Baby with stranger anxierty - How to plan First birthday?!

@Butterflie,

I agree with @Rakhii that the first few years of the party are always mostly for the adults. When my kids were that young, there was a little rule that we followed in the neighborhood - the birthday party usually had one more guest than the kids' age Yes! But it worked out wonderfully and we got to bond with some families really well though most of us did not stick with the rules and made it more like kid's age + 3 more kids. The idea was to have some nice pictures for the kids when they grow up. Now that you talk about it, makes me wonder where my pictures are!

If you are going for a small party, one idea I really liked was one friend had the hand prints of all the kids who showed up leave their hand prints on a card board sheet (that she had specifically cut for the occasion) in a pattern, mom's signed under the hand prints with the kid's names and ages and the birthday girls pictures went in the center. Now when we see that when most of our kids are grown up, the memories that come back I tell you......

I am not trying to talk you out of a big party. Small parties are fun too and the joy we get when our little ones have a relaxing time is all worth it. I am sure what ever you decide, it will be a fun and memorable day. Have fun!