It just feels right that the first birthday party that I share with you from the “Birthday Archives” is a first birthday party. First birthday parties are some of my very favorite. It is often the first time to celebrate the little one outside the womb. It is such a great opportunity to gather friends and family to celebrate! Everyone is excited to see the personality of the little one developing and cheer them on at this milestone party.
My goal in Hosting What Matters is to create intentional celebrations. Celebrations that think beyond cake, and focus on the things that matter. – the people. This party was for my daughter, Madelyn’s first birthday. We chose a Parisian theme because of her name. Madelyn means “Strong Tower or High Tower.” The Eifell tower immediately came to mind as a great symbol for a strong, high tower. I love to celebrate people in a way that draws attention to the depth of who they are. Celebrates them as a unique individual. Whether that be by incorporating their favorite foods, having people write messages of love on a mat for a picture frame, or creating a theme around the meaning of their name. Finding ways to celebrate the uniqueness of each individual will always make a celebration much more impactful.
Madelyn’s birthday fell on Easter Sunday that year so we had lots of family around to celebrate her birthday and Easter. It was a great opportunity to incorporate some of my favorite Easter decor- bunnies 🙂 A Paris inspired birthday party held on Easter naturally includes lots of bunnies!!! Hence, the Birthday invitation.
The invitation set the tone for the party. I love a detailed invitation. It is nice to give guests a heads up if you are serving a meal so they can plan accordingly. We shared that we would be serving French food for lunch and dessert.
I also think it is fun to let the theme flow through the entire party. The invitation is the first place to introduce the tone of the party to guests. I googled the words “Home” and “Mommy” in French. Incorporating fun wording further solidifies the theme. A little bit goes a long way. Read over your wording several times before printing to make sure that it is easy to understand. I have encountered a few invitations that were so encrypted to stick with a theme that I could not actually make sense of it! Lol! Fun, but simple is the goal.
aOne of my favorite things about parties is that they seem to give you official permission to decorate in unusual ways. At parties, anything goes! I love to have my house ooze fun. Drip celebration in every way. Having said that, I am strategic in my decor. One way that provides great dram and sets the tone for the party from the front door is hanging things from my chandelier. In this case, I chose paper lanterns that color coordinated with the party invitation.
aBecause her birthday was on Easter, we incorporated Easter decor into the theme. Often, I throw parties and incorporate my everyday decor into the theme. It creates a cohesive look. Something as simple and inexpensive as a ribbon can tie a theme throughout your home. I think I even used glue dots to adhere the ribbon to cover the fabric stripe at the bottom of my powder both towel. Be creative and use what you have to add some fun throughout the areas your guests will be spending time.
We served a French Niçoise salad along with all of the makings of a traditional french baguette sandwich. I use a lot of white serving trays for parties to allow the food to bring the color to the table. Although french fries are not authentically French, my older kids insisted they be offered. 🙂
I have found things like “make your own ___”- insert tacos, sandwiches, salads, etc. make for a successful meal. Guests are able to build the meal based on their preferences. You are able to make more people happy 😉 Having multiple desserts are edible party decor and also give guests a choice when indulging.
For dessert, we offered lots of European inspired desserts and pastries with chocolate bunnies sprinkled throughout. Who doesn’t love a chocolate bunny? We served madeleines, palmiers, fluer de lis decorated cookies, fruit tarts, pirouettes, truffles, chocolate biscuits, and little Easter inspired sugar cookies.
I have a collection of black iron serving towers (I love THIS one!) and other colored serving pieces that I use and lend out to friends often. The height adds interest and they are super functional.
We used some of Madelyn’s Gerber baby jars for kids drinks. We just peeled off the Gerber label, cleaned them well, and then used an electric screwdriver to screw a hole large enough for a standard paper straw to slide threw. I placed chalkboard labels over the lids and poked a hole with a pencil for the straw to slide right in. We always leave an Extreme Sharpie by the plastic cups so people can label their drinks and we placed a piece of chalk out for the kids to use on the chalk labels.
The baby’s first cake is my favorite part of 1st birthday parties! We put a French inspired bunny candle holder on top of Madelyn’s cake that was dressed in pearl candies. So fun!!!
I never want my guests to leave empty handed. Because there were more adults than kids at the this party, a small gesture was in order. I ordered lollypops and printed the Birthday crest on round labels for the kids to easily grab on the way out the door.
We filled a large apothecary jar with homemade sugar cookies with Madelyn’s initial frosted on them. I keep 3 x 5″ index cards on hand for so many uses. We used glossy ones and printed “Thank you” in french on the back and affixed them to cellophane bags with staples.
I often create a very structured agenda for parties with lots of kiddos to help them play through the time we are together. It seems to create a more calm environment than if I just let everyone loose to do as they please. But when it comes to family parties, we often just hang out, visit, and play outside. You will find us throwing footballs in the cul de sac and the kids out back jumping on the trampoline or swinging on the swings.
We bought your little birthday girl this pink swing for her birthday and she absolutely LOVED it! That swing is a classic. It is under $30 and would be a great gift! Our family had so much fun pushing her in it!
I hope this gave you some inspiration for a Paris themed party at your house!
Meet the Hostess
I'm a Southern girl who loves a good party, a house full of laughter, and a porch swing full of friends and family. I blog about how to host in a way that matters. Curious what I mean by that? CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND READ MY STORY.
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