First birthday invitation wording
Fifteen blocks of wording, sorted by tone, with the bracketed parts to swap for your own. A first birthday invitation is the one where the practical lines matter more than the pretty ones — whether siblings come, whether there is lunch, and when it ends — so those are covered underneath.
Short and plain
For a message, and for the parents who will read the first line and nothing else.
[Name] is one.
Cake at [place] on [day date], [time] to [time].
Siblings very welcome. Reply by [date].
One whole year of [name].
[Day date] · [time]–[time] · [place]
Lunch, then cake. Let us know by [date].
Come and help [name] turn one.
[Day date], [time] to [time], at [place].
Bring the whole family. RSVP by [date].
Playful
The most common register for a first birthday, and it is hard to overdo.
One year of [name].
Twelve months, a great deal of noise, and now cake.
[Day date] from [time] until [time]
[Place]
Brothers and sisters very welcome. Reply by [date].
[Name] is turning one and has absolutely no idea.
Come anyway — there is cake and it is a good one.
[Day date], [time]–[time], [place]
Lunch first, cake at [time]. Tell us how many by [date].
Our favourite small person is one.
[Name]'s first birthday
[Day date] · [time] to [time] · [place]
Come as you are, bring who you like, say yes by [date].
Sweet
For the invitation that is partly for the grandparents and partly for the album.
A year ago today we met [name].
Come and mark it with us.
[Day date], [time] to [time]
[Place]
Cake at [time]. Reply by [date].
The first of many.
[Full name] turns one on [date],
and we would love you with us on [day date] at [time].
[Place] — lunch from [time], cake at [time].
Kindly reply by [date].
One year of firsts.
Join us for [name]'s first birthday
[Day date] · [time]–[time] · [place]
Families welcome. RSVP by [date].
Saying the practical parts
These are not a tone, they are the lines to paste into whichever tone you picked.
Lunch from [time], cake at [time] — come hungry.
We finish at [time] so everybody gets their nap.
Siblings very welcome; there is a garden and a gate.
Cake and tea at [time] — feed them beforehand.
The gate code is [code] and there is parking on [street].
We are done by [time].
No presents, genuinely — [name] has more toys than sense.
If you would like to bring something, a book with your name in it is lovely.
[Time] to [time], siblings welcome.
For a link rather than a card
Short enough to send as a message, with the page carrying the details.
[Name] is one on [date] and we are having cake about it.
Everything is here — when, where, and whether to feed them first:
[your link]
One year of [name]. Come and celebrate on [day date].
Details and RSVP: [your link]
Siblings very welcome.
It is [name]'s first birthday.
[Day date], [time] to [time], at [place].
Tap here to let us know how many of you: [your link]
What it has to say, whichever you pick
- Whose birthday, and that it is the firstLead with the child's name. On every other page of this product the parents' names come first; on this one they do not, because the day is not about them.
- Whether it is food or cakeThe single most useful line on the invitation. "Cake at three" tells a parent to feed their toddler lunch first; "join us for lunch" tells them not to, and one word decides whether a room of one-year-olds arrives hungry.
- When it endsFirst birthdays run on nap schedules — the birthday child's and every guest's. A two-hour window is a kindness and it is also how you get everybody there at the same time.
- Whether brothers and sisters comeA one-year-old's party cannot be drop-off, so the question is not whether the parent comes but whether the four-year-old does. Say it, in your own words, rather than leaving it to be guessed.
- Gifts, if you have a viewSome families ask for nothing, some ask for books, some are delighted with the pile. Any of those is fine and all of them are better said than assumed.
Questions
How long should a first birthday party be?
Two hours is the standard answer and it is the right one. Every guest is working around a nap, including the birthday child, and a party with an end time on the invitation is one everybody arrives at on time.
How do I say whether to feed them first?
Name the food and the time. "Lunch from twelve, cake at two" and "cake and tea at three" are both completely clear, and either is better than "refreshments", which answers nothing.
Do I invite the children or the parents?
Both, and you have to say so. A one-year-old's party cannot be drop-off, so the real question guests have is whether their older child is included — answer it on the invitation rather than in eleven separate messages.
How do I ask for no presents without sounding odd?
Say it plainly and give an alternative, which is what stops it reading as a rule. "No presents, genuinely — if you would like to bring something, a book with your name in it" gets you no pile and a shelf of inscribed books.
Is it strange to invite adults who have not met the baby?
Not at all. A first birthday is as much about the year the parents have had as the child who will not remember it, and the people who saw you through it belong there.
Somewhere to put it
Once you have your wording it needs an address. You can build the whole page free — one of fourteen designs, your photographs, your words — and the same link carries you from the gender reveal to the birth announcement and on to the first birthday, keeping the messages and the guest list.
Make the page to put it onSee the designs