We are getting ready to celebrate my daughter’s second birthday this month and I can hardly believe it. As I am dreaming up birthday party ideas and how we are going to celebrate our sweet girl, I have been reminiscing on last year when we put together her first birthday party. I thought it would be fun to share a little glimpse into some of those small details we poured into her special day.
There is something so surreal about celebrating a baby’s first birthday – the past year feels like a blur and you are eager to watch them grow another twelve glorious months. It’s a milestone worth celebrating no matter the age but there is truly something extra special about that first year! I hope the ideas shared here help give you inspiration for planning your own little one’s first birthday party. Take time to soak it all in and find unique ways to capture the fleeting moments!
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1st Birthday Party Planning: The Theme & Invitations
When dreaming about themes for our daughter’s first birthday, I couldn’t help but think that “ONEderland” (Wonderland) was the perfect idea. Our girl loves reading storybooks and with March being a transitional time from Winter into Spring, we thought it would be fun to capture some of that whimsicalness that comes with both the turning of the season and the first year of her special life. I created the invitation on Canva using a template from the library and customized it with some different fairytale-esque elements and colors until it fit the theme perfectly! Below is a peek at how it turned out.
Another thing that I loved about this theme is that it gave us room to really hone into all the sweet little girly touches – flowers, princesses, fairies, sparkles, etc. It gave me so many different ideas for decorations and I had the best time piecing it all together and bringing our vision to life!
We also timed the party around a late brunch and decided to make it a tea party with finger foods and other delicate little touches. It turned out perfectly and the decorations were definitely my favorite part!
“Onederland” First Birthday Party Decorations
Creating a vision for the party decorations was such a fun project. I knew that I wanted the entire party to have a very whimsical vibe so I went heavy on the florals and made those the focal point. I hung them from our chandelier, filled bud vases and sprinkled them in every corner of the party, added them to the cake, weaved them throughout the balloon arch, and I even went as far as having my daughter’s outfit adorned with florals too: a beautiful tule dress and flower crown to top it off.
The best part about utilizing a good amount of flowers for any party is that very little alternative decor is needed. The flowers are more than enough of a statement piece to make the event feel thoughtful and elegant. I did, however, find a few adorable pieces of decor off Amazon that really tied in the theme well and brought the whole vibe up a notch.
This princess banner from Meri Meri is absolutely darling and was the perfect backdrop to the main room. I also got enough balloons to make a small balloon arch and I filled in any empty gaps there with spare flowers. I sprinkled the tables with vintage-inspired floral plates and cups and the used some battery-operated taper candles to give the space some warmth.
Since we decided to incorporate a tea party into the theme, I also splurged on a sweet little tea pot (which I filled with flowers!) and tiered cake stand to add to the main table. And you can’t forget all of the “one” themed decorations like a candle and balloon!
First Birthday Party: The Intimate Details
One of my favorite touches was dressing up her favorite stuffed animals with party hats and placing them around the party so it felt like they were celebrating alongside us! My daughter loved this touch the most and it was so fun watching her interact with them throughout the day.
My sister-in-law handmade a “Hazel” banner that worked as a great backdrop for the party, but is currently being repurposed in her playroom as an adorable statement piece. Ours is handmade but I had found similar ones on Etsy that are just as sweet! (linked here).
To make the backdrop extra special, I printed one photo from every month of her first year on mini polaroid prints and hung them into a little DIY banner. It was such a sweet way to reminisce on her first whole year of growing up and all of our guests enjoyed looking through them.
My sister-in-law also homemade the cake & piped the little icing flowers by hand! We made two cakes – a bigger one for our guests to enjoy, and a smaller “smash” cake for our daughter to dive into herself.
Party Decoration Links & More
That pretty much wraps up our daughter’s first birthday party! We had so much fun planning this special day to celebrate our sweet daughter and it turned out even better than I had envisioned. I hope that someday our daughter will look back at the memory of this day and see all of the love that was poured into every detail. Celebrating her is so easy and this was one of the best days of our life!
Shop all of the decor we used and my daughter’s special birthday outfit at the links below and I hope you have the best time planning your own little one’s first birthday party!
“Onederland” 1st Birthday Party Decorations
1st Birthday Party Outfit Ideas
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