Emery's 1st Birthday Party!

Emery turned one a couple of weeks ago! To say that the plans for her birthday party consumed my life for two months would be an understatement. I couldn't sleep, y'all. There's just something about that FIRST birthday that made me put so much pressure on myself. I've definitely learned a few lessons and hopefully won't be so stressed out next year! 

Many, many hours were spent scouring Etsy and Pinterest for ideas for the perfect birthday party decorations and accessories. Listen, I love Etsy and Pinterest, but it can also be such a curse for indecisive people like myself. I see *so many* ideas that I just love. Then I can't decide what I want to do and Daniel and I end up staying up until 1:00 the night before the party making tissue paper tassel garland. True story. Was it necessary? No. Was it super cute and worth it? Oh yes. :)

Anyway, I struggled to decide on a theme {of course!}, but around mid-January I finally settled on doing a pink and gold princess party. This is where it all began. I'm a planner, people. I needed a list...and it had to be cute! :) {Notice that the first four things on the list are all desserts! Ha!}

The first thing I wanted to make sure I ordered was Emery's outfit. I'm usually against spending money on something that she'll only wear once or twice, but for this I made an exception. ;)

I found this super cute "1" onesie on Etsy and I just love it! It will definitely go into her keepsake box. 

This is a different skirt I put her in the day after the party, not the tutu I made. :)

To save a little money, I made her tutu myself using this tutorial. I used three different colors of pink tulle just like in the tutorial.

Sometimes you just want to play with a comb...

Her "1" party hat was another one of my favorite things. Just too cute! And she left it on the whole time!!

I also wanted her to have a pink and gold bubblegum necklace to wear for when she got to eat her smash cake. I didn't want her to wear her onesie for this and I saw so many cute smash cake pictures with bubblegum necklaces. She wore this necklace for her smash cake photo shoot and I'm sure she'll be able to wear it with some of her outfits, too!

She also wore a monogrammed diaper cover with her tutu and while she was doing her smash cake. She'll be able to wear this all summer with all her dresses. :)

Once I decided on all the parts of her outfit, I worked on the invitation. It was a very small party with just family, so I really didn't *have* to have an invitation, but again, it was her first birthday. I needed an invitation for the baby book. ;) This was actually a pretty easy decision for me. I *loved* this invitation as soon as I saw it!

The party decorations were probably what I agonized most about. There are just *so* many ideas and I got so overwhelmed. Lesson learned: Next year, decide early and then STOP looking! :)

I loved how her high chair tutu turned out! I used the same method as the tutu that she wore except I added in some gold glitter tulle {WARNING: gold glitter tulle is super cute but is also a nightmare!}. I attached it to the high chair using velcro circles and it worked great. I made the pink and gold "1" sign using glitter scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby. I just traced all my shapes and hot glued it all together.

I did a banner of all her monthly pictures and hung it on our mantle. I made the numbers with the gold glitter paper, too. There was glitter all over our house! I realized I never got a picture of the entire banner. :(

We displayed some more pictures from her first year in the kitchen along with the pink and gold tissue paper tassel garland. We used this tutorial and it worked great! It does take a while, though.

A little note about this picture...I spent *hours* picking out pictures to display from her first year and printed 237 pictures. What in the world?!? Where was I thinking we would hang 237 pictures? Lesson learned {from a friend's suggestion}: Next year, slideshow on the TV. We ended up hanging the ones that are in this picture and doing a slideshow on the TV with the rest of them.

Ok, so here's my absolute favorite part of the party decorations...the dessert table. It turned out just like I pictured it in my head. I love it so much!!

These cakes that a friend from church made were absolute perfection and definitely made the table. Way cuter and more perfect than what I pictured! I could not love them more!!!

I added some gold glittery ribbon to my cake stand and it really made the cake stand perfect for the cake. The cakes were different shades of pink inside, too!

Emery loved eating this gold "1". She ate more of this than the cake itself!

These confetti balloons were a last minute Etsy find. I *loved* them!! We used them in her smash cake photo shoot, too. Emery loved shaking them up! :)

UPDATE: The sweet people from the Etsy shop where I bought the balloons are offering my readers a discount. You can use the code BLESSED10 to get 10% off any order of $10 or more! This code is good until January 31, 2020. :)

Two of the picture frames were from Dollar Tree and Daniel just spray painted them gold. The other frame I already had. Those little round vases also came from the Dollar Tree and he spray painted those, too.

I bought this print on Etsy, too. <3

I saw the gold ONE lots of times on Pinterest and knew I wanted it to be part of the dessert table. We found the letters at Hobby Lobby and spray painted them gold. We used them in her smash cake photo shoot, too.

I saw several versions of these crown cookies on Pinterest and just loved them! I will not be getting a job as a cookie decorator any time soon, though...I'd be fired immediately for being way too slow. These things probably took me 15 minutes each but I love them! I got the cookie cutter on Amazon and the pearls at Hobby Lobby.

I had a last minute thought to use different shades of pink on the cupcakes and I'm so glad I did. I *love* how it turned out! I knew the smash cake was going to be ombre and you would have thought that we used the same colors of frosting. It matched perfectly! I got the gold sprinkles at Party City and we spray painted the cupcake tower gold. I figured if I want it back to silver, we'll just spray paint it again!

Yes, I did cut out each and every one of those crowns. :) Seven years of teaching elementary school will make you pretty good with a pair of scissors. ;)

My sister and I made the "Emery is One!" banner together and I just love it. It was another thing we used for her smash cake photo shoot and it's definitely going into her keepsake box. We used glitter paper from Hobby Lobby for this, too.

The last big thing I made was something I saw on Etsy and I loved it! I totally copied it, though, because I knew I could make it myself and I didn't want to spend $50 on it! I love having these memories of our sweet girl at this fun age! And my friend who made the cake pointed out that the sequins on the bottom of the sign match the sequins on the top tier of the cake! <3 Love!

UPDATE: Lots and lots of people have contacted me about designing a poster like this for them. If you are interested, I can definitely do that for you! Just visit my Etsy shop, click on the "Request Custom Order" button on the left side of the screen, and send me a message. I'll be glad to set up a custom listing for you!! :)

The menu for the party was ham and turkey croissant sandwiches, chicken salad croissant sandwiches, deviled eggs, fruit, spinach dip and pita chips, cheese cubes, crackers, and of course all the desserts. Emery kept going from person to person getting cheese and fruit...two of her favorite things!

I got the gold plastic trays for the sandwiches and fruit at Party city. They were super cheap and will be perfect to reuse!

Just getting snacks wherever she can! :)

Emery was in such a sweet, happy mood the whole time! Our silly girl... <3

This is her playing peekaboo! She does it all the time!

Peekaboo!

Nana and Gampa with two of their granddaughters. Vanna made sure she dressed for the party theme. You can't see them, but she was wearing gold shoes. So sweet!

Aunt Alie, Uncle DJ, Vanna, and Emery. I love how Emery is looking up at my sister.

She bounces up and down on her knees when she gets excited!

Daddy is so much fun!

Mommy and Emery! I think she was excited to open her birthday presents!

Vanna helped Emery open her presents and showed her some of the neat things about her new stuff!

She drew her some pictures, too. <3

After she opened all of her presents, it was time for her to have her birthday cake!! I love how she's looking down like, "What is up with my high chair?!"

I think she knew something good was about to happen! :)

She'd had little tiny bites of sweets every now and then {usually at my parents' house!}. She always loved anything sweet we gave her {mama's girl!}, so we were all excited to see her reaction to the cake!

She ate a little bit of the gold "1"...

Shared a little with Vanna... :)

Had a few bites of cake and frosting...

Played a little peekaboo...

And then she was *done*!

The cake still looked perfect in the front, so I just put it in the freezer and we used it for her smash cake photo shoot!

Of course, as soon as she got out of her high chair, she was making the rounds for little bites again! :)

We got her an Anywhere Chair for her birthday and I just love this picture of her sitting in Vanna's lap.

I can hardly stand how big she looks in her chair! She's starting to look sleepy in this picture...she had a big day!

And just like that, her first birthday came and went. I know the next year will go just as fast if not faster. We're just so thankful for our precious blessing!