Checklist for Your Twins� First Birthday Party

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Birthday parties are always incredible and fun. This goes true not only for the kids, but for the adults who take part in it as well. However, planning for a birthday party, particularly to celebrate their first ever, can sometimes be stressful. The stress can be so much more if you need to plan for a party for twins! To ease your mind, below is a checklist for the first birthday party of your twins, to ensure that you don’t miss anything out.

2 Months Before the Party

As much as possible, it is better to plan ahead of time to eliminate unwanted surprises and to be more at ease during planning because you are not pressed for time. This will greatly relieve you of unnecessary stress that planning a birthday party usually entail. In addition to this, planning ahead gives you the flexibility to decide on the best dates that the party can be held because there is a great chance that the venue is still available. At the same time, being able to notify your guests early on will provide them with the opportunity to plan ahead and clear their schedules for your party. But perhaps the most amazing advantage of planning ahead is that you get to have huge discounts from the suppliers.

• Decide on a date, time, and location.

The first thing that you need to do in preparing for any party is to decide on a date and time when it will take place, as well as a location on where it will be held. This will become a basis of all the other things that you need to plan later on. Planning for a date and time months ahead is important because it gives you and your guests ample time to schedule around the occasion. In deciding for where the party will be held, ensure that you always have a backup plan or a second choice in case the weather isn’t cooperative.

• Make a guest list.

Once you have decided on a date, time, and location for the party, the next thing you have to do is to make a guest list. This will give you an idea of the number of persons you need to accommodate for the party or whether the venue you have in mind will be appropriate for the size of the crowd. A guest list will also ensure that you don’t forget to invite anyone important to the lives of your twins such as your extended family and closest friends, or even new acquaintances.

Once you send invites to your guests, encourage them to respond for you to have an idea on how many people are likely to make it to the party. Fortunately, nowadays, you can already create a private group in social media platforms where they can respond accordingly. This will save you the whole trouble of having to deliver the invitation to each of your guests personally, which you can still do so if you prefer.

• Set a budget.

With a guest list in hand, you will be able to have a more accurate estimate of how much you need to prepare for the party. However, it is best if you only allot a sum that is manageable for your family. You don’t really need to get a loan in order to have a lavish first birthday party for your twins. It would be best if you set a fixed amount and work around it. Try if you can get a discount on the venue, or enlist the help of your family members to create do-it-yourself decorations because these will greatly cut down your budget into an amount that is more manageable, even if you invite more guests to come over.

• Book a venue.

Booking a venue months in advance will ensure that the date and time you prefer is still open. Often, when you book only a week prior to the event, there is a great chance that the date and time of your preference is already booked to be used by another event. Booking in advance is also more cost effective because venue prices tend to be higher when the date of the event is only a week or days ahead.

• Choose a theme.

Choosing a theme for the first birthday party for your kids is the most exciting part of the planning because it is in this phase that you can get your kids involved. Sure, they are only one, but you can hold up pictures of cartoon characters on both hands and let them decide on which they are most attracted to. According to the party experts behind www.whowants2party.com.au, you really need not to worry when it comes to the party supplies that will go with the theme you have in mind because you can always order the supplies online. When you do, the things that you ordered are delivered right to your footsteps in no time. The best thing about this is that you can even have them delivered for free.

• Book a caterer.

Some of the most renowned caterers always have a full schedule. Make sure that you will be able to book your caterer of choice by checking on their availability months ahead of your planned event. Since you already have a theme in mind, coordinate with the caterer if they can design their menu according to your theme. This is most especially significant if you intend to have a creative dessert bar for both the kids and adults alike.

2 Weeks Before the Party

You might find that you need to add additional seats in the venue, or additional party supplies for the loot bag because the number of guests who confirmed are more than what you initially expected. It can also be that the party supplies you ordered early on failed to deliver what they promised, making you scramble to find another supplier within a short span of time. But, you really need not to worry because you still have sufficient time to make amends to your party plans that fell short of your expectations.

• Confirm your guest list.

Most of your guests would have responded a couple of weeks before the party, which is why this is the perfect time for you to make a final count of your expected guests. Send a message to those who fail to respond to have an idea if they can make it to the party because they might just have missed the invitation. Once you have the final number, it will be easier for you to make the necessary coordination with the other suppliers.

• Plan the menu.

Since you already booked a caterer months before, a couple of weeks before the party is the perfect time to discuss with them the menu that you intend to have for the party. Most caterers will already provide a sample menu of their specialties so that you will not have a hard time choosing what dishes should be included in the party. Nevertheless, you still have the option of asking them for some dishes that needs to be served to accommodate your guests who have a special diet such as those who are vegetarian.

• Order a cake.

A first birthday party won’t be complete without a cake with candles on it to be blown by your twins. Two weeks before the party, choose the perfect cake that will go with the theme of the party, and proceed to order it. It is easier to purchase ready-made cakes, but those with a custom design proves to be much more enticing for the little ones at the party. In case of the latter, make sure that you provide ample time for the baker to deliver by ordering a couple of weeks in advance.

• Buy decorations and loot bags.

According to the theme of the birthday party you have in mind, the next step is to plan the decorations you need for the party. Since there will be a number of kids in the party, it is also a good idea to already buy some party stuff that you can put in their loot bags. Keep in mind that everything should still be according to the theme of the party.

• Decide on games and entertainment.

Make a list of the games that you can have the children play during the party and ensure that you have appropriate prizes in store for each game. Aside from games, a couple of weeks before the party is also the best time to search for other party entertainment and book their services as necessary. You can hire party clowns who also do a magic show, or you can hire puppeteers as well.

1 Week Before the Party

Within a week before the birthday party, most of the legwork in planning should already be done and perhaps the only thing that is left for you to do is to look for the perfect gift for your little ones, and that is if you haven’t yet. It is quite amazing how people who only plan a week ahead pull the party off because a week is quite limited to plan for a first birthday party of twins. Nevertheless, perhaps it depends on the type of party that you like to throw, but usually, first birthdays come with a theme, to the delight of the little ones.

• Finalize food and menu with the caterer.
• Check on the status of the cake, especially if it is custom made.
• Plan how the decorations should be laid out in the venue.
• Purchase any additional party supply as necessary.

1 Day Before the Party

The day before the party itself is considered as the final stretch. While it is true that by now, you mostly have accomplished everything that needs to be done, it is a good idea to prepare what you can so that during the event itself, all that is left for you is to enjoy with your adorable twins. Wrap up preparation may save you from having to run off to the grocery store at the last minute because you find that you don’t have enough sundae cones. In the same manner, a wrap up preparation will ensure that the entire venue is safe for the little kids who will be roaming in it a lot.

• Pick up the cake and transport it to the venue.
• Make sure that the venue is childproof.
• Set up decorations in the venue, including the table settings.

The Day of the Party

By the time that the day of the event arrives, all that you need to do is to ensure that you enjoy the party. It is no longer about what needs to be done at this point, but making sure that you and your guests get together and have fun. More importantly, your twins should be able to enjoy the party as much as everybody else does, or even more.

• Orient the entertainers about the flow of the program.
• Make a timeline on when the food should be served.

The Aftermath

Yes, throwing a first birthday party for twins is not only about the preparations that need to be done before the party, but it is also about thinking of the aftermath. Include in your party planning all the things that you need to do after the party, and that is aside from the cleanup that happens immediately after. Some people think that the preparation ends when the party begins, but this is simply not the case if you want to really make the first birthday party of your twins a memorable one.

• Open gifts.
• Choose pictures to be included in a photobook.

Final Word

Planning to celebrate the first birthday of your twins can really be exhausting and stressful, which is why it can be of great help if you have a checklist that you can refer to. This will guarantee you that you won’t forget any major or minor detail for the party. A checklist can also help you prioritize everything that needs to be done, and those that you can forego should you fail to mitigate unforeseen circumstances.

Courtney P.

I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!

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