Happy almost Friday fam! This week has been a special one. We celebrated our baby girl's first birthday and I can't believe she is already ONE! Where did the time go? I wanted to do something special for her at home with our close friends and family before the holiday hustle and bustle. Many of you were asking me to share details about Teeny's birthday party so I'll give you a general rundown of what came to mind. I managed to plan this thing for 40 people in just a couple days so if I could do it anyone can. I'll give you guys some ideas in terms of what we did for the theme, food, present etc plus some cute pictures from the day!
Our theme we decided to go with was shabby chic! I got so inspired finding the cutest little party ideas on Pinterest. I realized when DIY'ing your baby's first birthday it's all in the personal touch and details that make the party sweet. We just had to have a, "Create Your Own Teeny memes" polaroids station at the party since she is known for her animated facial expressions! haha We also decided to DIY our own balloon arch. My not so crafty sister (if I'm being honest ha) went on Youtube and managed to find the easiest video on how to create your own balloon wall! If she can do it anyone can! (literally took her an hour max)Party plates and cups: We kept it easy and discovered the chicest paper plates party ware brand I've ever seen. All of our plates, napkins, cups and cutlery can from Harlow & Grey - I totally suggest you check out their site. We decided to go with this design and it was perfect for our shabby chic party theme! I am still mind-blown at how cool and pretty paper plates can be. Affordable and best of all, easy to dispose at the end of the party!
Next, came the food. For 35-40 guests the best thing you can do is either cater Chick-fil-A (lol my fave) or if it's a Sunday and they're closed (that was the case) than have some light bites and easy snacks and appetizers prepped the night before. I totally made a Costco run two days before the party and bulked up on chicken salad (pre-made) and stuffed it into sandwiches on the day of the party (I found the cutest rose decorated tooth picks at Michaels to make them look chic lol!) It's a baby's birthday so I tried keeping that in mind when I started getting lost in Lobster Bisque recipes on Pinterest. We kept it fun and colorful with little party cup snacks filled with Gold fish and trail mix! Our good friend Jon helped us make his mom's famous pasta salad which was perfect for a large party. We also made a delicious strawberry punch and served it in a punch bowl because hello party (duh) and then we even made little rice krispy treats ourselves that were a hit! I'll just say - my cheese balls wrapped in bacon crumbles were a hit! For Valentina's smash cake we decided on Susie Cakes vanilla buttercream confetti cake. YUM! (our wedding cake was also from there so it was a sweet tradition...pun intended ;o)
My favorite part of the entire party was the shabby chic tee pee set up we did in our front lawn. It was the PERFECT touch to make this party picture perfect. I found the teepee on Amazon and just covered it with throw pillows and blankets. This ended up being Valentina's favorite place to play during her party. She was crawling all around and it was such a cute backdrop for our photos!Since we invited about 40 people, we knew our front lawn area (even though it's huge) wasn't going to seat everyone comfortably so we spruced up our patio furniture with shabby chic pillows and create a chill little hang out area. We also rented two 6 ft tables and 2 cocktail tables to give our guests some space to move around and sit comfortably. It was seriously the perfect touch! I highly recommend rental companies for big parties. They are so cheap and they literally drop off and pick up the furniture for you same day!!!!I told all of our guests that they weren't allowed to bring Valentina any gifts (trust me she has plenty) but if there was one thing I can suggest - it's to invest in one thing you know your child will love. I wanted to get teeny one special gift on her birthday (that wasn't going to take up house space LOL) and it was an outdoor swing. She absolutely loves being outside and going to the park. Swinging is her absolute favorite activity. When I was shopping on Amazon for decor pieces, I looked and found this adorable little wooden horse swing made for our sweet Teeny! It's for ages 6 months - 3 years so IT WAS PERFECT! We have this giant tree on our front lawn that we knew we could hang it on and setting it up was so easy. When she saw it her eyes lit up! She swung for literally 30 minutes at her party and did not want to stop or socialize with anyone. ha
Stores I shopped at: (Amazon: high chair decor, crown head band, cake topper, Teepee, wooden swing // Michaels + World Market: All other Decor & throw blankets/pillows, Whole Foods: Flower arrangements)photography: @JonVolk
