The Browns: William's 1st Birthday Party!!!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

William's 1st Birthday Party!!!

William had the best 1st birthday party! We had such a great time. All of the months (since he was about 2 months old;) ) of planning were all worth it! About 50 people turned out to celebrate our sweet boy! We decided to do his party at the clubhouse in our neighborhood, which was perfect! It was the perfect amount of space.

The party started at 2 and we had chicken salad sandwiches, meatballs, fresh fruit, and pigs in a blanket. We also had the most wonderful cake from Edible Art. They did such a great job with what pictures I took to them!

It was very laid back. People just came in and hung out and ate. Ashley made us a caterpillar cut-out on plywood and painted it so the kids could stick their heads through. It actually was a big hit, surprisingly! We didn't have any games, just William's rocking Very Hungry Caterpillar that was our gift to him!

About an hour in, we opened all of his gifts. He actually showed interest in them! Robbie and I did the opening, just to speed things along. Everyone was SO generous!!! He is a lucky boy and we are set on toys for a while! He got a ton of walking/ride-on/climb toys!

We then cut the cake. William smashed the cake forever. He was not SO into it. The cake was delicious besides being gorgeous. Edible Art has never disappointed. Our favors for the kids were in the Very Hungry Caterpillar reusable bags I found at Target. Each bag had VHC crayons, a VHC coloring sheet, the VHC board book, and a lollipop from Oriental Trading with a sticker that said "Thanks for inching by my party. Love, William". We also had the lollipops for adults too. ;)

I got a ton of stuff from Etsy! His invites, thank you cards, food tents, favor stickers, party stickers and centerpiece signs were all from this shop. Jennifer does a great job and answered a TON of questions from me! His banner was also from Etsy (Pickles N Pinwheels) and photo banner (62Cards). His highchair banner, bib, tshirt, and bloomer from his cake smash were from Munsker & Roo. His hat was from Dainty Couture. I actually did a lot of the printing, cutting, putting together myself, which is not like me. I do not have a creative bone in my body. But it was a lot of fun! His centerpieces were made with supplies from the One spot at Target, Dollar Tree, and Michael's. Probably the best money spent for the entire party was our photographer, Courtenay. She has taken pictures of William since he was a week old! It was so nice knowing that she was taking all of the pictures, and I just had to talk to people and have a good time. It was like our wedding, haha! Lots of people to talk to, and no time to take pictures! I usually would have been stressed making sure I took pictures of everything. She took a ton of great ones!! I will be posting all of them in a separate post, once I get the CD. She sent me a sneak peek, and I posted them below!

William didn't want for any attention, that is for sure! He just got passed from person to person. He actually did really well, considering the party started about the time his nap usually starts. He was kind of just overwhelmed with everyone talking to him and he was just quiet and staring around. It was a great day of laughing and catching up with friend we hadn't seen in a while, and celebrating William!!

He loves his caterpillar!

The VHC book was the guest book, and we framed something telling people to sign. We also had pictures from his 12 month shoot and his painting from his bathroom. The suckers were the adult favors.