Organic Vegetables, Fair-Trade Coffee and Other Sustainable Food Service Products

Catering for your kid's 1st birthday party

13 January 2016 by Nino Caron

While 30 years ago all that catering a kids party might have needed was a plate of fairy bread and a bowl of chips, kids parties have been getting bigger and more elaborate and the catering has also become much more important. If you are planning a first birthday party, here are some things to consider.

Ratio of children: adults

First birthday parties are often as much of a celebration for parents having survived the first year of their child's life! There are often more adults than children as many of the parent's friends may attended, as well as family and parents of friends from playgroup or mother's groups. You may need to have just as many adult friends options, as well as some adult beverages.

Options like sushi and vegetable crudités with dip can be great snacks for the adults and also suitable for kids. Sparkling wine and apple juice can also let everyone feel a bit fancy with their bubbly drinks.

Allergies

Many of the children and adults will have eating restrictions. Unfortunately, this can get in your way of serving the traditional Australian party foods such as fairy bread and chocolate crackles. Ask your guests to let you know if there are any allergies when they RSVP so you can avoid accidentally sending anyone into anaphylactic shock! After you have eliminated foods that may cause severe allergic reactions, label the rest of the foods on the plates as nut free, gluten free, dairy free or any other restrictions that people may have indicated. That leaves you free to enjoy the rest of the party without needing to answer questions on the ingredients on each snack you have laid out and the less allergy prone can still enjoy the fairy bread.

The cake

Without question, one of the highlights of the birthday party for kids is the birthday cake. Many parents are especially focused on the first birthday cake as the cake smash photos (where the baby smooshes the cake around) are becoming a new tradition. Many of the children at a first birthday might be too young to eat much cake, particularly after snacking all afternoon. Equally, many adults don't enjoy the super sweet cakes commonly served at a kid's birthday party. A small cake can photograph just as well as a larger cake and is often much easier to organise.

If the thought of having to cater your kids party seems overwhelming, why not use external catering services instead? Then you can focus on socializing and enjoying the day.

Share