I’ve had so much fun planning first birthday parties. For Maggie we had a red wagon themed party, for Alex a preppy pink whale theme and Tommy’s 1st birthday party was on Halloween, so we went with a Halloween theme followed by trick or treating. For Miles, I was having trouble deciding on a theme and really wanted something very classic and traditional.
I wanted bright colors and balloons. We hosted the party outside of our home for the first time. Miles’ party was at a cute indoor playspace. I knew those fun colors would match the venue and also knew simple, classic decor would be all I could bring in.
Here’s how we put together the rest of this classic, traditional 1st birthday theme:
Invitations:
I searched for a while before finding what I was looking for. I stumbled upon Two Pooch Paperie and found exactly what I was looking for! These set the theme for the whole party. I loved the colors and how sweet and simple the theme could now be.
Balloons:
Since we had a balloon theme, I wanted plenty of great balloons at the party! I found balloons to spell “Miles” and a big #1 from Jamboree Party Box (Etsy) and a giant yellow balloon with bright colored tassels from A Joyful Party (Etsy). A friend made these adorable balloon cookies for the party. She made a tray of balloons to enjoy during the party and big balloons cookie with a #1 on them for guests to take home. The balloon cookie were a huge hit!
Banners:
I created a happy birthday banner on Minted (love their party supplies!) and got a ONE banner for Miles’ highchair from Jamboree Party Box.
Table Decor:
I got mini flags for paper straws from Minted. I loved the polka dots and primary colors. Then, I couldn’t find simple, classic looking cups so I made some! On Minted, you can get plain white cups. Then I saw they had cute balloon stickers with a #1. So I made a super simple DIY: balloon stickers + cups = simple, classic looking balloon cups.
My other DIY for the tables were classic cars snack canisters. I found canisters in 3 heights at Michaels. I bought a can of light blue and turquoise chalk spray paint and some Matchbox cars. I spray painted the cars and the lids of the canisters and then glued the cars on. It was easy, made for cute decor and held snacks too! More detailed DIY instructions to come.
Dessert:
I had a local bakery make a bright yellow cake with a matching mini smash cake for Miles. I wanted a sweet, simple bunting for the cake and found one on Etsy from Two Doors Down Design.
Favors:
For the favors, we had the adorable cookies mentioned above. For the babies that attended, I got finger puppet board books. They’re a favorite in our house! I tied them with little favor tags from Minted. For the toddlers I did mini sticker books and finger puppets, also found on Amazon. Then I put everything in simple folded bags with polka dot stickers, also from Minted.
Attire:
One of the most fun things about planning a 1st birthday party is picking out festive attire!
Birthday Crown: Little Blue Olive (Etsy)
Birthday Onesie and #1 Bib: So Simply Susan (Etsy)
Mr. Onederful Personalized T-shirt: Teeny Tot Studio
Someone was pretty tired after the big bash!
One of the best things I did was to find a local high school student to help me with photos. She is going to be studying photo journalism. I love getting tons of party photos, editing them myself, etc but it’s SO hard to enjoy a party while taking photos. So thanks to Mary Clare, I have hundreds of party photos and didn’t pick up a camera once. She’s super talented and you can see her photos on her Instagram account: @kingph0tography
I have loved planning and throwing first birthday parties for all 4 of my children. I still can’t believe Miles is 1 and I threw my last “1st” bash. But plenty more parties to plan!
Enjoy planning your little one’s first birthday party!
This is the cutest party ever! Thanks for sharing, I love these pictures! Mitch