At first I wasn't sure about throwing Amélie a first birthday party, but as we thought about it more, we decided she needed a bit of a celebration. I tried not to go too overboard, but wanted to make a few decorations plus have lots of food and drinks. The day ended up being perfect. She played tons with Zia Mima and had a nap just before the party so she was up and happy for the entire rest of the day. In fact she was so excited, she didn't take an afternoon nap, went to bed at 7:30pm and then was up from 1:30-4:30am.
Here are a few details about the party:
Theme: Pink and gold with stars. I originally wanted to do the Very Hungry Caterpillar, but thought just going with a simple color though would be easier.
Place: The community hall in our development just opened last month and it was the perfect setting for the party since our apartment would not be able to fit 30 adults plus 10 babies.
Time: I debated about this for a while, but ended up choosing 1:30-3:30pm. Her nap time when I booked the hall was about 3pm, but a couple weeks before the party it of course shifted to right about 1:30/2:00. It all worked out in the end because we just got her to nap before.
Decorations: I cut out a ton of glitter stars, plus the happy birthday sign for the main table, a one sign for her high chair and made the tassel garland. Other decorations including gold star paper platesI bought from various sites online (
here,
here &
here) and used a printable file from
Etsy for the invitations.
Food: Since most people had already eaten lunch, I opted for just a few sandwich trays from M&S, a simple caprese pasta salad, deviled eggs plus chips, chocolate chip cookies, fruit cups and snacks for the babies. I made two 8 inch carrot cakes for the adults and a healthy baby version for the littles.
Drinks: We did a Costo run and bought lots of mini bottles of orange juice, apple juice, sparkling water plus aranciata. We also bought some beer and a couple bottles of prosecco too. I had a drinks dispenser that I filled with iced cucumber lemon water as well.
And now for the pictures quickly since I'm almost on baby duty (we're on vacation in Copenhagen and it's the best, but I only have a few more minutes until dinner time).
^^Here are the invitations and a little map I made in Microsoft Publisher. I did most of the crafting at night when the baby was sleeping.
^^This was goody bag preparation. I decided on giving the babies a Mr. Men or Little Miss book plus an age appropriate snack and some Ferrero Rochers for the adults. I just used left over brown paper bags tied together with curling ribbon.
^^The entrance to the Lodge where we had the party.
^^The main table with all of the food. I think next time I'll go for much larger balloon clusters for a bigger impact. We were a little short of time setting up, which is something else I would change for the next party I plan. Also, the gold balloons ended up looking a little bit more yellow than I wanted.
^^A little seating area plus an space for gifts and the favor bags.
^^The space from a difference angle. The doors to the right led to a nice outdoor area.
^^The drinks sections with a bunch of instagram pics attached to the chalkboard with wooden clothespins.
^^Highchair & smashcake!
^^A little area for picnics.
^^Caught one picture before the party.
^^Sandwiches, caprese pasta, and chips or crisps in cones (held up with lots of white rice in a basket)
^^Carrot cake, strawberry jam star sandwiches, fruit cups and baby friendly cupcakes.
^^Chocolate chip cookies, low sugar oat cheerios and a selection of snacks.
^^Riding a her new gift from Auntie Tiff.
^^The baby play area.
^^The ball pit was a great idea and kept the babies entertained for a while.
^^I think the smash cake went down very well.
^^The aftermath/mess of a hallway with everything from the party.
^^Off to bed.
^^The next day was full of presents! Clearly she was super excited as you can see!
That's a wrap for her first birthday, happy birthday little one!
