We are having my daughter's 1st b-day party around lunch time. It will mostly be family with a couple of our close friends. Do we need to feed everyone a meal or have finger foods that you would have at a shower?
DO NOT feel you have to feed everyone a meal. Juice and water, for kids and adults if fine. Also, the kids won't eat much and parents will probably be feeding them and/or running after them, so finger foods for everyone is more than adequate. Be careful with cake (or whatever) you decide to have for candles. There are many options such as cupcakes, cookies. Have fun with the whole thing. One year is a mile-stone, but still so young.
I agree with all you should feed them. At wal-mart you can order fried chicken. It's not that expensive and you can pair it with a veggie and fruit tray. They also do different kinds of trays. I ordered chicken, sub sandwiches, and other items and they are good.
Get several pizza's for the adults along with a salad and drink for all, and finger sandwiches for the kids, some may want the pizza but better safe then sorry. See if you can find a deal with the pizza's where they deliver and also may have buy one get one free etc. Have fun and be sure and that those pictures.
lunch time yes. if your party is between lunch or dinner hour than snacks/finger foods are perfect.
A noon party needs lunch. With kid's parties I usually serve food that kids like. I would recommend hot dogs or pizza. Healthier sides might include pretzels, carrots, and celery sticks. I avoid messy extras like queso, relish, chili because kids don't really care about them and they create more of a possibility for spills. I try to have food that doesn't require a fork or spoon (other than the cake and ice cream). I serve drinks that don't require a cup such as drink boxes for kids and canned soda for adults. I've found that the most popular party beverage is the 8 - 10 oz bottled water. Both parents and kids really like them. Just put them in a cooler with ice and they are wonderful. Kids really like cupcakes and the individual cups of ice cream are convenient, but a little more expensive. Both of these make serving and clean up very easy.
Yes, a party at a meal time should have a meal served.
Finger foods work OK at a shower, but as the only woman in a house of 4 men, and who also has 3 brothers, I can tell you with 100% certainty that men do NOT do finger foods as a meal.
COngrats on the 1st bday of your baby!
If you schedule a party at lunch time then yes you need to have food.
I like to do food and usually do not like fast food. I would fix food depending on the age of the crowd. If it is mostly grandparents and family then I would fix something they would like, maybe gumbo or Bar BQ. If it is kids then hamburgers and hotdogs with a vegie tray. Get your husband to do alot of it.
If you do not want to do food and just want cake etc, then you schedule it around 2pm.
If you have a party around lunch time, you need to provide lunch. You can always get a meat and cheese tray from the grocery store and make a veggie and fruit spread. Personally, I would just go to a restaurant. No mess to clean up, and your kid won't remember it anyway.
I say do what you want. But, if the party is at lunch time, people may expect to eat. Make it clear on the invitation - like join us for some cake and ice cream, etc. Or, don't have it at lunch time.
This is not meant to be mean, but my first thought was .."why would you have people over at lunch time and wonder whether or not you should feed them? If you were asked to be at someones house for an event at lunch time, wouldn't you expect your belly to be filled during your visit? I know i would! In fact i once went to a wedding, and it was at dinner time, and they said they would be serving hor durves. I stopped at Mc Donald's in between the wedding and reception, as i knew I would be hungry, and thought it was actually rude of them not to serve a meal. turns out they figured that out sometime during the reception, and sent out for Taco Cabana! But it was too little too late, people had already began leaving to go get some food! Yes you need to feed them, or have the party in the middle of the afternoon. ( In between lunch and dinner.)
I think anything that normally is cool at lunch is fine. Sandwiches, fruit tray, veggie tray, chips, cake and ice cream should do it. You can of course go more elaborate if you like. Whenever I plan a party around lunch I do a nice sandwich/fruit/veggie/chips spread. That way people can eat well and it isn't too expensive. I usually make that velveeta dip with rotel and tortilla chips. The recipe is on the velveeta package, it is super easy and people love it plus it is super filling. I like the pizza idea, it is easy and people will probably like it a lot. Congrats, the first party is so fun!
Finger foods that will fill the belly definitely. Maybe some sandwiches and a side like pasta salad or potato salad. Even chips will do with maybe fruit or cold veggies. Dinner is only a good idea if its an intimate birthday with no more than 10-12 people. Also usually just for adults not for a 1 year old party.
The last two years (years 4 and 5) I did $5 pizzas from a local pizza place, with a fruit tray and a veggie tray. Easy and pretty cheap. Year 2 I did hot dogs because my daughter didn't like pizza yet. I threw them all in a baking dish and baked them because it was easy. Year one I got her favorite food: a fully cooked spiral-sliced ham from HEB. I just had to unwrap it and set it on a plate. You can use same sides (fruit tray and veggie tray) for any of those entrees.
If it's at lunchtime, I would definitely serve lunch. Because of the time, guests will assume lunch is served, and won't eat beforehand. If you'd prefer to serve only cake and ice cream, have a mid-afternoon party, or if that's in the middle of nap time, you can even do a morning party. We've been to morning parties before for very little ones who just can't stay up in the afternoon for parties.
I recently went to a friend's son's first b-day party & they served pizza, cake & drinks. I don't think you need anything fancy & most ppl do like pizza & you can find some great bargins like Little Cesars has the $5 pizzas. I know Pizza Hut does too but they usually have a min of 3 to purchase so that may be beneficial too depending on how many you expect to attend. She also bought store brand sodas which are considerably cheaper & just as tasty or you can serve Kool-Aid & tea, something that everyone might like. Hope this helps! Good luck & have a great time.
Serve "Lunch"! They will be expecting it because it is during the lunch time! Pizza is always easy
its entirely up to you. i find that hotdogs are just about as cheap as finger foods. i think that the retro ways of doing things (cake and punch ) are underestimated and we need to bring back some simplicity. happy birhtday!
If it's lunch time, please serve a meal. If you don't want to serve a meal, have it at a later time (2, 3, and 4 o'clock all indicate that a meal will not be served).
If your "finger foods" are very hearty and are enough to take the place of a meal, that would be fine, I'm sure.
Finger foods are fine, but I agree with the first poster that pizza is easy and filling. The pizza Mia's from Pizza Hut are only $5 each! You could also do a tray of chicken nuggets from Chick fil A, but that would probably be at least as expensive or more so than the pizza. Then, add some chips/dips, cheese, fruit or veggie tray or some of the frozen appetizer type foods that you can heat up easily (Sams sells them in larger quantities for a better value) and you should be all set! I had my daughter's 3rd birthday here and we ended up having more than 50 people here. It was rediculous and I won't be doing that again, but the pizza thing worked great for us and was inexpensive.
Have a gret time!
I would feed everyone...pizza is easy!
