April 20, 2015

Sullivan's First Birthday Party

I knew well before Sully turned one that I didn't want to have a huge, extravagant party for him. But I did want to celebrate not only his day of birth, but also mine and Jim's first year of parenthood. Even though we had already technically moved to Calgary, we still hadn't sold our home in Edmonton, so we returned the weekend of his birthday to have a party surrounded by our closest family and friends.

first birthday invite

I created his invite with picmonkey and emailed it out. to our guests. While it would have been nice to have created custom made invites through websites like minted or Shutterfly, it also wasn't necessary for a first birthday party. Plus, we all know I like to leave things to the last minute, and if I had had to mail out invites, I don't think anyone would have shown up for the party!

I kept the decorations simple, forgoing an overall theme, and focused more on photo displays of Sullivan's first year of life. I didn't really want to use up a good idea for a theme on his one year birthday where he's not even going to remember the party except from photos of it. It was also really hard to party prep when you're not actually in the space where said party is going to be. I knew whatever I decided to do - decor and food wise - pretty much needed to be done the day of the party.

monthly photo project display
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
monthly photo project display 
gallery wall display with washi tape
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
gallery wall display with washi tape
{photos by Kala Rose Photography}

Food and snacks were also kept simple, things that could be eaten with minimal mess and without cutlery. And I tried to appeal to people of all ages. I made the cupcakes and the cake myself, although not from scratch. A baker I am not, and icing a cake is the hardest thing I've ever tried to make!

first birthday party food
{photos by Kala Rose Photography}
chocolate dipped marshmallow sticks
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
first birthday party food
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
blue sprinkle cupcakes first birthday cake
first birthday party
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}

It was also really important to me that people came to the party just to be there, no gifts necessary. A one year old doesn't need much and since we were in between moves, I didn't want to be bogged down with lots of gifts that we didn't have space for in our temporary apartment. I encouraged people, should they want to bring a gift, that a book that they could sign would be more than enough (keeping in theme with Sully's baby shower). Of course, Sully still received some very thoughtful gifts, all of which we were very appreciative of!

I also started a new tradition, one that I'm excited to repeat for many birthdays to come. I picked out a really great birthday story picture book and had everyone who came to the party sign it to Sully. Not much makes me happier than reading the personalized inscriptions on the inside of a book and I think it will be so wonderful to read them to Sully each time we read this book over the years.

birthday book tradition
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
birthday book tradition
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
birthday book tradition


Of course, the one thing I failed on was taking lots of pictures, especially of our guests! Isn't this always the way it is?! But I guess that's a sign of a good party when you're too busy mingling to take photos! Luckily, my very good friend Kala was kind enough to take some photos for us while at the party and I'm so grateful she did! You can see more photos from the party on her blog here.

The Frasers family photo
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
Sullivan's first birthday
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
Sullivan't first birthday
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
Sullivan's first birthday
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
Sullivan's first birthday
{photo by Kala Rose Photography}
first birthday smash cake
first birthday smash cake first birthday smash cake first birthday smash cake



Thank you to all our friends and family who came out to celebrate Sullivan's first birthday with us! It meant a lot to me that we were able to have the party in the home Sully spent his first year of life in. Next year we will be in a new house and in a new city, with not a lot of family or friends near by, so I'm very, very glad for the memories of this party.




18 comments:

  1. I love the photo frame! So cute. And smash cakes are the BEST cakes. Looks like the party was a hit!

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    1. Thanks! He was not a fan of the cake, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't eat what was left of it ;)

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  2. What an awesome party!! Such great photos. He is so cute with the cake!

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    1. Thank you! His reaction to the cake was hilarious, I don't think he ate any of it lol! (But I sure did!) ;)

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  3. SO cute, love that you didn't go too overboard! I did with Scarlett's first birthday and NEVER again... too much stress and she will NEVER remember! :) It looks like it was perfect!

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    1. Thanks, T! :) And yet, it the prep still took so much work!! I'm not against themes by any means, more the amount of people that come. It's hard to draw the line though with guests and I imagine it gets even harder as they get older :)

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  4. So cute!! Love the photos as well :) We had a fairly big party for Avery's first at our house. I won't lie it might have again (this is what happens when your Mom is a events planner!) but never again at our house. I believe all the little touches totally make it perfect :) I remember all those little things my Mom did for all my parties and they still make me smile!

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    1. I think it's just hard to know where to draw the line as far as guests go! I'm not against full out themes or decorations, for me, it's more about the amount of people that come. I'm sure this gets harder as they get older though! That's so sweet that you still remember all the little touches your mom put on your parties :) Makes me think maybe it's not for nothing after all ;)

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  5. Great photos! I love the cake smash ones. And I really love the idea of having guests sign a Birthday themed book!

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    1. Thanks, Andrea! I always think of great ideas after the fact, so I'm really glad I thought of the book signing one BEFORE hand this time! :)

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  6. This is TOO CUTE! Sad that I couldn't meet him before you moved to Calgary! Hope you're doing well there. :)

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    1. Thanks, Leanne! Seems the book blogger group kind of fizzled out :(

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  7. The party looks awesome :) love how much he got into the cake!

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    1. Thanks Amie, it went better than I could have expected (hosting makes me nervous - what if no one talks to one another, how do you keep kids entertained?! haha!)

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  8. Love how it turned out! I'm with you on the simple party for a first birthday as they won't remember it

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    1. Exactly! Save the stress, great ideas and money (gosh, even a simple party adds up quickly!!) for when they are older, I say! ;)

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  9. I have to say I absolutely loved going to this place the other night for the best bachelorette party nyc. The people that work there were trying to create an optimal dinner experience while making your choices their priority. I would definitely recommend this venue for any kind of fancy event.

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  10. I love that photo frame. The entire party was stunning. I can’t believe it was a party for one year old kid. Superb work dear! You should be a professional party planner!! Well, I am also going to attend such a grand birthday party at a famous New York city party venue. So excited!

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