1st Birthday Party!

This past weekend we finally had Braylens first birthday party. I don’t know if this is how everyone feels after their kids parties, but both J and I just felt so blessed and honored. So many family and friends were there to celebrate our baby, our little fat man, and we were so grateful. The party prep stressed me out, as does any party, but once it was started it was so fun! So much so, I’ve even started thinking of some party ideas for his next birthday. I think using a Perth Bouncy Castle Hire service is on the cards! We recently took him somewhere with a bouncy castle and he loved it so fingers crossed he’ll still like it next year and we can have one. We might get one with a slide so parents can go on with their kids too but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. And as usual, the ever so talented Melissa Young took some incredible photos for us.

The party was at 3pm, so I wanted some yummy food, but didn’t feel like I had to provide a full meal. To me, that is the best situation because you can focus more on the fun yummy stuff rather than making sure you can fill someone up. However, I thought it would be better to share a beer or two with the parents. One of my friends had got this beer subscription box for her son’s birthday party and she said that everyone enjoyed having those crafted beers. I may try the same for the next birthday party at home. Anyway, here are the recipes I did:

Chocolate chip cookies & White chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies so people could make their own cookie ice cream sandwich

Hummus with pita chips and veggies

Rootbeer BBQ pulled pork sandwiches {these were the easiest and best tasting things ever}

Ice cream cone shaped almond butter and jelly sandwiches {for the kids..or some adults;) }

Strawberry Basil white sangria & beer

I had J make the big 1 the week prior just from some trim scraps we had in the garage. I didn’t even take the time to paint it..oh well!

The ice cream cone garland was done by following this tutorial from Oh Happy Day . It took a little time to make them all, but I love that it was a decoration that didn’t cost much. And the honeycombs are totally collapsable, so can easily be used again for another party later.

Goody bags were super classy being the classic brown paper lunch bag and clothes pins to keep them closed:)

Well hello there lover

My super creative and adorable best friend insisted on getting a 3D pen for a 3D theme party decorations. She found out all about the best 3d pen – Allthat3d.com or some similar website; although it was a great idea, I thought it is best not to change the plan last minute. Besides that, I had huge plans for the photo booth! I was going to order a large roll of paper for it, but then found a blanket that worked well {and we already had it, instead of buying the paper!} but the wind was pretty serious the day of the party. It probably got knocked down 10 times and ended up a mess, but that’s ok- because most kids looked like this while in the hot air balloon basket:)

We were finally able to get a shot of the boys with their Vespas! Can’t wait till Bray is old enough to truly use this as a rocker!

I cant help but crack up every time he screams for a photo. Its just real life!

The fabulous Modern Manor owners who graciously let us take over their beautiful home for the party, since ours is still total construction from the leak!

For about three weeks prior to the party we practiced singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candle. I had zero expectations that he would actually follow through on the day of, but he did! I think I lierally squealed when he blew out the candle and just smiled huge! And PS- the creepy clown candle was my candle for every Birthday cake I had. Love that my mama saved it for me:)

He wasn’t so sure about the cake at first. He should’ve know it was going to be good. I followed this incredible grain free vanilla cake recipe, it was incredible.

Didn’t take long for him to realize what the heck he just got offered!

The beauty who is usually behind the lens, Melissa Young Photography.

And of course, we ended the party with a sweet boy melting down. He honestly did so great though until the very end.

All in all, the party was more than we could have ever hoped. A few key things I think helped the afternoon go great:

• Offer kid drinks AND adult drinks;)
• Don’t have it too planned out with activities {at least for a 1 year old party, im sure its diff. when they are older}. We simply had toys and a water table out and the kids all had a blast.
• A thing we did that I felt like we were breaking the rules with: Skip opening the presents. We opted to open them the next day at home, since I knew he would pay attention for .25 seconds and then be over it at the party.
• Have some ‘real’ food {sandwiches} and snack food {hummus} as options, and always a good dessert!
• If able, have some sort of photo booth area. You don’t need an actual back drop, but have a fun designated area for photos.

Thanks to everyone who came to the party, love you all!