Eden’s first birthday party was a joy for me to do. I have had mixed emotions about planning this party. One minute I was super excited and the next I’m tearing up because my baby girl is one already! She has been through so much the first year of her life including five moves post hurricane Harvey. She is nothing but strong, loving, patient, and courageous. All that being said, I wanted to celebrate her birthday in a big way! This was the first large party we had at our house, and I must say, it turned out super cute!
First thing’s first, the invitations!! Aren’t they just adorable? I had an etsy artist make these beautiful invitations. I then selected a glittery soft pink envelope. To give the invitation more pizzazz, I included DIY confetti, I went to my local craft store and cut cute little glitter butterflies, and then added colorful confetti.
Do you ever wonder which house is the party house? Well with these balloon clusters, it takes that away and sets the mood before your guests even walk into your house. I love having these clusters, I saw a bunch of little children having a photo shoot in front of them. Children’s parties are all about creating fun. Balloons are a great and inexpensive way to accomplish that!
This organic balloon-arch, framed out the dessert table perfectly! I chose colors that were similar to her invitations and wanted to give it that “watercolor” look.
I love to create a themed tablescapes. I used a rose colored tablecloth with a green moss runner along my tables. For the centerpieces, I wanted to do something different other than just flowers so I found these beautiful trees and added detailed butterflies. These butterflies were stunning, they were handmade, with various textures. The final touch on the trees was to add real flowers.
The dessert table included mini cupcakes with three different flavors made by Erica from WINK! They were fabulous! She did the smash cake as well. We incorporated these edible butterflies on each cupcake. You can find them on etsy in all different colors!
I love decorating my chandeliers! I added some natural green garland, put twinkle LED lights on them, added some butterflies and topped it with some pink ombre ribbon. Interestingly enough it turned out to look like a mini Christmas tree. Haha, I wonder why?
I love making “stations” for my guests so not all of the party is in one spot. It makes the flow of traffic much easier to manage and guests won’t feel crowded. Being that my house is not large, I space the food, drinks, and entertainment separate from each other. I also made this flower wall for guests to take pictures in front of.
Okay, bad mom moment, but I love it when she cries. Haha I think her face is so cute when she cries. She was overwhelmed that day by being surrounded with that many people, she didn’t know how to take it. Both my children did not respond well to their first birthdays! Maybe one day, I will have a child that dominates their smash cake, but not this baby.
For the main food table, I stuck with brunch foods, based on the time of the party. We had chicken and waffles, a gorgeous cheese plate, quiches and hummus. There is nothing better than some good ole’ christian chicken aka Chick-fil-a nuggets, and waffles. Another showstopper I always love to throw together, is a giant cheese plate. I like to offer a variety of cheeses and crackers. I always complete the look with organic fruit, honey and flowers.
Sticking with the brunch theme, we set up a mimosa bar cart. I included seasonal fresh squeezed juices including watermelon and pineapple.
Butterflies and all things pretty inside, mini, toddler theme park outside. 🙂 lol. We had a ton of water play options for the children. I love to offer different activities for different age groups. We had several pools- baby, and toddler and a huge water slide for the big kids. Meanwhile, the adults could converse on our a/c patio thanks to PORT-A-COOL. (I highly recommend renting one if your party will be outside).
Instead of doing a large cake for everyone, I decided to have Steel City Pops come and set up a booth and offer fresh Popsicles to our guest. They were a hit, especially in the heat! If your in the Houston area, you have to go check them out!
Outfit change!!! Yes, this party was overboard! She had an outfit change midway through the party so we tried the smash cake again and she handled it much better with less of a crowd!
We sure did enjoy putting this party together! I hope you got some good ideas for your next birthday party! As always, more to come!!
Until next time!
Everyday’s a Holiday!
Whitney Elaine
I want to thanks Ailee from Snapshot and My Thoughts for the photography, Wink by Erica for he beautiful dessert, ballonscape, port-a-cool, Steel City Pops, Sky High Party Rentals and chick-fil-a for making this a beautiful event!