One Love Birthday Party

Oh, the first birthday party. How bittersweet! It feels like only yesterday we we're holding her for the very first time. We had an incredible time celebrating with our friends and family. Marley may not remember her 1st birthday but it was a very special day for us and we took plenty of photos that we can share with her later on in her life.

I wanted to have a party but I didn't want it to be over the top or break the bank. Here is a super simple breakdown of the planning and execution of our One Love themed birthday party for Marley.

Theme | The "One Love" Jamacian theme is great for a boy or girl. In our case, with our little girl being named Marley, it was the perfect fit. Our parents got really into the spirit too! We used our dads to greet our guests at the door. We had Bob Marley music playing in all of the rooms and a video montage of photos from Marley's first year playing on the AppleTV. The mood was set!

You can rock my Dad's dreads here.

 

Invitations | To save money on invitations (and go a little easier on the Earth) I sent a simple evite to friends and family. I spent quite a bit of time searching for the right tempalte and landed on this one. I used the Bob Marley song "One Love" as the inspiration for the header of the invite- obviously tweaked it at the end there.

*****If I could give any advice on the planning of the date and time of the party I would make sure it works around your little one's nap schedule and leave youself some wiggle room just incase that pattern changes suddenly the week before the party. You'll also want to keep it short (say 1.5-2hrs) so that baby isn't overwhelmed.

Decorations | I kept it real simple. We're talking red, yellow, and green streamers, ballons, and paper products. The streamers were $0.99 each on amazon. I also found a grass table skirt that I fastened to my kitchen island for a nice touch. To save money on balloons we actually bought a small helium tank and filled them ourselves. We spent $30 for almost 3 dozen balloons and it was one last errand to run on the day of the party. The tank came with white ribbon to tie to the ballons, which my mom brain had forgotten about, so that's good! I picked up simple flowers from the grocery store (red carnations, yellow daisys, and green hydrangeas)

Baby's Outfit | I hit up Etsy for a reggae inspired tutu and headband. Marley needed to play the part! I also discovered H&M sells really affordable baby clothes! Her black top was $5. I got the red legginings from Old Navy.

Food & Drink | This was another area we wanted to play up the rasta theme with. I ordered boneless buffalo wings (Buffalo Soilder Wings) from The Winking Lizard and had a friend pick them up on her way to the party. My husband whipped up a delicious batch of Jamaican Jerk Chicken (he marinated the night before and grilled about 1 hr before the party.) I wanted simple food that kids like because we were expecting several 4-10 year olds at the party so I cooked up Rasta Pasta, which very simply was tri-colored pasta with marinara on the side. My Mother-in-law had offered to help with food and she makes a killer stromboli so I had her make a Hawaiian style (ham, pineapple, provolone) and a basic italian stromboli that would appeal to everyone. I also skewered some Rasta Froots and used pineapple, strawberries, and green grapes to represent Jamaican colors.

For drinks I purchased coconut waters, La Croix, and Honest juice pouches. I sliced lemons and limes for water and for adults we served Red Stripe (Jamaican beer)

*****I used Amazon's Prime Pantry for the first time and I have to say it was quite convient to order some of the staples and resulted in fewer trips to the store.

 

The Cake | The entire party was inspired by this blog but I absolutely HAD to have this cake for the party. At the time, I thought there was no way I could bake a cake like that... I don't bake. But, when I got the quote back from the cake shop and they wanted $138 for a 10in round cake I about died! My sister is pretty great at baking so I had her over a few weeks before the party and for $30 we made three cakes! I especially liked the tiny smash cake (and so did Marley!) Our guests LOVED it.

Whether you chose to have a big party or play it low key, your child's 1st birthday is something spectacular to celebrate. It's hard to believe that in such a short amount of time they can grow so much. Enjoy each and every moment with them!

-xoxo-

Marley's Mom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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