Ezra's Balloon Themed First Birthday Party

We did it! We celebrated our littlest man's first birthday. I still can't believe it happened, but he has such a great time! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us. We love you and thank you for loving our boy! 

All resources can be found at the bottom of this post.

When I began thinking about what we'd do for Ezra's First Birthday, I knew I'd want to have a home party that we'd host for close family and friends. I mean, just the boys and their cousins make up a house over flowing with children. Another advantage of throwing a party at home is I can take my time decorating and I can do it much bigger than I could if we were out somewhere and you only turn one once, right? So, why not go big!? Actually though, it wasn't all that elaborate once I settled on a Ballon Theme. I mean balloons are pretty uncomplicated and make a big impact visually, especially in person. 

Now, here are all the little details of the party, starting with the invitation. I almost always print my invitations through a professional photography printing site, this time I used Artsy Couture and I was impressed with the quality. I took Ezra's photo on the day he turned 11 Months, knowing I'd use a photo from that session on his Birthday invitation. I like to either buy a editable invite from Etsy or just buy a few graphics and put it together myself, which is what I did this time!  The invitation on the left was on the front, plus our address and RSVP information and on the back, a 5x7 photo for all our invitees to keep as a keepsake! 

Next, I'm going to take you on kind of a mini tour. Starting that front door, favor table. When everyone came in they were greeted by a few balloons out front then in our foyer the favor table, complete with balloons. These cookies were so perfect, I was in love when I opened them! They were delicious too.

Then straight ahead you enter the living room, you see this large window and the fireplace. I haven't done too much yet in our living room as far as decor on the walls since we moved in in April, so I had a pretty blank slate to work with. The ONE banner greeted you immediately and the balloons were flying high above the fireplace. I printed a ton of 4x4 photos of Ezra throughout the year and they were hung across the window and under the mantel. 

Then if you turn your attention slightly to the left you'd see the kitchen table, complete with a little confetti and some veggie trays with dip and cupcake cups I found in my baking stash for loading up your dip. Then as you turn the corner, to your left is the kitchen bar. Where there were these highly sought after grapes on a stick. I thought they went well with the balloon theme and the kids LOVED them. They were all gone, as were a majority of the veggies at the party's end. We also had pulled BBQ chicken or pork sliders on King's Hawaiian rolls (YUM!) 

and for those of you who spotted my dewdrop diffuser in that last photo, we diffused purification and tangerine throughout the afternoon/evening. 

Now, for the feature wall! I am pretty happy with how the balloon wall turned out and I have to admit, it took a while to figure out how we'd get the balloons to stick. I saw a couple of things online that said to use tape, one that said use packing tape, to which mu husband said... so you're going to repaint the wall after the party? Uhhh... yes? Thankfully, I always recruit some help for night before decorating and my mom suggested blue putty and we sent my sister to grab some on her way over. It worked like a charm. In fact, today is seven days later and that balloon wall is still there. We like extend out birthday celebrations a little... 

I made the tassels from tissue paper, the cake, three layers of white cake with butter cream icing, the cake pops were made from a fourth layer and left over icing dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles, and marshmallows dipped in white chocolate with a few blue and gold sprinkles for an extra sweet fix! That giant E though, just puts it over the top for me! I love that thing. It's still floating in the kitchen and I have every intention of figuring out how to get the air out and save it for E's next party! 

The highchair, was a last minute add that I borrowed from a friend. I saw it months ago when I photographed her sweet little man and I cannot thank her enough for letting us borrow it! It really added the special touch that our high chair would not have been able to accomplish. It really made this feel like a FIRST birthday party. The crown was made by my sister Andrea and it was the CUTEST thing. Ezra would not wear it little stinker, but I plan on at some point making him wear it for a photo! He enjoyed himself so much though, and got his feel of of being celebrated!

There are so many more photos of the fun, family, and cake eating that I will share a little later! 

Resources: Invitation: Watercolor Balloon Graphic // Printed invitations Artsy Couture // E Balloon, ONE Ballons, Confetti Balloons and 1 Balloon cake topper were purchased from Oh Shiny Paper Co.  // Favor Balloon Cookies were purchased from Baking in Heels // Felt Fabric Banner on high chair and on favor table were purchase several months ago from The Printed Pallette 

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