Since I am knee-deep in party planning Sully’s second birthday party, I’m taking a trip down memory lane to his first birthday celebration. Planning it all was a highlight of my creative time as a mom so far, and I look forward to all of the parties to come!
Initially, our theme was Wild One, from Where the Wild Things Are, but as much as I loved the story, executing something meaningful was growing more difficult. At the very last minute, less than a month to the party, I pivoted the theme and decided on Fearfully and ONE-derfully Made. The heart of Sully’s party was to show him who he is and Whose he is, and even at one year old, we knew we wanted to speak words of life over him. Every detail was chosen with the idea in mind that we would add a Bible verse next to it, and it really helped us stay focused on what the day was really about: Sully and our thankfulness to God for his first year of life.
Because of the general theme of the party, I was really able to work with the supplies that I had in my craft closet and be flexible with items I needed to purchase because there wasn’t a set theme. I highly recommend this strategy if you are short on time or on a budget. I chose a color palate based on yarn that I had and worked from there. Through gathering my colors, picture frames, and supplies (such as mini flower pots), a woodland “theme” started to come together. After seeing the idea form, I used Facebook Marketplace to find some wood and other supplies which ended up being free! My husband attached dowels to wood slices and made a stand for our food, and the other pieces were used to prop food up on the table to add height.
It was important to me that as many details as possible had meaning. For example, a detail 
that I particularly loved was ordering a small set of greenery for the food table from New Blossom Flower Shop, a place where my boys regularly stop to grab a bouquet of flowers for me in the week. I love that I was able to add something from a special memory! I also gathered a set of blank wooden picture frames and stained and painted them with paint we already had; to each, I added a hand-written Bible verse on some stationary, and just like that, there were Bible verse decorations ready for wherever. They matched everything, so it was a good filler and a meaningful decoration. Embroidery hoops that I already had in my closet made easy decor for adding yarn to or stringing Sully’s fabric letters that my mom made him. A fox that I sewed Sully when I was pregnant made an easy decoration on the favor table, and at just the night before, I finished a cross stitch pattern that was made by an Etsy friend to use on the mantel.
For food, everything (except one cake) was vegan so that Sully could participate in all of the festivities. At the time of his party, he still wasn’t walking, so there was little danger in him getting into something, but we wanted to honor his allergies by making sure he could eat whatever he wanted. I specially made his smash cake so that I could be sure it was safe for him, but a sweet neighbor down the street made a bigger cake for everyone else to enjoy. His party was around lunch time so we had sliders, dips, veggies, fruit, and sweet treats.
Our guest activities were outdoors: we had bird house painting and yard games. In hindsight, I would have managed the mess; now that I’m a mom of a mobile toddler, I would have made the paint a little less accessible and easier to clean. It was fun to watch, and we still have our bird house now. I also would have had something indoors for kids to do; it was blazing hot that day!
To wrap up the day, everyone signed the guest book proclaiming words over Sully, and each family went home with a succulent with a tag that said “watch me grow.” I did splurge on stickers with Sully’s face; they were too cute to pass up! We decided to sing and pray for Sully right when the party got started so that everyone could enjoy themselves and come and go as needed. As a family, we’ve also decided that we don’t open presents at our parties, so that took away pressure for anyone to stay longer than they wanted or could (Sully’s birthday falls smack in the middle of football season, and last year, it was a home game.).
The day felt special for our little family of three. The planning wasn’t stressful because, at the end of the day, it was always about Sully. I’m so proud of all of the ways he’s grown and learned this past year, and I look forward to celebrating him again soon!
Read more from Leigh Ann here.
