We officially began planning Waverly Maye’s birthday celebration three months ago (although it’s been a thought for much longer, for sure.)
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My love of planning themed-out events combined with my love for her pretty much sealed the deal that her first birthday would be a big one. Although life got pretty hectic with a major move & house renovation the week before her day, I knew that it would be more than worth it.
And of course, it was … for this ray of sunshine.
We took the You Are My Sunshine theme in a yellow, pink, & orange direction … and pretty much bought out Virginia Beach’s supply of décor in any of those 3 colors. It was one of those cases like when you shop early for Christmas and think you are being smart by getting it done, yet end up with way more than you ever needed. We decided the theme early and then bought anything “sunshine-y” ever since. The result was a backyard full of sunshine. Literally.
I have a lantern, pom, & balloon obsession, so there were lots. As many as I could convince my sweet husband to get in the ladder to hang. It’s such a fun & easy way to add a pop of color & to make a statement. The yellow 4-tier stand was used for desserts, and was actually the cupcake stand from our wedding painted bright yellow (and originally was a plant stand!). The picnic table was something else “recycled” from our wedding, again painted yellow. And the chalkboard was DIY & written on with chalkboard markers.
The chains were simple to make out of cut-out card stock from Micheals. And the tables were scattered with old frames I spray-painted yellow with pictures of the birthday girl, of course. Our guests drank out of mason jars (LOVE a mason jar!). The lids of the jars were spray-painted pink, enclosed with a straw, and wrapped with fabric. Lots of work for a cup but the cute final product was definitely worth the effort.
THANK YOU to Ashley at Shapes On A String for the adorable banners. The colors were perfect & such a fun addition to our décor. The instagram banner was my own labor of love. The pictures were printed from Prinstagram and were such good quality. My second banner project was probably my favorite of the day, the fabric banner. As it should have been, since it probably took the longest! The fabric was purchased from JoAnne Fabrics, cut into strips, & tied onto a string.
I saw this Time Capsule Idea on Strawberry Swing and Other Things blog a while ago, and instantly knew Waverly Maye would have her own time capsule to open one day. The idea was for our guests to fill out predictions about Waverly Maye when she is 16 … looks, personality traits, siblings/cousins, and just life in general. I will hold on to them and give them to her on her 16th birthday.
Thankfully, in any party we plan, my mom takes charge of the food. She never disappoints and this celebration was no exception. Again, we took the sunshine theme into the food and served sunchips, all orange & yellow fruits, sunshine salad, and yellow spinkled popcorn. Guest also had pork sliders & cheese tortellini.
Desserts are my favorite & have always been my thing. Sweet & pretty … just the way I like it! We put most of the desserts on the yellow stand including the cupcakes, lemon fudge, lemon squares, pink & orange sprinkled cookies, and watermelon on a stick. My sister-in-law made the adorable cookies as favors with a W, 1, & sun cookie cutter we got on Amazon. And of course, Waverly Maye had her very own sunshine cake that she LOVED smashing right into.
Like mother, like daughter. If I could smash my face into a cake at my 30th this month, I just might.
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Let’s face it, part of the fun at a birthday is the alcohol. Waverly may still have 20 years left until she is legal, but we were celebrating one year of parenthood, too. We didn’t get any photos (perhaps too much alcohol?!), but the adult drinks we served were margarita popsicles, a pink & vodka mix, & beer. The kids had capri suns & their own popsicles, marked clearly for obvious reasons.
It comes as no surprise that Waverly Maye’s outfit was coordinated with the theme. Or that they were decided on well in advance of the party. I worked with Sleeptime4 from Etsy to create the dress & tutu, and the You Are My Sunshine onesie is from Truly Sanctuary. Waverly’s crown is from Chirp Chirp Paper Works on Etsy, and comes with numbers for each birthday until she is five. The yellow bathing suit & matching swim cap are both from Gap. ![]()
THANK YOU to our family & friends for all of the support & love you give to Waverly Maye. She is so lucky to have each one of you, and clearly shares that same affection for all of you that you do for her.
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Overall, the day was perfect, so special, and full of sunshine! Waverly had the best time & even though I know she won’t remember it one day, I can’t wait to show her pictures and tell her all about it. It was a lot of work, but well worth it for a baby girl who deserves the world.
PS – Guess who decided to take a few steps the weekend of the her birthday? Leave it to Waverly Maye to wait for an audience to make her grand debut.
XOXO
And you should plan parties full-time 🙂
Gorgeous party for a gorgeous baby girl! Love!!
Oh my goodness you are a beast when it comes to parties!!! And I know she had soooo much fun by her precious smile!
so sweet 🙂
Oh my gosh, could Waverly be any cuter?? I LOVE her birthday outfit and her party…is just perfect! I'm so impressed with everything, you did an awesome job! Happy birthday Waverly!
this is insanely cute! I can't believe all of this!!! Great job!
What an adorable birthday party! So cute.
Ridiculously, ridiculously cute!!!! And she looks SO happy in every picture…I love it! This party seriously screams Waverly 🙂
We're doing the time capsule idea too–what a fun thing for the girls to be able to open up when they're older! 🙂
Everything turned out beautiful! Great job & Happy Birthday Waverly!
Amanda ~Sleepytime4
I love everything about it…you did a great job! That yellow picnic table and cake stand are amazing! And I'm sort of dying over the fact that she took her first steps AT her first bday party! Such a sweet memory! She's rocking her headband, as usual…she makes a great Sadie Sky model! xoxo
Gorgeous party!!!!! You did so good momma!!!
OMG! Her party looked fabulous! Good job mommy!
Everything came out so darling! I love it. And how awesome that she took steps. Definitely a birthday to remember.
Great job with her party! She looked adorable and everything looked perfect!