First Birthday party themes and decorations

Lexi Lou,

There are so many exciting things to document and remember about this exciting milestone. One whole year with you! Without question, it has been the best year of Mama and Dada’s lives and we can’t wait for what year two will bring for us!

With your birthday falling so close to Thanksgiving, we celebrated a couple days before your ‘actual day’ so some of your aunties that live out of town could come. I spent a lot of time planning and prepping for the party and was so excited for it.

So naturally, you got your first fever (with the exception of shots) and were lethargic and didn’t have energy for the entire event. I was so disappointed, but I’m glad the Tylenol helped you feel well enough that we didn’t have to cancel.

Given the fact you weren’t feeling well, you did pretty good. For the anticipated cake smash, you were really scared while everyone was singing and starring at every move you made once the cake was put in front of you. You kept reaching for me from your highchair and didn’t really even blink an eye at the cake. Once everyone put their cameras away and began talking amongst themselves, you dug in and enjoyed yourself. You had a pretty similar reaction to gifts. You didn’t really get the concept of ripping the paper off and didn’t like everyone starring at you. But boy were you spoiled with so many wonderful things!

Party details:

Inspired by your mini love affair with your giraffee, the party was themed around giraffes. Daddy did a fantastic job designing your invitations.

My very favorite detail of your party was your outfit! You wore a hand-made tutu (made by your favorite mama) and a onesie with a big 1, giraffe holding balloons and had your name embroidered on it. And we paired that with a little firework ponytail and pink bow and you were as cute as can be.

Over the summer, I took some classes on cake decorating so I could make fun cakes for you and your future siblings! It probably would have been smarter to start with a cake that was a little more simple, but I made a giraffe, which requires a whole different ‘how to post’.

It was 100% made of cake and edible, so we gave you the head to smash into and served everyone else cupcakes, which were decorated with little flags that had pictures of you throughout the year.

I also made a birthday banner and a couple of photo collages that we put up on the wall, including one that documented many of ‘your first time moments’.

For decor, we hung streamers in the family room and kitchen, put balloons around your highchair and all the way up the staircase creating a fun and grand entrance for all of your guests.