Selected as Party of the Day on January 29th!

Ethan's Gone Fishing 1st Birthday Party

no photo By Sandra N  in Birthday

Drinks

Party Recap

Vendors:

Event Planning and Styling, Invitations, Party Favor Tags, Custom Paper Items, Banners, Paper Goods, Desserts, and Centerpieces: Sandra Nee Design https://www.instagram.com/sandraneedesign/

Cupcakes and Cookies: Sweety My Treats, Mylene Manalo

Photography: Keith Aceron Photography http://www.keithaceronphotography.moonfruit.com/
David Chow Photography, Father
Doug Lim, Friend

Cake: One & One Bakery https://oneandonebakery.wordpress.com/

Tree Trunk Cupcake Stand: Chelsea Aka and Jake Peterson, Cousin and Friend

For my son Ethan’s 1st Birthday party, I chose the theme, Gone Fishing. I wanted to pick a fun theme that would be able to incorporate a variety of activities to entertain the kids; especially since we were expecting a large crowd, 70 to be exact!

Decor: For the decorations, I wanted a more rustic feel, yet wanted to keep the party colorful. To achieve this, I incorporated a lot of wood accents with the 3 main colors (water blue, sea green, and orange/coral). Hanging from overhead were large 16” fish and bobber lanterns. Each table was set with a rustic wood table cover and then covered with a fish net. The centerpieces were hurricane vases with rocks, a live fish, and a fishing pole with a paper fish attached with different pictures of my son on each table.

The rest of the venue was decorated with fishing nets, fish banners, painted wood fish, mini bobbers, and various fishing phrase banners scattered throughout. One of my favorite pieces was the direction signs that matched the rest of the decorations of the party.

Since the venue included a large swimming pool, I felt like it would be a waste if it wasn’t incorporated into the décor of the party. To make use of the pool, I placed a bear with a vest, hat, tackle box, and fishing pole into an inflatable boat which was then placed into the pool along with some diving fish at the bottom for the bear to catch. This decoration was the centerpiece of the party, which was also later used by the older guests to go for a ride in the pool.

I had such a fun time planning and designing Ethan’s Gone Fishing Party. I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did.

Idea

Party Highlights

  • What People Ate

    Vegetarian Egg Rolls, Chicken Lumpia, Chicken Curry, Noodles, Basil Chili Duck, Chicken and Beef Satay, Spaghetti, and Fish Sticks

  • What People Drank

    Lemonade, Milk, Thai Tea, Soda

  • Desserts

    Treats: The dessert table is always the highlight of my parties. Treats included 2 different types of fishing cupcakes (marble), trout sugar cookies, bait and dirt cups (Oreos and chocolate pudding), cat tails (Twix and Ho Hos), trout chocolate lollipops, fishing reels (chocolate covered cookies and marshmallows), pretzel fishing rods, assortment of gummy worms and gummy fish, lake water with fish (blue sixlets and jello with gummy fish), goldfish in mini pails, and an adorable cake really tied the entire table together. All the different desserts were indicated with a mini directional sign which matched the décor of the party. Aside from the dessert table, a large rainbow fish piñata was smashed to provide additional goodies for guests to take home.

  • Party Favors

    Party Favors: In addition to the pet fish and bucket hats, I also wanted the guests to be able to take a little bit of fun from the party home. Each child was given a metal bucket with a magnetic fishing pole and 5 fish. Fish stickers, goldfish crackers, Swedish fish and Go Fish Card Games were also available for the older guests to take home.

  • Activities / Games

    Activities: Various fishing type games were set up for kids to play, whether using a magnetic fishing pole from a boat or nets to catch fish. The boat ball pit was a crowd favorite, and the blue water beads and rubber fish sensory bin was definitely a hit with the little ones. A craft table was also set up for kids to decorate their own fish and a fish felt board was also available to stimulate the kids’ imagination. A live fish catch was also arranged for partygoers to catch their own fish and take them home in the fish bowls provided. This activity doubled as party favors for the guests. Colorful bucket hats were also passed out to the kids to wear at the party and later take home.

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4 comments

  • Courtney B

    Courtney B wrote:

    I love this party. Can you tell me what you used to make the signs that say worms, cat tails, etc... Much appreciated!

  • Nicole H

    Nicole H wrote:

    Can you tell me where you got the Large Happy Birthday Banner? Very cute Party!

  • no photo

    Sandra N wrote:

    Hi Nicole, I made them myself. If you are interested in purchasing the printable, please contact me at [email protected]

  • no photo

    Sandra N wrote:

    Hi Courtney, I used clay, fake moss, popsicle sticks and little wooden signs.