First Birthday Candles

The first birthday party is always something to celebrate - it marks the first year of anyone's life and parents usually make it an event to remember with lots of cake, presents and candles - even if the child will never have vivid memories of it ever. This fact, however, never deters enthusiastic parents from celebrating that first birthday.

To mark this momentous occasion, there are a variety of candles to choose from. Among the most popular types of candles are:
- 1st birthday party candles. These are candles which bear the number "1" or "ONE". When lit, the flame will sit prettily atop the number or word.

- Character candles. These combine familiar children's characters with the number "1". These characters will either be sitting on the number, or more than not, hugging it in an obvious show of affection. Some popular characters seen on such candles are the Sesame Street characters like Big Bird, Elmo, Ernie and Cookie Monster. Other equally popular ones are Barney, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Winnie The Pooh.

- Themed candles. These follow the theme of the party, whatever they may be. Some common themes are the Zoo and Cowboy themes for the boys, and the Princess and Tea Party themes for the girls. 1st birthday party candles for such parties will be very creative affairs - Cowboy parties, for instance, will have candles with cowboy hats while Princess parties will have pretty pink mini princesses as candles.

Today, parents are fortunate to have a wide variety of first birthday party candles to choose from. Out of the three main types of candles mentioned above, the most popular is the first - candles which bear the number or word "ONE". Even in this one category alone, the variety available is almost limitless. There are 1st birthday party candles which are pink or blue (stereotypically colored to follow the gender of the child), and even the font type of the numbers or word is different one from the other.

First birthday party candles for girls are usually adorned with little flowers, usually yellow daisies and sunflowers, little colorful hearts piled on top of each other or with little cute "people" like Strawberry Shortcake. Candles for boys, while similar in a lot of ways, will have other objects as part of its adornment. Instead of flowers, for example, candles for boys may have bubbles and stars. If the little boy has an obvious affection for a particular object, for instance, his first birthday party candles may even incorporate that into its design. In cases like these, you may find airplanes, cars or trains as part of the candle design.

Animals are also portrayed quite commonly on candles - big favorites are dogs and cats and in these cases, you can always think of having Dalmatians and Garfield lookalikes as candles. These are also cute souvenirs of the party for years after.

Having attractive, cute or visually beautiful 1st birthday party candles also make it easier for the birthday child to come closer to the cake to blow them out. 1-year-olds are always attracted to colorful, familiar-looking objects so keep them in mind when buying the birthday candles.

Some parents may want a showy candle presentation than just the number or word to signify the first birthday. If this is your intention, then opt for the specially made candles that actually spell out "HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY" in two lines. These are actually made up of fourteen candles - one for each letter of the phrase - which when lit, can be a pretty impressive candle affair. It may be wise to experiment with the birthday child days before the party to see if he or she is afraid of so many lit candles. It would be not fare too well for the parents or party guests if the child refuses to go near the cake!

As the party girl or boy is much too young to enjoy or remember their first birthday party, the event is mainly organized and enjoyed by the adults - parents, uncles and aunts, and close friends of the family. As such, everything in connection with the party is commonly done with the adults in mind, with the exception of some games for the toddlers.

While first birthday party candles are mainly a luxury and not a necessity at 1st birthday parties, they make wonderful party memoirs of that first birthday party to keep for forever.