Evelyn Pearl's Fancy First Birthday

After having two boys, I was thrilled and excited to throw my sweet little girl a fancy, frilly, lacy, girly first birthday party! Initially I had ideas of a chic vintage tea party, but in the end I steered clear of any true "theme," and just went with "girly and fancy."

This was a true DIY party, as I made all the decorations myself. I really enjoy crafting, so I had a lot of fun creating the details for the party.

We had about 25 people (children and adults) at the party. The kids enjoyed playing a couple party games, breaking open the piñata, and jumping on the trampoline. The adults enjoyed mingling and eating, and reminiscing about how fast the past year had gone.

As guests arrived, I asked to get a picture of our family with theirs right away before everyone got lost in the shuffle. I then printed the pictures right from my phone (my printer is wireless) and put them on display at the party. (This whole part was my husband's idea!) We then sent everyone home with their picture. This was a hit with the guests!

One of my favorite parts was when we sang Happy Birthday! I bought a sparkler candle in the shape of an "E" at a boutique near by. The sparklers were so awesome. It was definitely the coolest candle I had ever seen.

We created a time capsule by asking the guests to write a memory, wish, or letter for the birthday girl. We will give it to her on her 16th birthday. Although I am tempted to read what people wrote, I will wait until we give the time capsule to Evelyn and read them with her for the first time.

In addition to the DIY decorations, I displayed pictures of Evelyn's "firsts," as well as the baby book scrapbook I made for her over her first year.

The day turned out to be everything I hoped it would be and more!

• What People Ate

  The menu consisted of chicken salad croissants with havarti cheese, sausage pinwheels, ham and cheese pinwheels, bacon and cheddar quiche, mini chocolate chip muffins, mini blueberry muffins, and fresh fruit.

• What People Drank

  We offered pink lemonade, lemonade, and water bottles to drink.

• Desserts

  For dessert we served assorted chocolate cookies and wafers, personalized sugar cookies, lady fingers, apple stuffed sugar pastries, mini chocolate cupcakes, mini red velvet cupcakes, and of course, a smash cake for the birthday girl! A close friend of mine is an amazingly talented baker, and she made the personalized sugar cookies for me!

• Party Favors

  For party favors, I personalized mini planters for the kids and stuffed them with sweet pea seeds for them to plant. I attached a tag I made that read "Growing like a flower and having so much fun. Pretty as a butterfly; our little sweet pea is turning one!" on one side, and "All things grow with love. Thank you for coming to my party. Love, Evelyn" on the other side. We also had a piñata, so of course the kiddos got lots of sweet treats form that. I personalized little gift bags for the kids to collect their candy in that read "Thank you for making my party so sweet. Please enjoy your special treat. Love, Evelyn" We also sent everyone home with the picture we took of them at the beginning of the party.

• Activities / Games

  The kids enjoyed playing Pin the Party Hat on the Birthday Girl, and breaking open the piñata. It was also a beautiful day, so a lot of the kids jumped on the trampoline for a good part of the party.

• Gemma Matterface- Cheeky Cakes

  Baker- made the personalized sugar cookies

  Gemma is an incredibly talented baker. If you are in the Charlotte area you are silly not to use her! She has made cakes for me for more than 10 occasions and they have been amazing every single time. My guests are always so impressed with her work, as am I! https://www.facebook.com/CheekyCakesCharlotte/