Real Momma Party Planning

Disclaimer: Lest anyone fret, the following though based on true events is written in gest! What a wonderful first birthday for our lovely Claire! Love you all!

Inspired by some domestic divas I know, I set out to put on a big time first birthday party for Claire. My first step in the planning process was to read up on some of their party planning tips. Perhaps I should have been concerned when I read they normally plan their parties oh, several months in advance since I was only just beginning to plan a week AFTER Claire's actual birthday. They, however are domestic divas and I'm more of a "real momma" so I extend myself real momma grace, whilst admiring their talents! Thought I'd post some Real Momma style party planning tips, to contrast and encourage those who run a little more on this Momma of two under two's concept of time and "planning."

#1 (Already alluded to): Move house the day of your daughter's first birthday, give yourself a week to get unpacked and then begin planning her party. Set the date for three weeks later. If she hasn't yet turned 13 months, she's still 12 months old, right?

#2 Decide on theme. My diva friends recommend doing this well in advance so you can shop the sales and pick little things up throughout the year as you're inspired (brilliant). Otherwise, go with baby's favorite animal (Claire's was Elephant this year!), look online for cake ideas, never fully decide on an elephant shaped cake you feel comfortable with and two nights before party, change plan entirely, decide to use fondant for the first time and make a layered/tiered cake instead with elephant cut outs. Ask a REALLY GOOD friend to pick up fondant on the way to your baking party the next day.

#3 Evite. Fast, economical, half your guests may be busy momma's who never even check their email (aka fewer guests, less pressure!). Really, I do love evite. Cute themes, quick, and good for the environment.

#4 Make cake. I know this is totally non-PC for New Zealand and very much the norm in the US, but another thing I can advocate is Betty Crocker-in-a-box. Even comes with icing. Expensive in NZ, but available. I bought these as a just-in-case and am glad as I had NO idea what recipe to use for a cake. Also, since this was maybe the third cake I've ever made in my life, I was easily able to blame Betty when one fell and the other two overflowed (I'm sure it had nothing to do with how deep I filled the pans or the fact I cooked all three at once in an oven that was slightly on-the-tilt!). Bein' a "real momma" though, I am excellent with the improvise and just lopped off the tops until they were flat with the assist of that previously mentioned really good friend and cut out the middle of said fallen cake and said a thank you to God that I was doin' tiers instead of elephant ears!

#5 Specific to Fondant: Ya know, I am so excited about future fondant cakes. The thing that most appeals to the real momma in me is that I can cover up the cracks and holes that will undoubtedly continue to exist in my cakes (because I'm not so detail oriented) with decor! I found it very forgiving and fun.

#6 Hire help. 2 year olds are cheap labor. If they can handle a cookie cutter and you're willing to pay them in cookie dough and icing, you'll find you have a true assistant. Chloe sure was a sweet (literally) assistant for me this year and had so much fun helping me plan and present her "sissy's" birthday party! I even got to trade a few kisses for extra bits of dough!

#7 Finally, if the pressure of planning your child's one-and-only First birthday party just after you've moved house and in less than the well-recommended several months in advance gets to be too much, just say a little prayer and perhaps your 2 year old, too, will come down with chicken pox the night before, leaving you with a much more manageble number of guests, allowing you to just relax and enjoy the delight in her eyes as she tastes her (and your) first fondant cake.