Planning a First Birthday Party: Food

Let me preface this by saying...I know my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to hosting. I wanted to enjoy our family and the party with my baby as much as anyone else. So for me, it didn't make sense to spend any time or energy prepping/making/cooking/baking food for this occasion followed by cleaning up a big kitchen mess. When we host friends and family here for the purpose of eating dinner together...I spend a little more time focusing on prepping and cooking something yummy. But that's just not necessary for a one-year-old's birthday party...my opinion. ;)

I realized I don't have pictures of this, but here was our lunch menu:

Two mixed Jimmy John's Sandwich Platters - Pre-ordered a week in advance, and picked up the morning of the party
Fruit salad - Blueberries, strawberries, and black berries, cut, dumped and then mixed in a serving bowl the morning of the party
Macaroni salad - My favorite food in the world, made by my mom the day before the party (sometimes outsourcing certain things can be helpful, but if too much outsourcing is required...it's probably a sign you need to simplify)
Doritos and Lays BBQ Chips - Josh's favorite food in the world

I set the table with paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware, so everything was easily cleaned up and thrown away after lunch. All of the food fit on the table (even with my centerpiece!) so it was super easy for everyone to sit down and dig in (sometimes lines and logistics in the kitchen can get tricky for grandpas who can't hear...and grandmas are always tripping on my rugs...it's usually better if we can avoid that).

We sat down for lunch at 1, Maverick went down for his nap around 2, and everyone spent the afternoon relaxing with their coffee inside or on the deck. Josh toured his grandpa around his shop. Our grandmas gabbed at the dining room table over Maverick's picture books with their cups of coffee. My mom and I cleaned up lunch and 're-set' for the afternoon party and still had plenty of time to relax. THIS IS HOW I'M GOING TO DO BIRTHDAY PARTIES FOREVER.

Now the fun stuff...most of which was copied from this baby shower thrown by my connection group gals, my friends, and Jamie...

I kept snacks SUPER simple. People don't need to come to gatherings like this expecting a four course meal followed by extravagant desserts. I bought four boxes of Teddy Gram's, two bags of pretzels and the 's'more trail mix' is a box of Golden Gram's, a bag of chocolate chips and a bag of marshmallows. We just opened bags and boxes and tossed all of this in jars the morning of the party. People seemed to enjoy putting goodies in their plastic cups and being able to walk around, visit, and munch at the same time. Again...EASY was the real theme of this party. No one wants to balance a plate full of messy food, their silverware, and a cup of punch in someone elses's house during a rambunctious party. It's an accident waiting to happen.

I had this yard of raccoon fabric all year and forgot about it. So I'm annoyed about that, but it sure did come in handy for making our island look cute for the party! The scrapbook paper was given to me after one of my showers, and added the right amount of color. I have a few of these glass jars and use them for EVERYTHING. From Christmas decorating to organizing my pantry cupboard to decorating for this party...they instantly make stuff look cute.

I did go out and buy a few serving items before the party, keeping in mind ALL the things I could have used these jars for in the past and things I KNOW I'll use them for in the future. These would have come in handy at countless ThankChristmas parties and I'm kicking myelf for not owning at least one sooner. I figure I'll typically fill one with water, and one with whatever kind of punch we're serving. For this party I thought it would be fun to celebrate with sangria..and making Arnold Palmer was easy, refreshing, summer-y, and made an excellent color for 'Pond Water.'

Side note, these come apart and flip upside down so I can use the galvanized bucket separately. Kind of awesome and the decorating and serving possibilities are endless. Snagged them for $15/each at Sam's Club a few weeks ago (reguarly $30!).

I think I was most excited about the raccoon cookies and smash cake from Larita's Cakes 'n' More. For less than $30, we got two dozen cookies and an adorable custom smash cake...and mommy didn't have to do a thing. I'm not saying that's how I always do things...but sometimes it's necessary. And it's ok to admit that. I ordered them a couple weeks in advance and G'ma generously picked them up the day before the party. Plus they were super stinking adorable...way better than anything I could have done. And did I mention completley delicious?! Seriously, THESE ARE THE BEST COOKIES EVER. No one in our house really likes cake (see these pics on Facebook for more proof), so I like cookies for birthday's as a way to do something different that's less messy, less work, and makes a cute statement. Keeping everyone's hands off of them until 4:00 was the hardest part about it.

A little more decor, re-used from our shower last year, turned into a decoration for Mav's room...and re-used AGAIN as party decor. GAH! I love it.

That's pretty much everything I can tell you about how we handled food for Mav's first birthday party. In excruciating detail...you're welcome. ;)

MmB