FIRST BIRTHDAY IDEAS: JACK’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

I wanted to do a quick recap of Jack’s first birthday party on the blog for the memories! I really didn’t want to do some big birthday party. I’m not a great host and he’s also turning one 😉. (Plus it’s summer and I feel like it’s hard enough to get everyone on the same page with vacations and travel!) We invited immediate family only and my sister and Mike’s youngest sister couldn’t come and we still had 15 people… Mike’s family rolls deep! So it felt like a big party still! As he gets older things will likely become more elaborate, but our first birthday idea was to keep things simple and invite everyone over after work on Friday, Jack’s actual birthday.

Even though it was just a small party, I wanted to make a little invitation to send out. I saw these first birthday invites on Instagram and loved the candle! Such a creative first birthday idea. I bought these classic looking candles on Amazon and thought they were perfect for the invitation. Funny enough, I printed the invitations at home with the same invitations we used for our backyard wedding.

Mike made some seafood appetizers, then we did a cake smash with Jack, and we ordered pizza for people who wanted to stay after Jack’s bedtime at 7! It was just a good ole fashioned birthday party and I thought it was perfect. It really does take a village and I’m happy we were able to celebrate Jack’s first birthday with so many of our close family members.

I went with a “one is fun!” theme! I put together a mood board (lol) to visualize my first birthday idea earlier this summer and wanted just like…. fun! Bright, primary colors! Nothing too over the top. And pretty much all the first birthday decorations were handmade.

My mom made the three cakes. She bakes down in Tampa as a passion project and it was so special that she made Jack’s birthday cakes! We did a vanilla cake, a gluten free chocolate cake, and then a baby-friendly smash cake for Jack. (Which, by the way, is delicious!)

For the cake “toppers,” I made these myself after seeing a few things on Etsy. I used my Cricut to make the party hats and the face cut outs. I can’t believe how cute they turned out. (Here’s where you can buy face cut out cake toppers on Etsy!)

I bought this balloon garland kit from Etsy and it was amazing. I got the seven foot garland and picked out rainbow colors. HIGHLY recommend an electric pump. I pumped the balloons and had the garland assembled in 90 minutes! I did get blisters from tying the balloons, but it wasn’t too bad at all.

My friend Susan of For Pete’s Sake Pottery asked if she could make a plate for Jack’s birthday. I sent her my mood board and invitation and she made this just for Jack. It is absolutely perfect and we will cherish it forever!! Such a special first birthday idea and I’m incredibly grateful Susan reached out.

I can’t imagine a more picture perfect day celebrating our Jack Jack! Surrounded by friends and family with a first taste of cake?! What could be better!

His cousins got him this little tricycle and we took it for a spin before doing the cake smash!

And I will leave you with this! Jack loved the cake, surprise surprise. This was when things were still decent. We wrapped it up when he took chunks in each first and chucked them across the room like he was trying out for the varsity baseball team!