When to Open Birthday Presents or Gifts

Most Birthday parties consist of games, cake, and gifts. When should the host or hostess have the birthday boy or girl open the presents? Should Birthday presents be opened during the party? Will the guests be able to enjoy themselves while watching the presents be opened?

If the birthday party is large and everyone is enjoying the Birthday party games or the cake, the host or hostess may want to skip the birthday party guest of honor unwrapping the gifts. Let the decision be the guest of honor's choice. The birthday boy or girl may be enjoying the celebration too. Let the guest of honor decide whether to open the presents at a later time and send thank-you cards out after the party, or whether he or she wants to unwrap the gifts while the guests eat cake.

If the guest of honor wants to open presents while the guests eat cake, let him or her know they may not get to enjoy their cake with the other guests. They may have to eat the cake later. Let the guest of honor blow out the candles on the cake. The host or hostess will have to serve the cake to the guests. Then, the Birthday child can open presents while everyone is seated and occupied eating Birthday cake.

Let the Birthday child know he or she can have their cake after everyone leaves, or if there is time after the gifts are opened the guest of honor can eat their cake. The guest of honor may not like this option since he or she will not be eating Birthday cake with everyone else.

Guests will enjoy games and cake. The guest of honor should too. The guest of honor may feel left out if he or she is forced into opening gifts instead of partaking in the other festivities. If the host or hostess plans for the Birthday presents to be opened at the party, he or she will need to decide when the best time will be for the presents to be opened. The host or hostess may want to set a guide for how long everything will take and when things will happen. The host or hostess may want the guide to be flexible so he or she can add or delete activities.

The host or hostess may want the guest of honor to open the Birthday presents first. This way as the guests come in, they can drop off their present and sit with other guests watching the presents being opened. This is a great way to make sure the presents get opened in front of the guests that brought them.

Some hosts or hostesses may want the presents to be opened after the Birthday party games. The guests can arrive and play Birthday party games until it is time to open presents. Then, the presents can be opened. After the presents are opened the guests can stay where they are seated and the host or hostess can bring out the cake. Once everyone is sitting, if they stay seated, it will be easy to serve cake and move from one activity to the other.

If presents are opened last, some guests may not stay for the opening of all the gifts. The opening of presents is a good way to calm all the guests down. However, if too much time has been spent on other activities the guests may leave before all the gifts are open or before their gift is opened. If the host or hostess is planning on having the opening of gifts last and it is close to time for the Birthday party to be over, he or she may want to consider not opening the gifts at the Birthday party.

The gifts can be opened at any time. The host or hostess should not stress about opening Birthday presents at the Birthday party. As long as the giver knows the gift was opened and appreciated they will be happy. If guests are having fun and you would rather continue the activity, do not feel pressured to make everyone change activities. Use your schedule as a guideline for the activities, but be flexible.