Our girls’ birthdays are just three days apart and while I’m SO happy that they have their *own* special days we absolutely plan to combine their celebrations when they’re little. This year I felt like they should have their own birthday party themes, but to have them loosely coordinated. For Chloe’s party, I was feeling really inspired by bows. Sophie’s birthday had a ballerina theme this year, so the overlap of the two felt pretty logical.
We also plan to keep the girls’ celebrations small and sweet while they’re really young (especially for babies!). We invited a few family members over to our home and it was the perfect intimate gathering to celebrate our littlest ladies!
GENERAL DECOR
I went pretty minimal with the decor — enough to make the event feel special and that the theme was present, but nothing too crazy. Since it was a micro family event I just added a few festive touches throughout the house to make it feel more celebratory.
I’ve personally always been a fan of bows, but seeing them becoming super popular over the past couple of years really inspired me to utilize them for Chloe’s first birthday party theme… I am SO here for this “trend”. One way in particular that I have loved to see bows used is tied on candlestick holders. It’s such a sweet and whimsical way to style them… and that’s exactly the vibe I wanted for Chloe’s birthday.
If you’ve seen any of our past birthday celebrations for Sophie you know we have a beautiful multicolored ribbon garland that’s perfect for decorating the tray on a high chair. I still have (and love!) that garland and it will definitely get used again, but for Chloe’s first birthday I got this adorable “ONE” banner to go with this year’s theme… plus, this is the final first birthday our immediate family will be celebrating so I thought I should make it a bit more special. 😭
I replaced the ribbon that the banner letters came on with a dusty rose ribbon that coordinated with our theme and added two bows in a [wider] matching ribbon on either side of the back of her high chair — I love how it turned out!
…
Ever since Party City closed, I haven’t known where to go to both buy balloons and also have them inflated. Thankfully, our local Michael’s is located in the same plaza where the Party City used to be and I learned that they offer both balloons and inflation service! If you can’t find what you’re looking for from their selection you can still pay to have balloons inflated that you’ve purchased elsewhere.
If I had had more time, I would have tied a few lengths of our satin ribbon to the balloons in lieu of the usual curling ribbon to add to the bow theme.
*Tip: Because the satin material of the ribbons is slippery, I would have used clear hair elastics to attach the ribbon bows to the balloon “tails” to keep them secured in place.
…
TABLE DECOR
While this item isn’t exactly “decor” because it’s more of a functional item, I think tying a bow around the [fully cooled] loaf pan created such a sweet presentation! This loaf pan bakes so well and I can’t help but admire how aesthetically pleasing it is… which makes it perfect for serving! My absolute favorite thing is when functional items are also beautiful.
I have loved capturing “monthly milestone” photos of my girls every month of each of their first years so it gave me immense enjoyment to have Chloe’s Monthly Photos printed and on display for her birthday.
I love this as a decor idea for literally any birthday… display some photos from throughout their year for everyone to enjoy at the party!
…
FOOD / TREATS
CAKE
Since Chloe is turning one, I tried to keep the sugar to a minimum and went with this applesauce cake. I made this cake for Sophie’s first birthday and linked many other cake suggestions in that post if you’re trying to decide on one for your little’s first birthday.
To decorate the cake, I repurposed these Kate Aspen calligraphy table numbers that I originally bought for our wedding (and ended up not needing) as cake decor every year. I first started repurposing them for Sophie’s birthdays and now Chloe gets to use them too!
…
ADDITIONAL FOOD / RECIPES
Since we kept our celebration small I didn’t go to the effort of creating a full menu, but that didn’t stop me from finding some cute ideas to share in case you were looking for some additional inspiration!
I’ll admit that bows are a fairly tough theme to align food items with, but here are a few options:
“Ribbon” (Tagliatelle / Pappardelle) Pasta
Strawberry Cream Tea Sandwiches
Bow Shaped Bread for Sandwiches
Anything in Bow Print Snack Cups
Bow Cutter for Sandwiches
…
FIRST BIRTHDAY GIFTS
Because Chloe is our second baby, she already has PLENTY of toys at her disposal, and so many of them are for her age group so we only ordered a few items for her (which is mindset we abide by with both of our girls). This year she received: (1) a set of blocks (that can be shared with big sister), (2) a custom board book of our family, (3) a shape sorting box, and (4) a motor skills activity cube.
I also have to share these wrapping paper sheets, which were actually easier to use than a roll! I was pretty impressed by the quality as well.
…
ACTIVITIES
For a first birthday we didn’t plan anything elaborate as far as activities go, but since we have a summer baby that loves water we knew she’d enjoy playing in our beloved inflatable pool for her birthday. I heavily considered bringing out our splash pad instead, but the pool felt like the right way to go this year. I’m sure the splash pad will be in heavy rotation throughout the remainder of the summer though.
If you’re having a “coquette” / bow-themed party for an older kiddo, a bow-shaped piñata would be sooo cute!
I can’t believe this is our very last first birthday… I’m really in my feelings about it. Time is such a thief.
Happiest first birthday to our sweet Chloe girl!
Sending hugs —
xx, Natalie
Leave a comment...