My little girls first birthday was dreamt of and conceptualized long before she was even born. Every time I attended a child’s birthday as a young girl, I visualized my child’s birthday. I never wanted it to be a fancy affair, I just wanted every little element of her party to be special, just like her.

When I shared a few pictures from her party on Instagram, I received several requests from fellow moms to share the details of our setup. So, here we go!

Firstly, I’d like to share a few tips that you can keep mind before deciding on the theme and colour palette for her party:

1. Pick a theme which is evergreen. Especially for their first birthdays because they have no liking or choice at that age. Sometimes, people choose cartoon characters or era-specific themes which may not live until the child grows up. If we choose cartoon characters of this generation, chances are he won’t feel connected to the photos when once he begins to understand things on growing up. I chose ‘twinkle twinkle little star’, because well, stars are sure to last until her adulthood 😅 Or at least we can hope so! Considering the pollution these days and its impacts these days, you really can’t tell. 🙈

2. Choose a white background with bright poppy or pastel colours which stand out. This will not just make the whole place lovely but also look great in the photos. We chose pastels and gold, because you can never go wrong with that combination 💗

3. If planning at home, choose your window curtains as your backdrop. It takes much less effort in decorating and if planned well, saves space too.

Here are the all the details (even the minutest ones 🙈) of our setup:

Backdrop:

1. I purchased white-gold jacquard curtains which were opaque enough to function as our backdrop. (It’s wiser this way because once the party is over, you won’t have to throw away your backdrop but can use the curtains for regular use too)

2. Since the length of our window was 5ft, I purchased 3 sets of broad ribbons in pastel and gold, each measuring 10ft and hung them at equal distances. For that, I simply cut them in the desired length and tied at knot at the bar that held the curtains. Easy peasy!

3. I also hung 2 glitter star-strings that I purchased from a local party shop and used them in the similar way too. You can DIY these strings too- I realised that later 🙈

4. Below our window, we have a few storage shelves. I purchased 6 helium balloons, in pink, blue and white from a local party shop and tied them on the knob of those shelves. Along with those balloons, I had 2 star shaped foil balloons (filled with helium too) which I’d purchased from AliExpress- I tied them on either sides along with the other balloons to complete the look.

5. We got custom-made bunting which read- “happy birthday (name)” in the same theme from Joy Factory (www.thejoyfactory.in) to embellish our beautiful backdrop.

Other walls:

I wanted little but special elements on each corner of my house and here’s what we did:

1. The wall on the left of the cake table had a frame which had her birth statistics and other details from that day.

2. The other wall on the left had a photo bunting with 12 photos- one from birth to 11 months each. We used a jute twine, 12 wooden clips, her snaps that we got made from The Snap Store (costed us just ₹40 or so including delivery!) and a number 1 foil balloon which was also purchased from a local party shop. Setting this wall was simple and without a doubt, it was the star of the show. And oh yes, I also purchased pink felt paper and cut out numbers to attach under each photo to match our theme 🌟

3. The wall above our food table had posters with motivational quotes for my girl. This was an impromptu addition but it definitely worked well with the whole concept.

4. Last and the final wall- which was also the one on the right of the cake table was the ‘wall of wishes’. I purchased some gift wrapping papers and made a few envelopes out of it. I then stuck them all on a wall so that the attendees could write letters for my daughter- something she’ll grow up and read and cherish all her life!

Cake table:

1. We got a ‘ Twinkle twinkle little star’ themed cake with Dutch chocolate filling for her. To make it even more stunning, we got a cake topper in a brilliant golden colour from ‘The Joy Factory Shop’

2. We also got a few cupcakes and placed them on a personalised wooden tray. We embellished them with cupcake toppers (again from Joy Factory) and boy! They looked lovely!

3. We also had the return favours for the kids attending and a few props for photographs placed on the table, so that the access is easier.

4. We got a monogram of her initials from the same party shop and placed it on the side of the cake.

5. The Joy Factory Shop designed a beautiful chalkboard with all her current statistics and progress updates in the required theme. We got it framed and placed it on the table! What a stunner it was 😍

4. To decorate the table, I stuck PVC paper on the table top and attached a white satin cloth on its edges to let it flow. On it, I stuck a foil tassel bunting that I purchased from AliExpress in the colour pink, white and gold.

That’s it! I was so happy with how it all came together and how beautiful the photos turned out!

I hope you found this article helpful!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy parenting 😊

Love,

Elina