Hi everyone!
On Sunday, we hosted Luna's first birthday party at a local park. Friends and family came from all over to celebrate our sweet girl's big day and I was so happy with how it all turned out!
For the last few months, I've been planning all the little details for the party. I wanted it to be simple and sweet .... a white tablecloth, pale pink plates, white porcelain platters, and a sparkly gold unicorn cake topper. Even though I knew exactly what I wanted, it took a lot of effort (and trips to Hobby Lobby) to bring all the elements together.
It also took a lot of people to make it happen! I'm so thankful for all the help we received from so many different people. Like ... see those beautiful floral arrangements? My mother-in-law made them just for the party!
Another thing that was a group effort? The cake! It was my first time making a tiered cake and it was so. much. fun! My mom mixed all the batter while I was greasing the pans. Then I baked, stacked, and iced the layers. My friend Caroline made the unicorn cake topper and my mother-in-law added the final touches with the florals. If you love this cake as much as I do, let me know in the comments and I can post instructions for how to make it!
Did I mention that this was my first time EVER hosting a party and it was for 40+ people?! So intimidating! Even with all my planning, things were a little chaotic on the actual day of the party. Luckily, several people showed up early to get everything in place while my husband watched Lu back at the house! We also added a few finishing touches, like hanging the photo display (my friend Skyler's idea) and adding simple high chair decorations (courtesy of Caroline):
This was actually my husband's high chair when he was little. All these years later, my mother-in-law was still holding onto it. I was so glad we were able to incorporate it into the party - it was perfect for Luna's (cup)cake smash!
Speaking of, is it bad that I was a little bit happy that Luna was mostly disinterested in the cupcake?! I was so anxious that she would LOVE it and never want to eat anything else ever again - but that wasn't the case at all! She was actually way more interested in the fresh strawberries than anything else. Still, I owe my mom a huge thank you for picking up a dairy-free cupcake just for Lu on her big day! Otherwise, we might've needed to hang a Don't Feed the Baby sign around her neck to keep well-intentioned guests from giving her the full-dairy version everyone else was eating!
All in all, the party was so much fun ... although it did require a little damage control afterwards. There are a lot of things you CAN control when you're hosting a party and a few things you can't. As much as I love our friends and family, there are some big personalities in the mix that resulted in a few hurt feelings. But in the end, I hope that the good outweighed the few tense moments and everyone had fun. I know I did!
With Love,
Lace
P.S. How gorgeous are these unicorn and rainbow cookies?! My friend Skyler made them from scratch as favors for our guests! I'll be interviewing her about her home-based cookie business in the next few months so stay posted for more mouthwatering cookie snaps!
