I can’t believe Lively’s first birthday party has come and gone. I started dreaming up her party last summer (excited first time mom over here 🙋🏼♀️) and had SO much fun putting it together! Sophisticated and sweet, Lively’s nursery has become our favorite room in the house so it was a no brainer for me to draw inspiration from her room for her first birthday party. I love how darling and girly it all turned out!
The invitations were created by Darby Design Collective on Etsy. Darby was such a joy to work with and I cannot recommend her enough! I had a vision for Lively’s invitation and Darby nailed it. My favorite part is the custom crest at the top. Darby was so kind to send me a PDF of the crest by itself so I could print it out and frame it for her nursery! She was also very gracious anytime I asked her to tweak something and she was always super fast and response. If you need party invitations, wedding invitations or custom stationary, definitely check Darby out. I will absolutely be working with her again in the future!
How precious are these cookies?! I ordered them from CreativeCurlCookies off Etsy. Tammy was another Etsy shop owner that was amazing to work with. She did an incredible job replicating Lively’s wallpaper, and the little pink buffalo check pillow that sits in her rocker, onto the most delicious sugar cookies! She also incorporated her monogram that Darby created for the invitations and I could not be happier with how they turned out.
I had never ordered food off Etsy before, and to be honest, I was a little nervous that they would arrive broken. Not only did they arrive right on time the day before her party, but every single one was perfectly intact thanks to Tammy’s special packaging care. I’m so happy to have discovered Tammy and highly recommend having her cookies at your next party!
The birthday banner was done by Peachy Paper Crafts on Etsy. It is such great quality and I’m so happy I’ll be able to use this for all her birthdays.
I picked up the pretty pink macarons from the food section at Home Goods (if you’ve never shopped their food section you have got to check it out!) and I ordered the sparkling elderflower water from this website.
On the menu:
- Chicken Salad from Zoe’s Kitchen – served with croissants I picked up from Publix
- Spinach Salad with dried cranberries, Go Raw Sunflower Seeds (the only kind I eat because they’re nut free) and avocado – served with the option of this dressing or this one (from Costco)
- Strawberries and Blueberries
- Grilled potato salad from Zoe’s Kitchen
I still can’t get over how gorgeous this cake by Calli Marie Bakes was! I have been following Calli on Instagram for years and have always wanted to have one of her cakes at a party. This cake was the sole reason I paused my #JanuaryWhole30 for the day. The cake was absolutely incredible, but I got a crazy headache and even worse stomach ache later that day. It was almost worth it lol!
This is Lively’s little smash cake I made myself. I used this box of cake mix (subbed applesauce for the butter and coconut milk for the milk) and this icing and topped it with these sprinkles. I got the cake topper from this Etsy shop. You’ll see by the photos below that Lively LOVED the cake!
I’m still swooning over the flowers Caroline Chelette of Moonstruck Florals did for the party. I asked her to create something whimsical and girly that was reminiscent of the English garden wallpaper in Lively’s room, and she blew me away with this stunner (and two smaller variations of this same design). I literally gasped when she walked in the door with these. Not only are they beautiful, but our house has been filled with the sweetest floral smell all week. I wish they would last forever!
My favorite detail of the party was the floral bar! I got this idea from my friend Sarah Tucker who did this at a wedding shower for one of her best friends. Caroline (Moonstruck Florals) and I met at Trader Joe’s to pick out some pretty blooms that complimented the cream, blush and blue color palette of the party. Here’s what we used:
- Esther roses (blush pink)
- White majolica spray roses
- Campanula bells (white bell shaped flower)
- Delphinium (blue)
- Stock
- Seeded Eucalyptus
- Silver Dollar Eucalyptus
We set them all up in plain glass vases and put out this floral wrapping paper I ordered off Amazon + some scissors and a spool of twine so people could tie up a pretty bouquet to take home with them. The guests had so much fun putting these together and I loved that it was a little piece of Lively’s party they could enjoy at home for a few more days.
I love having signage at parties. Whether it’s a food table or a floral bar, I think it elevates the set up and is a really thoughtful detail. To make the take away bouquet sign, I downloaded a free script font online and typed out what I wanted. Printed it at home on thick cardstock paper and put it in a gold frame I found at the dollar store. Super easy!
Lively’s sweet scalloped shirt and dress are from Bella Bliss (one of my favorite brands for classic children’s clothing), her bow is from here, her shoes are from here and socks are from here. My dress is from Anthropolgie a few seasons ago and it’s become quite the special dress. I wore it in our pregnancy photos, at one of my baby showers and now her first birthday. The giant balloons are these off Amazon.
The ONE banner on her high chair is from here.
Her reaction to the cake being taken away!
This was by far one of the most special and joy-filled days! I’m a little sad it’s over, but am looking forward to so many more celebrations and fun times ahead with our precious girl. A huge thank you to our family and friends who traveled near and far to celebrate with us, my mom and mother-in-law for all of their help before, during and after the party, and my dear friend Sophie Smith for capturing these beautiful memories of a sweet celebration that I will cherish forever.
RéRé loves Lively!