After yesterday’s cake post we thought we would continue the birthday theme with a fabulously fun bright monochrome first birthday party. This is a seriously stylish party full of rainbows and a smattering of tigers. A little while back we shared the story of how Zephyr arrived and when your mum is Alexandra of Bijou Bride you know you are going to be the lucky recipient of some fabulous parties. Above all it remains a children’s party with games galore plenty to keep the little’s occupied. I’ll hand over to Alexandra to tell you all about the party. In the meantime I’m angling for an invite to Zephyr’s second birthday……

THEME

The party theme followed the elements of our invitations – a combination of bright multicolours and stripe patterns with a few tigers too (Zephyr loves to make a roar sound every time he sees one). It sounds a bit crazy but it totally worked. For the invitation I found a basic downloadable design on Etsy. After customising the wording and adding a stripe reverse I had them printed via printed.com and found the amazing holographic envelops on eBay. Given my job I really wanted to make that first impression something a little different.

ENTERTAINMENT

Having a restless baby ourselves we wanted to ensure there was lots to keep all the kids entertained and to allow the weary adults to relax just a little bit. We hired an entertainer which I think is a kids party essential and worth every penny. The kids were all amused by the puppets, songs and of course bubbles whilst the grown ups got to enjoy their own bubbles too! Aside from the entertainer we also set up toy stations around the garden, a dress up tent, painting wall, balloons and bubbles. The painting wall made for a fun version of a guest book, all the kids splattered canvases in a Jackson Pollock style and we have used these to decorate Zephyr’s bedroom (noting the names & ages of each child on the back).

FOOD

I also wanted to make sure the food was fun, relatively healthy and interactive for all ages so we had a burrito bar followed by DIY eton mess. The burritos were a big hit and so easy, I cheated with microwave rice to save time but don’t tell anyone.
Of course there was also cake. It was Zephyr’s first taste of cake so we bought a small Victoria sponge for him to smash and a pretty rainbow cake for everyone else. As you might expect with a one year the vision of a ‘smash’ didn’t quite go to plan as he picked up the whole thing with both hands and started chomping away.

DECORATIONS

We used our garden as the party venue and decorated with lots of balloons, rainbow tie dyed ribbons, honeycomb pom poms, bunting and pavement chalks directly the party animals towards the fun. I love to flex some creative muscle whenever I have the chance and had a lot of fun with PVA glue decorating party hats!
We knew it would be a risk to have a party in our garden but we held our nerve and luckily it didn’t rain! But to be honest I’m not sure I’d do it again because now as a Mum I’m hyper aware of every hazardous bumpy bit of path and spiky bush!

PARTY BAGS

When it comes to party bags I had a total win at The Pound Shop with Peppa Pig books, definitely recommend making a pit stop there. I wanted to give the adults a little party bag of treats too to say thank you for all their much needed advice and support. [If you read my previous post for RMF you’ll know what a support they were] So they left with marbled chocolate bars (a great DIY I found via the Meringue Girls) and miniature bottles of Gin and botanical tonic which were apparently very much appreciated!

PHOTOGRAPHY

Like every other parent out there 99% of our catalogue of Zephyr pics have been taken on our phones. But for this milestone I really wanted to leave the capturing of the day to a professional and Nataly did the most amazing job. Let’s face it, trying to get your child to smile on cue rarely works. Everyone assumed Nataly was one of our friends which speaks volumes for her natural reportage style. If you are questioning whether to hire a photographer, seriously just do it. The photos perfectly sum up a day full of laughter, play and a lot love.

Photography by Nataly J Photography