raw veggies, cheese cubes, and nuts.
For a sweet surprise, create a Princess Castle Cake for your little one to dig into! Bake two 8” or 9” square cakes, and stack them with frosting between the two layers. Frost the entire cake in pale pink. Frost four ice cream cones to match the cake, and set them upside down in the four corners to create turrets. Stick miniature flags on toothpicks into the ice cream cones. If your little girl has tiny princess figurines, stand them around the cake for added decoration.
Party Favors for Your Mini Majesties
Thank your guests for coming with fun 1st Birthday Party Favors like bath time toys, building blocks, a small stuffed animal, or a DVD. Or, for something more unique, try a personalized bag tag that can be printed with each child’s name. These are great for diaper bags, strollers, and car seats.
Games and Activities
First birthdays usually don’t require many games and activities. It may be sufficient to set out large blankets full of stuffed animals, building blocks, dolls, and picture books, and allow the children to entertain themselves.
If you do want to have a few games on hand in case they are needed, try one of these:
- Play a few rounds of “Ring Around the Rosy” with the guests and their parents.
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- Sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “The Wheels on the Bus” and have the children do the hand movements with you.
- Blow bubbles and allow the children to chase them around and pop them before they hit the floor.
- Decorate a child’s wagon with balloons, add stuffed animals, and give each guest a ride around the room.
- Set out paper and child-safe paint and let the guests fingerpaint masterpieces to take home.
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