How we came up with the theme | Party details
This past August we had the pleasure in celebrating our sweet Nolan’s first year of life! It was full of balloons, dinosaurs, good food, and great company. We chose the theme “modern dinosaur” (my husband still gets a kick out of the name lol) because our son can definitely let out a good raptor-sized ROAR when he commits to it!
When we first sat down to discuss Nolan’s party and what it would look like, it was actually kind of hard to settle on a theme. I wanted something that wasn’t too corny, nor did I want it to look too feminine. So, given all the inspo on Pinterest, I landed on “modern dinosaur” and it just fit! I loved seeing greens, whites, and golds mixed in with tropical greenery to add texture. It made the whole party seem more cohesive and less “mass manufactured and cheesy.” I was super impressed with how the theme came to life with all of the hard work we* put into it! **I had the help of a very good friend, my mom and my hubby to make my vision come to life!**
The photos we snagged aren’t the best quality, but I wanted to share what we did capture, because his party was so cute not to! And maybe this will help you plan for your little one’s next birthday!
For the “Nolan” sign, I just took the one that hangs over his crib and moved it to the entryway, replacing the mirror that normally hangs there! The “Happy Birthday” banner was simply butcher’s paper cut into squares with gold stickers on them, we punched holes through the squares and threaded twine through them and we taped the banner to the wall! To hide the tape hanging, we just slapped a couple of tropical leaves on each end using glue dots!
The table decor consisted of toy dinosaurs I got from amazon that I spray painted white. For the oversized pictures, I grabbed two poster frames from wal-mart and put two blown-up photos of Nolan in them from Walgreens. The loose greenery on the table (and throughout the other photos, a super sweet friend of mine lent them to me, but you can get them yourself from Hobby Lobby!).
Now for the FUN stuff! I have been OBSESSED with balloon garlands in party pics on Pinterest and I had to make one! I used a balloon decorating strip to attach all of the balloons we blew up (no helium needed = save more monaaaayyy) and I attached the garland using three monkey hooks and some string! (we used the monkey hooks, because 3M strips wouldn’t adhere to our wall, and we had plaster/touch up paint on hand to fix it afterwards- so it was all good!) After hanging the garland, I went in with some glue dots and stuck tropical leaves sporadically and threw in a few vines as well (all purchased from amazon)!
Above is the whole spread of Nolan’s birthday table! The cake stands I borrowed from a friend and the wooden boxes are actually filing boxes I got from Target that normally hold files in my office, I just repurposed them for this event! My mom whipped up some chocolate cupcakes and I put some glitter cupcake toppers from etsy!
Say hi to Eryn (isn’t she beautiful!?)! She was my partner in crime for this whole shindig and it wouldn’t have come together so perfectly without her! She donated so many decor and food items, and made so many goodies (party hats and graphics, and blew up hundreds of balloons!) *TIP: Gather your friends to help put your party together, it’s so fun and it helps take away the stress of party planning!*
Above you’ll see some fun photo booth props all from the Dollar Tree!! Also, we DIY’d the party hats! They were made with fun printed card stock, hot glue, stretchy string, and felt balls! And below you’ll see A close-up of our DIY photo booth backdrop! It’s made with plywood from Lowe’s and fringed plastic tablecloths from the Dollar Tree!
Closing | Take away tips
I think Nolan’s party went off without a hitch all thanks to help from our friends and family! And here are some tips that I found super helpful in planning/ making this party work!
- Know your guest demographic. Most of our guests were in their 20’s with kids. Because of this, we knew how important having the party in between breakfast and nap time would be, so we slotted the party to start at 11am (we honestly could have held it at 10:30). This also made it easier for attendees because they would have the rest of the day to themselves! Also, with the party being for a 1 year old, we understood the whole “it’s more for the adults” saying and wanted to have the party fit the adult attendees. So we did breakfast tacos (who doesn’t love a good chorizo egg and cheese taco!?) and also had an “adult watering hole” AKA mimosa bar!
- Ask for help! I can’t tell you how helpful my friends and family were in donating time, items, and man power! It seriously made all the difference in how the whole process went financially and emotionally! Asking for help will seriously make planning so much more fun and enjoyable. I will forever cherish those moments I shared blowing up balloons, making decor, and seeing everything come together.
- Create a private event on Facebook. Opting out of traditional invites was one of the best decisions we made! Everyone we wanted to invite was on social media and if they weren’t, I just sent them the digital invite via text. This helped us save money and gave us a more direct line of communication with our guests. We knew right away who was coming and who wasn’t and we could quickly answer any questions they had!
- Start early and Plan.It.OUT! Your wallet will thank you! Start 3-4 months out. Think about what you want, make a vision board (or Pinterest board!) and plan it out. I priced out every little thing from big things like balloons and food to little stuff like string for party hats, and chalk pens for chalkboard signs. It helped me bite the cost of the party in smaller bites. Also, planning it out gives you more time to research the cost of items and snag them when they go on sale (I always overspend when I’m buying things last minute)!
- Have fun! Cliché I know, but seriously, it’s not about having a “Pinterest worthy” party. It’s about celebrating the blessing of your little one’s first year of life and being able to share these precious moments with the ones you love.