When a friend's daughter was about to turn one, she was very excited about it. In fact she'd been making plans months before because this was her first baby's birthday. Her invitation, which was simple but personalized, had her daughter's smiling photo on it. Although the design was quite simple, stating only the 5 w's necessary for the guests to get the message, it was personalized. Since this was her daughter's 1st birthday, I suggested to her to make it something more alive and colorful by making the guests come in costumes. She liked the idea but later on thought against it because according to her, guests would usually not come because they did not have costumes to wear. So she did away with the costumes just to make guests feel comfortable and attend the party. She was afraid of having a party with no guests around.
The day of the party came. Two clowns were hired for the occasion and these clowns provided the fun part of the party. They also acted as MC during the entire program, introducing games as well as magic, and generally keeping the party alive.
What gave a good impression was the give-away which consisted of a framed photo of the birthday girl with the guests. Earlier, pictures were taken as soon as guests started to arrive
and these photos were individually framed for guests to take home.
As to food, there was a separate table containing food for parents and another food table for kids.
In the end it's the games that made the kids enjoy the party.