Happy First Birthday to our sweet Chloe! I can't believe it's already been one year as her mama. It truly flew by. I really wanted to not go crazy for her first birthday party and I think I did a pretty good job ;) I'm sharing all of the party details below for any mamas who are looking for party inspiration! All resources are linked at the bottom!
I wanted a sweet, pink party but didn't want a specific theme. Since bows are having a moment right now, I used pink bows and scallops as recurring motifs to tie things together. I started with the invitation and I love how they turned out! I mailed out physical invitations because I think it's so fun to get snail mail. This is such a sweet keepsake!
We had just gotten back from Mexico two days before the party and I had done very little planning for her birthday before our trip, aside from the invitations and cookies - those were my two big checkmarks! I wanted to have some kind of fun visual moment, but did not want to mess with creating or renting the huge wooden arch backdrops and a balloon garland. I do love balloons, though, so I decided to do a "ceiling treatment" aka fill the room with pink helium balloons and let them hang out on the ceiling.
I ordered around 150 pink balloons from Party City and had them delivered the morning of her party. Quick note: Helium balloons say they last around 6-8 hours, but depending on the color and if they're indoors or outdoors, they can last much longer. Most of mine lasted 24 hours and about half lasted 48 hours before falling.
So the balloons were delivered and I had the best time "setting up" with Chloe. She loves balloons! She woke up from her nap and was in balloon heaven before her party! I probably could have been fine with a few less balloons, but better safe than sorry. ;) I had mostly 12 inch balloons and then also ordered four 24" balloons to serve as her smash cake backdrop.
On the 24" balloons, I used florist wire to hand-tie greenery stems to the balloon ribbon to add a little whimsy and it turned out so well. Note: this usually only works on larger balloons because regular sized balloons don't have enough helium to hold the weight of the greenery.
Balloons were my big visual decor. I had a few other ideas with photos that I wanted to get done, but didn't quite have enough time to make it happen and that's ok.
One thing I did make sure to have ordered in advance was my custom cookies! I adore a good custom sugar cookie and these were such a hit! I probably spent half of my party budget on cookies. Ha! I used Great One Cookie Co, if you're in DFW and looking for cookies. They were so professional, reliable, AND they deliver, which is rare for cookie ladies!
Cookies were ordered in advance, but not her cake! We had just gotten back from vacation and the time crunch was real, and my sugar free bakery that I had been chatting with stopped responding, so I decided to wing it ;) I actually bought a small grocery store cake, removed the icing/decoration and tried to add my own. It was a little bit of a fail because I tried to use whipped cream (lesson learned!), but oh well.
I was so nervous about her smash cake! I don't know why, but I wanted it to be fun for her and I was hoping for a cute reaction to her first bite of cake. Well, she definitely enjoyed the cake, but didn't really give us a reaction, other than to keep eating it! If you're planning a birthday party for your one year old, you should definitely include a smash cake. It was the most fun part of the party!
I bought a vintage high chair on Facebook marketplace for $20 and gave it a fresh coat of paint to get it party-ready. My husband doubted me but became a believer when I showed him the end result. He was impressed! ;) I added some flowers under the tray using green florist foam and florist wire to hold it in place.
One of the best parts of the party was all of Chloe's guests! How cute are all of her little baby friends?! Most of these mamas and babies were in a New Moms Class with me at our church and so we've all been connected since Chloe was 4 weeks old - so special! It's been such a treat to watch all of these babies grow together and the mamas have truly been such a sweet community during a challenging year.
Please try to get a photo of all of the baby/kiddo guests at your little one's birthday. Of course, these photos never turn out perfectly, but this will be such a sweet memory!
Everyone was so sweet and brought all sorts of gifts for Chloe. We didn't open gifts during the party because that would have taken 5 hours for Chloe to play with each piece of tissue paper ;) I opened the gifts after the party and I was so overwhelmed by everyone's generosity! I was also surprised by how many new toys she received. (I guess I hadn't given this much thought!) We got a nice mix of clothing, toys, and books! I think it would be perfectly acceptable to request "books only" or clothing in specific sizes, etc. in lieu of toys, if your little one already has plenty of toys. That's probably something I'll do in the future.
The next morning was her actual birthday, so of course I had to bring all the balloons into her nursery for a sweet photo opp! I think birthday balloons will be a birthday morning tradition every year - so much fun! I love these so much! I can't believe she is entering the toddler stage...it really went so fast! Enjoy this time, mamas!
