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Beth turned ONE in October and we had a family party for her. Her birthday came at a time that I was so busy that I didn’t know how I would pull off a party. I kept telling myself it would be okay if I just skipped it and did nothing. She wouldn’t remember, right? She wouldn’t be mad at me years down the road for overlooking her first birthday because I was overwhelmed as a working mom and student…. right? Here’s the thing though. I wanted to throw her a party. I wanted to have the energy and the time to make a huge celebration for my beautiful baby girl. I wanted to make a cake, dress her up cute to smash it, and get some really pretty photos out of it that I could show off to the world. But how?
Here’s how…
My mom is an angel. She hosted the party at her house so the whole family could come. She reminded me to ask my loving aunts to help with the food by each bringing a part of the meal, and she made a lot of the food herself. All I did was make the invitation and the cake; both things that I felt capable of doing.
First Birthday Theme : First Trip Around the Sun
Knowing that I wanted something simple, but still cute, I chose an easy theme. Just sunflowers! I love sunflowers and I have dressed Beth in yellow so many times that my 5 year old nephew even called me out on it saying he had never seen her in a different color. I called the party “Beth’s First Trip Around the Sun”. I was happy with the idea for the simplicity as well as the brilliance of it.
Here’s what the invitation looked like. I created it using Canva.com
Cake Smash
The only decorations I ended up buying were for her cake smash. Those are the pictures that mattered most to me, so I purchased a few simple things to make a little backdrop and it turned out beautiful. She wore a sunflower headband and a cute white romper and I placed her in the corner of my mom’s backyard with the decorations I bought from Amazon. I made a 6″ cake and went the easy route, using a box mix (Remember: SIMPLE). It was a yellow cake with cream cheese frosting. I piped on some sunflowers, but only on the side of the cake that would be facing the camera. [Side note: I actually ended up forgetting to bring the cake to the party and my lovely husband had to drive back to our house, 20 minutes away, to fetch the cake and bring it back to the party.]
Here’s a list and links to the things I purchased for the cake smash:
Balloon Garland – $12.99
Sunflower ONE banner – $6.99
Sunflower Crown – $8.99
Romper – $16.99
Photos and Video
My unbelievably talented sister took the pictures and even made a video highlight that I will cherish forever. She is so good at capturing the perfect moment from the perfect angle with the perfect light. I’m so grateful that she was there to help us celebrate this day. Scroll to the bottom of this post to view the video.
Special thanks
I owe so many thank you’s for making this day happen. As you have read above, it was a team effort. Thank you to my parents, my aunts and grandma, my sisters, my husband, and to all who came and showed love to our favorite little girl. She is so loved. My heart was full that day as I felt the love that her family members have for her and me. Happy first birthday Beth!
In All Places 