We celebrated Em’s first birthday a few weeks ago. As you may remember, we created a theme of “a celebration of firsts” and crafted these invitations + first year certificates.
We wanted the decor to be easy + inexpensive. So, we continued with the theme and framed some of her special first things in frames we already had around the house.
Her first rattle. Her first bonnet which was hand smocked. Her first hand + foot prints. The bloomers from her one month pictures. We also framed one of her first dresses – a beautiful, soft pink Feltman Brothers dress. Elsewhere, we framed the little hat + info anklet she wore in the hospital, her going home outfit, and her first booties that my grandmother tatted.
We custom ordered a pink vanilla cake from Sugar Mama’s and raspberry and strawberry champagne macarons from La Pâtisserie. We also ordered pink rock candy swizzle sticks.
After purchasing a bunch of different pink + white flowers from a local grocery store, I arranged them into vases we already had.
When it was time for cake, I thought Em would dive right in. Instead, she pulled off the bottom layer of cake + frosting from her slice of cake and ate it. She was really meticulous and neat.
Kacey’s mom created the sweet pink drink. It was some sort of yummy raspberry + ginger ale concoction. The striped straws were ordered from The Cupcake Social. The bottles are just Starbucks frappuccino coffee drinks that we scrubbed the labels off of. I love that we’ll be able to use the bottles again for future parties + gatherings.
We hung a festive mixture of paper lanterns above the island in our kitchen. I purchased them from Fiesta Pom Pom, Paper Lantern Store and Garden Ridge.
We also created a wish table for guests to leave their wishes for Em on her first birthday – a tradition I hope to continue ever year for her birthday.
It was such a great party and I am so proud of how it all turned out. It took a lot of planning + time but by doing a little bit each day, we were able to accomplish everything we wanted without too much stress.
And finally, a hearty thank you to everyone who came to her party + celebrated with us. Em is so lucky to have you all in her life.
– We went back and forth between the co-sleeper and a regular pack n’ play. We’re so happy we chose the co-sleeper. It does all that a pack n’ play does + more. The bonus? It snuggles up against our bed. At night, I could glance over at Em and see her without getting out of bed. During the first couple of somewhat paranoid months, this eased my mind. Also, it rocks for nursing at night because I didn’t have to get out of bed. At all. I stashed diapers, wipes,