There is nothing like the first year and with both girls their big birthday snuck up on us. With Margaret and Catherine we had the same conversation – do we even want to do a big party? Events these days seem like they can get out of hand and it is important for us before we head down that rode to have a clear vision of how we want to celebrate. For both girls we decided to go for it.
Even if they don’t remember the party, we all will and I am a big believer in not letting the notion that our kids “won’t remember something” be a determining factor in a decision. I do know people who don’t do “friend” parties until their little ones are older and I think that is great- we seriously considered it as well. But I always advise against using the ability to remember something as the litmus test. For a milestone celebration like a first birthday party, it becomes part of the fabric and story of our family – Margaret will certainly remember the day and got a kick out of being involved in the planning. For that reason alone, we knew we made the right decision to have a big party. But furthermore, after our big move from Texas it was a way to celebrate with our new community of Florida friends, and our family close by, who have been a special part of Catherine’s life and our time here. So with two 1st birthday parties under our belt, here on some steps we took to plan as well as details about Catherine’s cat themed “pawty” a few weeks ago.
Picking The Date: For birthdays, we worked around surrounding national and school holidays as well as our family calendar. We aim for the weekend before or after the actual birthday and in this case picked the weekend right after Catherine officially turned one, on Saturday from 3PM-5PM. She had just gotten her shots so that was a little bit of a gamble and something you’d want to think about when you’re picking the date, but it worked out well. We chose late afternoon because we figured it would work for little ones who are still taking a midday nap and for Catherine we just woke her up a little early from her afternoon nap. She seemed super happy and pretty into the party scene. We also figured that it wasn’t a meal time so on our end we just needed an array of snacks.
Invitations: I love, love, love paper invitations but over time I have learned how convenient emailed invites are. I personally love Paperless Post and you can always print off invitations for scrap-booking purposes of for those invitees who you’d like to send a formal invite. I will continue to use paper invites for future events, I’ve just found that certain ones are better suited for the electronic version.
Activities – At Margaret’s first birthday party it was pretty much all babies and their parents. We had baby friendly toys out and added on a little ball pit and tunnel which were very popular with the baby crew. And we had wine and beer which was very popular with their parents. We did this same thing for Catherine’s and to make the ball pit I ordered this baby pool and these balls, as well as this tunnel which collapses so easily and thus is easy to store. But this time around we had a bunch of older siblings we wanted to include and be mindful of providing something for them to do. We rented a bounce house which is always a hit, but since it was late September and pretty hot, there was a limit on how much the kids could bounce before they got too tired. Luckily we have a pool which was a great activity and way to cool off but if I’d wanted a non-pool activity or needed to keep things inside, I would’ve needed to come up with something else for the older siblings to do.
Basket, Pottery Barn Kids ($49) 
Photo: c/o Sarah Tucker
Theme- I am a big fan of using what you’ve got around the house whenever possible for entertaining. Chances are if you’ve picked a theme or your child has, you’re bound to have a little something on theme to work with. We lit on a cat theme because nearly more than anything, Catherine loves her two kitty cats, Walker and Harper. Aside from Mom and Dad, “cat” was her first word. So here are ways we incorporated the theme:
- We put Aristocats on the TV to play throughout the party.
- We pulled out any cat related book and made a little corner for guests to “paws and read”.
- We took all of their cat stuffed animals grouped them in her new stroller.
- Margaret has a decorative cat animal head in her room and we borrowed it for the front door and put a hat on her for a bit of whimsy.
- The food is always a good opportunity for a pun or nod to the theme. I’m still bummed I didn’t make time to do signage for our spread but if I had it would’ve included fun selections like “Meowgaritas”, the “Milk Bar” and the “Bird Bar”. Plus the sweet and savory “Meow Mix”.
The Details: In my heart, I can do Pinterest crafts all day every day. In reality – that just isn’t my life right now. So for each year I order more and more from places like Etsy to cut down on my trips to and expenditures at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. But I did make this banner that matched her invitation.
Other decor sourcing is as follows:
Balloons – I got these pink oversized balloons on Amazon, where else? But the Pottery Barn tassels I got on clearance after Valentine’s Day I have had for a few years and use them all the time for birthday party decor as well as Valentine’s and Easter Parties. They worked perfectly for these balloons and went right back into my party drawer for the next time.
Cups – I get these reusable cups often for parties and showers from the Etsy shop GraciousBridal. but then go more lowkey on plates and napkins – my favorite place for those is actually the Dollar Tree. Margaret’s first birthday we did these cups but put a giant 1 on one side of the cups. My very astute friend said, “If you’d just put Happy Birthday Margaret without the 1 you could’ve reused these next year.” My mouth agape, I could not believe I hadn’t through of that! So I did that for her 2nd birthday and reused them for her 3rd and 4th. So for Catherine I just did Happy Birthday Catherine and we’ll break them out for future celebrations.
Favors – I had a few options for kiddos to take as much or as little as they wanted started with cat ears to wear during the party as well as fluffy kitten lovies to adopt and a Pete The Cat book to take home.
Table Covers – I used my own pink Williams-Sonoma tablecloth and it has come in handy for baby showers, birthdays and holidays. Pink might not seem like a practical linen investment but for me it has been used time and time again. We also used this roll of pink gingham plastic table covering. I ordered this roll a while back and it has come in handy for a cute, but quick and disposable option. I’ve even used it as a cute and protective wrapping for packages.
Guest Book: The same Mark & Graham guest book we used for her baptism we used for her first birthday. This is one of my favorite traditions.
Banner: Just like we did for Margaret, I bought a Happy Birthday Banner off of Etsy from PelicanPaperieCo that wasn’t necessarily themed, though this one had cats that could be removed and so we enjoyed them for her “pawty” but can reuse it next year.
Party Hat and Bib – Such a sweet addition to the party, ThePreppiePeony is my favorite and we had one for Margaret’s first birthday as well. We rested the hat on the cat’s head for a cute entryway detail. The rest of the guests could choose from cat ears or these cute pom-pom topped hats that I’ve ordered for two of Margaret’s previous birthday parties. You do have to assemble them yourself just a word of caution, but they’re super fun and festive.
The Spread – Since it wasn’t meal time, we focused on snacks that could for the most part be enjoyed by party guests of all ages. No surprise to anyone, the Chick-Fil-A nuggets were the star of the show. We also had a fruit and veggie platter, a cheese plate. We had a bit of a nod to the cat theme by also including sweet and savory “Meow Mix” in the form of pre-made Chexmix and Muddy Buddies. Alongside bowls of Swedish Fish and Goldfish. For all the babies at the party I had a little “baby bar”,selection of baby friendly options like pouches, Gerber snacks such as puffs and yogurt melts. Nearby I include some more options for our younger guests like applesauce pouches, pirate booty, and goldfish bags as well as a “milk bar” with chocolate and regular milk. To satisfy those with a sweet tooth we had funfetti flavored cat cookies that were both darling and tasty from LucysSweetShop on Etsy, as well as our birthday cake from Publix. For drinks we had lots of flavored sparkling water as well as wine, beer. We also had “Meowgaritas” and White Claw to round out the cat theme.
Gifts – I am always torn on the “no gifts” approach. I understand it, especially when I feel like we have so much already. But allowing for gifts also creates the opportunity for others to love on your little one and especially for older kids it helps set the stage for gracefully receiving gifts, sending thank you notes, and thinking about how to celebrate others with gifts when the time comes. For now, we’ve mostly left off any gift instructions on the invitation like “no gifts” but that could change in the future. Curtis and I decided to give her a sweet baby doll stroller from The Tot that is perfect for an early walker and can be used as a grocery cart as well.
Outfits – I couldn’t help myself and went all in on the theme. Catherine wore her sweet Pixie Lily Kitty Sunsuit through Born Children’s Boutique that we for her one-year-old photos. For her “pawty” day she wore a Petit Bebe dress that we picked up at Hip Hip Hooray in Dallas, where we had gotten all of Margaret’s birthday dresses. It is starting to become a bit of a tradition! As for me, I wore these Lilly Pulitzer pants with cats all over them.
Catherine’s “pawty” was exactly what we’d hoped. A love fest with a house full and the birthday girl was thrilled to see cats everywhere!
