If you do joint birthday parties.. UPDATED

How do you make it work and have each child feel special?

My daughters bdays are two weeks apart. DD #1 will be turning 3, but DD#1 will be turning 1. The guest list is the exact same so my DH and I keep tossing around the idea of doing a joint party bc the cost is killing us.

I feel bad bc when DD#1 turned 1 she got her own party and now to do a joint one for DD#2 makes me feel kind of guilty.

My DH keeps saying they don't understand anyway but I am not sure.. lol Thoughts?

UPDATE: After going back and forth we have decided that we are going to do one joint party. That is letting us have 1 party and then take the girls on a little vacation as their bday gift. Hopefully I can make it special for both of them. Now I am trying to combine my two themes that I originally had in mind for each girl or come up with something different.

Thanks for all the thoughts on the topic! =)

Message edited 10/4/2016 3:10:19 PM.

If you do joint birthday parties..

You're correct at this point they probably don't know... But growing up I always had to have joint birthday parties with my cousin and I absolutely hated it.

I might throw a "nicer" party for my one-year-old, and then just have immediate family over for pizza and cake for my three-year-old.

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

If you do joint birthday parties..

I was in the same situation as a kid. My sister and I were two year and two weeks apart. I never minded having joint parties at all. Maybe bc I was younger so I thought it was cool to have the older girls at the party too! I don't remember my older sister complaining at all and believe me, she would have made it very clear if she was unhappy lol.

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

At this point thy won't notice/care bc they are so young

Def go for it!

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

Had a joint party for my boys. DS1 who turned 7 is the end of May and DS2 turned 5 and his bday is early July.
For their 1st birthdays they did have their own. We just started the last 2 years. We pick a weekend in June and do a pool party. On their actual birthday we do something special of their choice and restaurant. DS1 wanted to do Adventure Aquarium then went to his fav local restaurant/pub and DS2 wanted to go to Great Adventure and we went to his fav pizza place. They both decide what cake together, which they chose Star Wars. LOL

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

I did a joint 1st and 3rd party for my boys. their birthdays are 1 day apart. We had separate cakes and separate themed tables and decorations. We had elaborate decorations for the 1st bday in the dining room and then had a separate cake on a table in the family room. We sang happy birthday twice.

We have done separate parties ever since because the guest list is too big.

Message edited 9/29/2016 11:10:41 AM.

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

My girls birthdays are only 4 days apart. I personally don't like joint birthday parties.

When dd1 turned 3 her friends are at such a diff level than dd2s baby friends. Plus I wanted dd2 to have her own special 1st birthday celebration with family.

Going forward for 2 and 4, both girls have a lot of friends and by the time I'm done adding on the extra kids at the party it's not that much of a diff financially.

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

My girls are 2 weeks apart and we usually do joint kid/friends parties. I have no doubt that they both feel special and celebrated.
We have done My Gym, petting zoo at house, California pizza kitchen, and pool party off the top of my head.

We did do a separate first bday party for the second though.

Message edited 9/29/2016 11:48:15 AM.

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

I would definitely do joint parties at that age. When they are older they can have separate friend parties.

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

My DD and DS are the same month, 11 days apart. This year, I did a joint 3rd and 1st bday. It was a small backyard BBQ with only 18 guests.

I totally get where you're coming from. Going forward, I will be doing separate parties. DD has gotten the shaft the last couple of years, so she will have her own party.

In the future, maybe you can have separate parties and just space them out? Mine are both in August, but I will be doing DD's the last weekend of June and DS' in mid-September. They're not going to care and it will also be easier for our guests, since they are mostly the same like yours.

This year, do what is easiest. These parties are a lot of time, energy, and expense. Cut back while you can, because it will be harder as they get older and have separate friends.

Re: If you do joint birthday parties..

If you do joint birthday parties.. UPDATED IN FIRST POST

UPDATE: After going back and forth we have decided that we are going to do one joint party. That is letting us have 1 party and then take the girls on a little vacation as their bday gift. Hopefully I can make it special for both of them. Now I am trying to combine my two themes that I originally had in mind for each girl or come up with something different.

Thanks for all the thoughts on the topic! =)

Message edited 10/4/2016 3:07:40 PM.

If you do joint birthday parties.. UPDATED

what's the themes?

I don't normally like joint parties, as I never had my own party when I was little, really we didn't many parties, but ds was born May 4 and dd1 is may 24th. We will be doing joint parties. I just can't organize 2 parties and we live OOS from both families so it's hard. I will just make mor efun than my mom did for me lol

If you do joint birthday parties.. UPDATED

So for DD#1 who is turning 3 I was going to do Princesses
and for DD#2 who is turning 1 I wanted to do the You are my Sunshine theme...

I was thinking of doing 2 separate themes in different area of the house or making them both my sunshines, or both my princesses lol

Re: If you do joint birthday parties.. UPDATED

I think a joint party and a vacation is a great idea!

Re: If you do joint birthday parties.. UPDATED