A cutesy, pink party for my daughter’s first birthday
This party was a little different for me because it was the first time I booked a venue and hosted a party outside of a family members house! My daughter’s birthday is at the end of January, and even in Southern California, it is too cold to have a playground party or pool party like I usually do for my son. We were also hosting her baptism in the morning before her party, so we wanted to make sure the party location was close to the church!
The Planning Process
Although we had mostly adult attendance, I wanted a kid-friendly venue so the little ones could play after being cooped up in church. I ended booking a 3-hour slot at Playlab in Eagle Rock, CA. Because I am used to hosting at a family member’s house, hosting at a venue meant I needed to adjust my budget for decor and activities, and I had to be very intentional about how I used my dollars.
Thankfully, I knew the play space would have all the toys and activities I could think of for the kids to entertain themselves. I focused my budget on food and drinks, and bringing personal details into the space.
I didn’t really have a theme for this party, because I know myself and I didn’t want to go over-the-top. I created a color palette and some mood boards that felt like early spring, Sunday tea parties, and girlhood. Then I created some hand-drawn illustrations and drew an invitation on my iPad.
The Design
I wanted personalize and amplify the already existing space. I made some mockups of the venue layout and tables, then I decided where everything would go, and what decor I needed to make or purchase to fill in the tablescapes. Playlab offers an online planning service to help with some of these decisions, as well as a rental store!
I lined the entrance of the venue with pastel balloons, hung upside down from the roof. There was a small display table with Carmela’s milestone photo board and her baby book for guests to flip through. Inside, we had the food set up on buffet tables and I created a focal point by hanging oversized, pastel balloons with long, satin ribbon tails.
I did pink table clothes and table runners with a cute red, squiggle, detail. We decorated with pink flowers that I purchased at the flower market and arranged in bud vases, and many photos from Carmela’s birthday photo shoot. I wanted to include some of her favorite stuffed animals and toys with party hats, but I was paranoid that we would lose or forget something at the venue. I ended up ordering some small, animal figurines online and made party hats for them.
Finally, I hung the same birthday banner that we used for Carmela’s birthday photos, and created a smaller one in the same style to hang on her high chair.
The Activities
I love that this play space had all the toys and activities I could think of for the little ones. If this party was for older kids, I may have added a craft project at one of the picnic tables, or hired a fun vendor, but it really wasn’t necessary this time. For the adults, I made sure there was plenty of food, plenty of places to sit and chat, and plenty of baby photos to look at!
The Food
Since our guests started at church and then came to the party, I was sure to provide lots of good food and coffee to refuel. We had sandwiches and a tray of meatballs catered from Ggiata, which is one of our favorite lunch spots. When I was pregnant with Carmela, we would intentionally schedule our OB appointments around lunchtime so we could stop and get a spicy chicken parm. We rounded out the meal with fresh fruit, Cesar salads and potato chips.
The venue set up a hot coffee bar for us, and I stocked up on sparkling waters, Frappuccinos, and cold brews to keep the grown-ups happy.
I love a cute party plate, and Meri Meri has been my go-to since I started throwing kids birthday parties. For this party, I mixed floral patterns with pastel gingham patterns and paired them with pink napkins.
For dessert, we served store-bought cupcakes with Carmela cake toppers. I made each topper by hand, with two sided images, and a different design party hat on each face! Carmela’s cake was handmade by mom with strawberry icing. Big brother, Atticus, had an idea to add some of her princesses to the top, and he was so proud of the idea, I couldn’t say no. He helped me place Tiana and Cinderella for his sister.
The Party Favors
For a first birthday party, I want to give a party favor that would both be enjoyed by kids, and a sentimental memento for the adults. Carmela was named after my late grandfather, who had a custom Hershey’s chocolate bar designed for his 50th and 60th wedding anniversaries. I knew I had to make a custom chocolate bar wrapper for Carmela’s birthday party. I included some of the graphic elements from her invitation on the front, and the back of the wrapper had teeny photos of her from every month of her first year! These such a hit amongst the guests.
I love stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying something new. The fun thing about hosting events, is it’s never going to be the same thing every time. There are always different parameters you will have to work around, different guests in attendance, different time or financial restrictions…
If you want to learn my techniques for making the simplest parties surprising and memorable, browse my party planning resources here or reach out to me to plan something together!
