Can you believe we made it here? The one year mark. We managed to get to the one year mark with 3 kids in tow, it’s a miracle. First Birthday Parties are not for the one-year-old, they are for the mothers. I like it that way - and I’ll never change. My third and final first birthday was no exception.

We have great friends who had a son 3 weeks after Rowan was born ( their first, our third). She suggested we do a joint party to which I replied “definitely, but it’s my third “first birthday” and this is your first one, so think on that first.” But they are easy, and once we got the greenlight … off to pinterest we went.

Paige (Mother of Rush) is witty to the max and has a pun for everything, EVERYTHING. We first thought of “gROWEN up in a RUSH” … but like, what color sceme do I go with, with that theme? We thought about putting mustaches on all of the kids, and making them dress up like old people … but I think we were reaching a little … so her next thought was R+R (as in Rush & Rowen) but also as in Rest + Relaxation … with a spa theme. She had me at seafoam-green. Back to Pinterest I went, and I spotted a “Bagel Bar” and was knee-deep into the theme before I even saved it to my board.

We didn’t really start planning the party until 2 weeks before since our schedules have been crazy (thank you, amazon primeeeee). It was an easy but unique theme that allowed for champagne, so I highly recommend it to all moms.

I’ll breakdown the party as best as I can with links to what/ how I did things.

INVITATIONS:

I sent out classy invitations from only the best place … e-vite.com . Unless it’s a wedding, you’re getting an evite - if I’m in charge. I think it used to be a little cheesy/ lazy … but it’s just plain easy and is perfect for now. I often purchase invitation graphics from etsy to fit a theme (i.e. Loch’s “Dragons Love Tacos” Third Birthday Party). If you have less than 30 (I think) invitations to go out, you don’t have to upgrade and it’s free! I searched “spa” and the cucumber invitation popped up, I loved the colors and it wasn’t too girly (fun activity: try pinterest-ing spa birthdays and find thigns that aren’t for seven-year-old girls.)

DECORATIONS:

I like the decorations to be edible or take-home-able. I like to use the same platters that I already have (white, silver, wood) and be able to toss everything at the end of the day. Third child party, same skit. I wanted a balloon garland soooo bad. White, blue, green. Easy 6-8 foot.

I found a local place (who will remain nameless) and she told me (in writing) that their garland was $25/ft. Seemed expensive, but time is money and I saw the value in not having to make one myself so I asked for the invoice. As I was confirming the price, I noticed that it was significantly higher than I expected, and when I inquired she said a 3-color garland was actually $45/foot. During our initial conversation, I only asked for 3 colors, so I felt like she was trying to pull a fast one. I was floored. I honestly think she did it on purpose hoping I wouldn’t notice. HA. When I showed her the screenshot of our conversation, in which she stated $25 with 3 colors, sheback tracked and said if I wanted white as one of my colors she would do $25 (I always wanted white as a color). I think it’s so strange that the color of the balloons mattered. I got a bad taste in my mouth, and ghosted her.

I was bummed because I still wanted a freaking garland so my mother, mother-in-law, Paige and I setup an assembly line, and knocked them out. What you see in the photos is 5 bags of balloons from target (4 white, 1 green. Each bag had 15 balloons). I had chinese lanterns from a previous event I hosted, and used those as filler. I would have done 8 bags, but I bought all they had. Here is the tutorial I used. Note: I used regular balloon string and not twine for this garland and it worked just fine!

TREATS

For kids parties, sweet treats are the best way to get your color-scheme in without wasting money on throw-away items. We got the smash cakes from whole foods (they’ve done all of my boys parties, always do a great job, and if they’re going to eat sweets all day, at least its whole). They were more “stripe” than “ombre” but they were find. The “R' was a little bootleg, but that’s just me (us - because Paige said the same thing) being picky.

The cookies came from @raleighgoodcookies at the suggestion of the balloon lady, so she was good for something! These cookies were adorable, and everyone loved them. Custom cookies aren’t cheap, but so worth the extra splurge because you don’t need a ton!

My mother-in-law made the pistachio cake cupcakes. I have no idea how to make them, but I do know that the frosting is cool whip and she uses jello mix somehow. I loved everything about this display

p.S. our swinging chairs came from wayfair and you can check them out here. They are a show stopper and worth every penny. Something to note: they are outdoor chairs, but not for the Alley house :)

THE SPREAD

If the food & drinks are memorable at an event, nothing else matters. I’ve always loved a good spread. It needs to be full and overflowing - that’s my key. I did most of my shopping at Costco with the exception of bagel + cream cheese (I had David stop by panera the morning of becuase they have a variety of fresh bagels with different sizes and shapes - and I really wanted them for estetics (even though they taste good too).

I’ve never heard of a “bagel bar” before … but I stumbled upon one during my pinterest scrolling and it stopped me in my tracks. I saw it, and had to recreate it. Because the party was at 11am it was the perfect choice. I offered “breakfast” type bagels with cream cheese, peanut butter, honey + fruit and dates but also offered “lunch” type bagels with deli meat, lettuce, cheese and nuts and chocolate bark. One thing I underestimated - how many people love lox. Gag. I bought it beacuse I knew my mother-in-law enjoyed it. I bought one package of smoked salmon, capers, onions (and had a variety of cream cheeses)…. that stuff went SO.FREAKING.FAST. I was shocked. I purchased one costco sized package of salmon, and i should have bought three!

When it comes to drinks … I’m pretty basic. We aren’t soda drinkers - and I never offer it in my home. If you want a diet coke, you’re better off drinking one on the way over.

We had a bunch of fun fresh fruit infused waters, starbucks coffee (David bought two big boxes and it was one too many. People surprisingly requested whiskey and not a cup o joe. I should have gaged our audience better LOL.) We also had MOM-osas. I bought 3 bottles of champagne - could have used a fourth … but my friends new where I store our extra champs, and they didn’t bother to bust open an extra one so I think they were just fine.

CAKE SMASH

The highchairs are from ikea and are the best (and cheapest) highchairs you’ll ever find. I recommend to everyone. I bought a second one to have at the house becuase we have friends and family with minions and it will be used. I made their ribbon-tassel-thingys with ribbon from Michaels and this tutorial. But honestly, it was too much effort - I didnt’ use glue, just knots and bought the ribbon instead of cutting fabric. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

I had a pinterest vision in my head of an ombre/watercolor smash cake. Whole Foods did a stripe-ier version of that … which was perfectly fine. We both thought the “R’s” were a little bootleg … but that’s just because we’re picky like that (get you a friend who is as nit-picky as you … it helps you feel centered).

I threw a plastic tablecloth on the ground, because It was unclear how these two would respond to the delight of an entire cake on their tray. I wasn’t sure if they were going to dive right in or not but they were perfectly respectful and we successfully wasted two $17 cakes :)

PARTY FAVORS

i wanted to do a diy bath bomb station … mostly becuase my boys love them and they are stupid-expensive. I thought a station would be great because I could put my boys to work, and they could save me a few bucks. they are SOOOOOO easy to make. I used this tutorial and ordered this mold set.

Something not to do: premix in advance. I made the mixtures two days in advance because I wanted to make sure it would work. I wrapped them tightly with cling wrap - but they were way too dried out by the time saturday rolled around … whoops. people tried to make them …and they failed (my bad, my bad). I now have a gallon sized ziplock bag of powder that I will be dumping into our next 100 baths

I made the “you’re the bomb” tag by screenshot-ing the evite invitation and making a tag through canva.com. I printed them on cardstock and hole punched them in advance!

If a childs first birthday party isn’t a celebration for their mom - I’m not coming.

We had a blast planning this joint celebration. I encourage a joint effort with someone you love, and who has a similar vibe - or at least someone who will let you micro manage the details :)

Paige purchsed the boys tiny robes from amazon. They are insanely soft. She got them monogrammed locally.

She also scored our robes on amazon two days before the big event … gotta love prime. They are a great length and super comfy! I will now only plan parties in which I can wear a robe.

Again, i highly recommend putting these outdoor swinging chairs, indoors. Here is the link

Minion #3 turns one