Gretchen's 1st Birthday!

What a better way to start my birthday posts, than with Gretchen's 1st birthday?! I learned a lot from planning her party, and I of course, want to make this year's party better than last year's!...... I can't believe another year has gone by already (tear)!

I started the planning process, by picking out this adorable pink dress from Strasburg. I actually found it when I was pregnant with her, and fell in love with it! Thankfully, my mother found it on sale after Gretchen was born and purchased it for her. She also purchased the bib.

I knew I wanted to keep her "theme" as basic as possible. I am not one for cheesy little kid themes, and these few years will be the only time that I'll really be able to control the theme, so I wanted to keep it timeless. So, my original thought was cupcakes and balloons to match the dress. I picked out the invitations from there. They didn't really match, but they had pink and were adorable!

Plan for your family to arrive early! You'll want to have some help with any last minute details, but you'll also want to get family pictures!

Of course, make sure you sing "Happy Birthday", and it's likely that you'll have to help blow out the candle!

We requested "no gifts" on the invitation. I wanted friends and family to come and celebrate and not feel obligated to bring a gift. After all, Gretchen's birthday is a month after Christmas, so she had plenty of toys! I also knew that she would get toys from us and her grandparents, and that those would be enough. We were very blessed to have some of our guests bring gifts anyway!

And, the cake! One of the most important parts of the birthday celebration! I had the cake desiged around a cake slice candle holder that I found on sale. Plus, the dots, matched the invitations! The cake was chocolate (my favorite, plus they tend to be more moist), with white buttercream icing, and fondant circles. The stars were edible and featured edible glitter!

Below, is the set up of the cake "table". I placed a newborn photo of Gretchen, so we could see how much she had grown! Along with her birthday hat, that I purchased on Etsy. The cake stand had stars dangling off, and we used hot pink plates, napkins, and silverware.

I decorated the mantle with various pictures from Gretchen's first year, two crystal candlesticks with pink candles, a pink feather boa, and 2 pink "1" paper lanterns.

The dining room table was set with another feather boa, the cake slice candle holder that her birthday cake was designed from and 2 party hat candle holders. I alternated pink and purple candles.

Lastly, the candy "bar". It's important to send your guests home with a thank you. I have seen this idea at weddings, and thought it would be adorable for favors at her birthday! I set up various glass bowls with assorted pink candies! Our local bakery even offers candied popcorn (they had pink!), as well as pink gummies, pink wrapped hershey kisses, pink tootsie pops, and pink malt balls! Thank goodness her birthday is also close to Valentine's day, so I could find all the pink!

Looking back, her cake and the candy bar were my absolute favorite! Okay, the dress too! But, the baker was fantastic, and the guests had tons of fun filling treat bags with their candy!

I can't wait to finish planning this years party to see what else I can come up with!