Want to plan the perfect party for your pup's birthday or gotcha day? We've created an easy 5 step guide to making your dog's day extra special — inspired by Jonesy's First Gotcha Day Party.
Our family met Jonesy on Mother's Day of 2019 and adopted him one week later. He's been a constant source of love and laughter over the last year and we wanted to celebrate the anniversary of him joining our family with a Gotcha Day Party! Follow our list below for an easy step by step guide to planning your dog's next party.
1. Guest List
The most important part of any party is the guests — especially when the VIPs are the furry kind! Pour a cup of your favorite beverage and take a seat. Write down all of the people + pups you wish to invite. Quarantine? Make it virtual with a Zoom call!
When planning your dog's birthday or gotcha day it is definitely important to think about how each of the dogs will interact with each other — nobody wants a dog fight to spoil the fun. Once you have your list complete you're ready to send out your invites. Greenvelope makes it easy, and has some really creative ways to make them your own.
2. Choose Your Theme + Decor
When planning a party it's always more fun when you have a theme in mind. We adopted Jonesy in the springtime so we decided to go with a colorful Luau theme to match the happy good vibes of spring and new beginnings. Oh Happy Day! has tons of playful party decor that we went crazy for and it shipped really fast. We found a cute "Lets Pawty" balloon banner, giant reusable balloons offered in a rainbow of colors, gorgeous palm frond plates, palm tree printed cups and rainbow paper confetti. Check out @ohhappyday on Instagram if you need help choosing a theme — get ready for inspiration overload!
3. Treats + Cake
We love the idea of setting up a low table with special treats and a cake that are all dog friendly. Why not let them all go nuts on this special day by giving them free reins to helping themselves! We served these gorgeous luau themed dog treats and a confetti cake from Okra & Molly that doubled as decor and food for the pups. Their human-grade ingredients (even you can try some!) made us feel good about serving them to Jonesy and his buddies.
P.S. we mixed in a few hand-painted dog bowls by Multi Chic on the doggo table and filled them with treats. These bowls were beautiful, durable and made for a perfect party favor as we let each pup choose one to take home!
4. Party Clothes
There will be plenty of cameras flashing during your party, so you'll want your pup to look their best! Take your pup to the groomer ahead of time and pick out a festive party shirt that matches your theme. Want to turn it up a notch? Check out these matching BBQ Shirts for the entire family!
5. Games
Those furry guests of yours are probably pretty energetic. Games are a great way to burn off some of that energy and have some fun!
If its nice out and you have a backyard good ole fashion fetch can be fun, especially when you've got a whole party full of pups.
If you are working with a smaller space Fido Savvy has some great ideas. We found blowing up a bunch of balloons (especially the oversize ones from Oh Happy Day!) and letting the dogs go wild was most fun. If its hot out, try an outdoor dog pool with floating beach balls and tennis balls!
Still need a little help? We created an inspiration board on Pinterest that can help you finish your party planning! Enjoy!
