02 Aug 2010 5 Comments

Planning the Small Fry’s 1st Birthday Party

I started thinking for my Small Fry’s first birthday party right after his baptism in January and I kind of started planning when he turned six months old. Yes, you read that right – 6 months old. I hate to admit but I’m a little obsessive compulsive and  my philosophy is that you go all out for the first birthday. Some people would ask why does it have to be a big celebration if he will never know the difference or won’t remember it anyway? Well, it’s because it’s our baby’s first birthday and it’s an important milestone not just for him but also for me and my husband!

Since the Small Fry’s birthday is in October, I started with internet searches for pumpkin patch themes and ideas and poured over craft books and magazines for more inspiration. At the time, I wanted so badly to have the party at a pumpkin patch farm. The natural light and crisp autumn air were supposed to be perfect. And then I couldn’t find a farm that’s nearby and I just knew it wasn’t going to happen, so it was time to accept that fact and work to make the best possible adjustments for another theme. Moving to plan B, I wanted to do a barnyard party but the problem was I also could not find an old big red barn around here! Well, I guess it’s a good thing I started planning several months in advance because when Michael and I decided that we are just going to rent an event hall or a clubhouse, there weren’t that many good options either. The clubhouse that we like didn’t even have our date available so we just have to do the party a week later.

Since we Jordan loves giraffe, we’d do this party in the same theme. However, I found that it was very difficult to find giraffe items on their own and most party related came in a jungle theme so we decided to go with a Safari theme with the giraffe being the feature animal.

With so many jungle and Safari kid parties out there using very bright colors (including an overwhelmingly bright red like in this picture), I wanted the whole theme to set a fresh Safari tone using only a few sets of fall, orange-y colors with some blue accent to make it a little less boring. Below is the inspiration board that I put together.

I am feeling very ambitious and started to design all the Do-It-Yourself items for the party including the save-the-date,  invites, favor tags and banners. I even plan on baking the cake and cupcakes for the party! I would  really love to make it a tradition to bake and decorate all of my son’s birthday cakes (but we’ll see how that goes). Below is the digital Save-The-Date card that I am sharing with family and friends on facebook. You can get a similar save the date postcard on Zazzle.

Honestly though, I have mixed feelings about my Small Fry’s upcoming birthday. Of course, I’m very excited and happy planning for the party, but at the same time I can’t help but feel like the first year has flown by so quickly. It’s hard to imagine that our Small Fry who just came home from the hospital will soon be turning one. I can’t help but feel a little sad that my baby is soon to be a toddler and I’ll never get that time (when he’s just a tiny baby) back.

by Joy in Birthdays, Celebrations, Party Planning