Party Recap...

On October 8, 2009 our family was blessed with a sweet baby boy ~ Nico Angelo. On October 8, 2010 we celebrated his very 1st birthday, and what a celebration it was.

This party was different from the other birthdays I've done, this was for my baby! Even though I had thrown a 1st birthday party for his older brother a few years prior, the thought of this possibly being my last 1st birthday party inspired me! If it might be the last, then it was going to be spectacular!

First, I decided on a theme... Prince, of course. I started researching Prince birthday party supplies and was disappointed, to say the least, with what was available. Princess, princess, princess... if only I had a little girl. I started reading party blogs and looking at pictures to generate some ideas. Still nothing! I saw all of the "cutesy" 1st birthday prince themes, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted something sophisticated, stylish and definitely vintage! I was at Hobby Lobby one day and found a plate that had a vintage medieval crown on it with brown, white and teal colors. That was it!!! I bought the plate and the rest is history...

I designed the invitations using the medieval crown theme, with browns, blues, and antique golds for colors and royal fonts for the wording. I printed them out on an antiqued linen paper and tore the edges to give it a more worn and vintage look. To add an extra touch I took some walnut stain and lightly brushed the torn edges to give them a little darker (burned) appearance and lightly brushed the entire invite with an antique gold powder for a more royal effect. The envelopes were a pearlized brown and I used a wax stamp to seal them.

I wanted a Royaly Sweet Table, so I found candies in the colors I was using and placed them in glass jars that were decorated with brown satin ribbon and tags that I designed to match the theme. Since I knew there would be candy left over and I didn't want it in the house I set out little glass jars, adorned with favor tags, for everyone to fill before they left!

The center piece of my table was going to be the cake and I already knew what I wanted... a crown sitting on top of a pillow. Sounds easy enough... except the crown I wanted was a little more involved than that! At first I wasn't sure if my design was going to turn out as imagined, but in the end it was perfect!! I also did a 1st birthday cupcake for the little prince, which looked amazing with the topper I made. Did I mention that I also do cake decorating? Cakes, Cupcakes & Cookies... OH MY! is where you'll find all of my edible creations.

In addition to the candy jars, I made crown cookies for favors.

1st birthday parties can be tricky since usually there are more adults than "kids". The question becomes, do you make it "kid" friendly or "adult" friendly? I opted for more adult friendly, especially since it was on a Friday night. I served a royal dinner of stuffed pork tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans, and pomegranate salad (sounds very medieval doesn't it). I wish I could show you pictures, but my photographer (aka hubby) forgot to take pictures of the Royal Buffet.

He did, however, get some shots of the Royal Bar!

All in all, the party was a success! Everyone enjoyed themselves and I was very pleased with how everything turned out (just as I had imagined)! Even the little prince had a wonderful day!