I really had very little to do with how pretty Mabel’s party turned out, in true O’Shea style we left lots of the important aspects to the last minute and I changed my mind what felt like 25 times on a theme and colour scheme – seriously, it felt like planning a wedding (!). I think I got a bit carried away with Pinterest and ever so slightly intimidated in equal measure, some of these first birthday parties (especially those over the pond) are rather spectacular aren’t they? like a full on styled shoot……Please don’t expect a styled shoot folks. I wanted to make it lovely for for guests and make some memories for James, Mabel and I but essentially I was going to have a house full (40 ish adults and 12 children) so space was a priority – this didn’t leave a lot of scope for a whole heap of froth and fancy.
About the space thing, I do not by any means live in a large house and as Mabel’s party was the end of March you certainly couldn’t guarantee the weather. The good thing about our home is it is tiled thoroughout the downstairs and there is an open archway from the living room to the kitchen diner and patio doors straight onto the garden. A real “party” abode if you will. Not quite for that many though, especially taking into account littles requiring the ability to crawl/walk/run (!) around. We made the decision to move the vast majority of the furniture into the garage, bar the kitchen table, a few chairs and some old oak benches that were bought back in from the garage as additional seating.
One of our newest Rock My Wedding sponsors Vintage Marquees very kindly loaned us one of their small original canvas tents (I say small, it covered the entire lawn!) that the little people in particular loved. I had my fingers crossed that actually, given the party time of 2pm until 4.30pm folks would come and go (it was after all a tea, cake and have-a-chat kind of affair rather than overflowing Prosecco and a um…disco?). This absolutely went to plan and meant there was, at least most of the time!, some room to manoeuvre Victoria Sponge and tiny biscuit covered fingers.
The theme was “Twinkle Twinkle” as it’s Mabel’s favourite nursery rhyme – we’ve sang it to her since she was born. I chose pretty yet neutral shades of grey and pale pink and made sure any significant “investment” decor would work in her nursery after the event. I included a few pieces of theme-led decorations on the walls and set up a small dessert bar as well as a “tea and cake station” (no idea what it should be called but I’m going with that.)
As you probably already know the nature of my job means I have access to all sorts of wonderfully talented suppliers, not least those in my own team – Becky from Studio Sappor made the absolutely beautiful sequin bunting and Lottie of Buttercream and Dreams fame did so much I hope I remember it all in order to give her proper credit. She made the naked birthday cake for a start, star wands, cute pointy party hats, star-shaped cookies, brought all of the tea cups, tea pots and milk jugs, iced a gazillion cup cakes…arrived at 10am to help me set up….honestly the lady is a MACHINE.
I have already warned her that this feature may result in her having to set up her own children’s party styling and planning business due to demand.
Jenny from HipHipHooray Studio created the super cute “Mabel’s Favourites” typography print, the “12 months of Mabel” star wall hanging/bunting and all of the goody bag name labels. I was quite possibly the most annoying client ever “can I have mint green? no hmmm maybe peach?…..um, actually, can I have gold?!”. Jenny had to change everything more than once. And was extremely gracious and polite in doing so – especially considering I was such a massive pain in the arse.
Karen from Passion For Flowers provided all of the amazing blooms, an extraordinarily feminine array of O’Hara and Quicksand roses and simple white lilacs. I placed them in various bud vases, old chemist bottles and colour co-ordinated mason jars (you know what I was saying about a wedding….)
The straws, paper goody bags and magic you-can’t-even-see-it washi tape was from Peach Blossom. The hand-painted chalk board sign was from The Chalkspot (they do all sorts of lovely bespoke requests) and a special mention to my Mum (Nanny), my mother-in-law Dene (Granny), Mabel’s aunty Kirsten and aunty Melissa who all baked their socks off to ensure all those wonderful people who came along to celebrate Mabel’s first 12 months on the planet didn’t go hungry (they didn’t, James and I had enough red velvet left over to last a week.)
Last but not least my good friend Lisa from Little Beanies brought along her gorgeous son Louis, her husband Will and of course her camera – she really captured everything perfectly and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful memories we’ll have to treasure forever.
Mabel mostly enjoyed the cake. Ahem. I have no idea where on earth she gets her sweet tooth from. NO IDEA.
There are a few more images in the gallery below should you fancy a butchers folks, you can also take a look at my pinterest board for the inspiration behind the theme (and lots of other cute ideas for first birthdays!). As always, please feel free to ask me any questions (I’m sure I’ve forgotten to include all sorts) in the comments box.
From Lisa Jordan the photographer: “Little Beanies Photography only uses natural light to preserve those precious moments that can be treasured forever. What this means is that you are more relaxed at a session, and I’ll be able to snap away whilst in your natural environment, whether that be at home or a location of to your choice. My style is very much about being real, capturing everyday life and most importantly you’ll have lots of fun along the way.”
Wow! Lovely pics…know what you mean about parties across the pond, but I think you gave them a run for their money:-)
Ha ha thanks Kirsty! It was a whole host of talented suppliers that made it so pretty. I basically just ate the cake (!) x
Hi Charlotte,
This is truly beautiful. I love everything. Although my bubba is only 6 months old we are having her baptised in June. I have been planning this for several months and agree it is much like planning a wedding. But it’s exciting and the day is very important to us. Like you, I have used Pinterest and have gone for a vintage, summer tea party vibe for the after celebrations. I’ve sourced cake stands, tea cups and so on and have taken inspiration from lots of baby shower and first birthday pins on Pinterest and will be definitely pinching a few of your ideas too (hope you don’t mind, but RMS and RMW have been the inspiration for many a wedding, party, clothing or baby idea). My bubba turns one year in September so will endeavour to create a memorable day for the family then too, so this is all so relevant at the moment. I just love looking at all the pretty. I’ve discovered some great companies and there is now so much choice – vintage style paper plates and so on. Some bits I shall (attempt) create/ bake myself, and my mum has been practising a naked cake. Very fortunate to have a mother who could easily have been a professional cook and baker. We are keeping it small (ish) with 25 people and after considering venues and the local village hall have decided to hold the celebration in my parents home. A 13th century cottage that has an annexe/ office that we will move the furniture from and then set up tables for food and cakes etc. Outside (weather permitting) the garden is sloped, so we hope to put some chairs and tables on the limited flat area, in addition to picnic blankets laid out on the grass. Otherwise, it will be indoors with tables and chairs. Although I’m keen to have some flowers, I’ve also invested in mini milk bottles and colourful pin wheels to use as table decor for something a bit different. The colour theme, to be honest, is a mix, mash of pastel green, gold, pale pink and peach. The aim is to also do this on a budget which is the challenge as we don’t want to go to great expense. I’m hoping Becky will be able to assist us with a few bits too, as she really is so ace. That’s the plan. I’m interested to see if it maps out how we imagine. I’ll let you know how it works out. Thanks again so much for showing us so many inspiring and beautiful things. Hope Mabel enjoyed her first birthday party. Stunning.
Hi Emily! Oh your party sounds beautiful! I too looked at village halls etc but we were too late and everything was booked up. The use of your parents cottage sounds perfect – and you can’t beat a tea/cake vibe 🙂
I do love a pin wheel – and you could always mix in a few single stems in the milk bottles etc
I hope the weather if fine so you can have your picnic x
So much pretty!!! Mabel is such a lucky girl! I love the chalkboard, I was planning to do my own but this seems like a much more sensible and less stressful plan. I’m going to contact them right now! Also, where are you’re mason jars from? They’re so sweet.
Emmy turns one in just under two months and I am so disorganised and I keep changing my mind constantly (we’ve been having a naming ceremony, a christening, a day out, a BBQ…). Anyway I think we’ve settled on an afternoon tea party like Mabel’s, our problem was space as we have a very small cottage with a little courtyard garden. The problem kind of solved itself as we’re at a wedding the day before and decided to rent a little cottage to make a holiday out of it. So we’re going to have the party there as it has a huge garden and indoor space. Hopefully the weather will be ok at the start of June, fingers crossed!!! I’m still torn on the theme, my Pinterest board has changed so many times I can’t keep it, help!! Xxx
Hi Tabitha! Oh yes get a chalkboard – so lovely, I’m going to use it as kitchen decor!
The Mason Jars were from Etsy, I had to get them shipped from the states so quite spendy but you can specify any colour combination you want (I had a set of 4 small, two pink, two grey) https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Kateslittleshop
The cottage sounds lovely! there are so many great themes – I changed my mind multiple times x
Ahhh Charlotte, it’s all so beautiful! What gorgeous photos to remember all such lovely detail… what a talented bunch of people! 1st birthday parties are the trickiest I’m sure. I’ve got Niema’s first birthday and dedication party coming up in a couple of weeks and I’d forgotten how much harder to cater for both adults and children… especially when you end up with a list of 18 children covering all ages between 0 and 10.
You do seem to have a really great party house. My neighbour was tying to work out why parties seemed easier at mine than hers when we have the exact same house in mirror image. I was a bit embarrassed to explain that I did actually choose furniture that I can drag out into the garden to make space and that I painted the entire house white just so that it was easy to decorate for parties… apart from one blackboard wall so I can write big Happy Birthday signs. She has proper furniture and colourful walls that she can’t so easily transform into Oz… but probably a much more comfortable husband than mine who tolerates coming home to find cardboard lego bricks hanging from the ceiling.
Ooh I’ll have to get my organisation on though and visit your pinterest and try not to be overwhelmed by too many ideas. I might just stay here though and keep looking at all the gorgeous things on the ‘cake station’. And I might just have to steal the photo banner. Ahh its all so gorgeous!! Well done all and Mabel I hope you are loving being one!
Hi Amanda! We had littles from 5 months to 7 and adults from 20’s to 60’s – ha, much like a wedding!
I put out lots of toys in the living room for the younger children and the older ones seemed to be happy with the wands outside in the garden. Also there was actually quite a lot of wine….as well as the tea, for the adults of course!
Our entire house is now painted white, it’s so easy to maintain as any little marks we just paint right on over them. It also means I can indulge my desire to change wall hangings/decor every 6 months or so 🙂
We love the photo banner so much it is still up in the kitchen – we can’t bear to take it down! x
So. Much. Pretty.
Also, is it just me or does Mr O’Shea look a bit like Kelly Jones from The Stereophonics?
Pah ha ha! At the moment he either gets “Jamie Dornan” or “Andy Murray” ?!!! I know which one he prefers 🙂
I actually used to quite fancy Kelly Jones, also randomly I walked right past him one New Years eve in Cardiff. x
LOL at Andy Murray. A great Scot and a great tennis player but not exactly a looker!
So beautiful! So much fun! And so much love! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Anja!
These are wonderful! You did a great job and didn’t go over the top which I love!
Thanks Antonia! there were times I thought I might be going a little OTT……there were quite a lot of honeycomb pom poms that didn’t get used 🙂 x
LOVE, love, love it all! We’re having Freya’s christening in a couple of weeks and we’re recycling all the mason jars from our wedding last year. We also have a chalkboard (from our wedding too) and keeping the same colour scheme of grey and yellow. Love the twinkle twinkle theme, so gorgeous! My daughter was born on Christmas Eve so not sure what to do for her first birthday but this is brilliant inspiration! Xx
Grey and yellow sounds lovely Laura! it’s great when you can re-use things, the party will bring back super wedding memories too x
It looks amazing! Love the mason jars and all the cake!! Wow I could eat that now even if it is before 12! Sounds like she had a lovely day! So nice to see little Fathead get a pic too haha he’s so cute xx
Ha ha! Fathead basically slept through the entire preparations! probably the only time in the last 4 months Mabel has left him alone….. x
Oh Charlotte, only you could get away with pulling this off!!
Literally every other childs party I see involve hoardes of wild eyed children ALL dressed as Queen Elsa, off their faces on sugar. That time will come (and Mabel will make a fabulous Elsa!!) but for now, we can enjoy and appreciate the gorgeous blooms! xx
Just wait for her second birthday Karen…. 🙂 x
This post has made me go pinning crazy – and I don’t even have children. It has actually even given me some inspiration for the big 3-0! So so much pretty…xx
So glad you like it Emma! A tea party for a 30th would be so much fun! Except I think you should have tea pots full of gin….and it certainly shouldn’t finish at 4.30pm x
I spy Netty in the pics, did you get to meet Ruby? I haven’t yet but have seen loads of adorable pics!
Looks like such a fun party and very very pretty! Hope you all had a fab time x
Yes I met Ruby! such a beautiful little lady, so sweet natured too. It is her in the gorgeous polka dot skirt in the gallery x
My little boy is 20 months and since his first bithday we’ve been having parties from 2pm – 6pm ( although there’s always someone hanging around until 7.30!!). We put toys out and the kids run riot while the adults drink procecco. I then do a big lasagna and feed all the babies at 5…it’s mayhem but so much fun. We’ve done it the past 2 New Year’s Eve as well. I think it’s best of both..adult party which the kids love. Looking forward to many more x
Sounds amazing Liz – in fact I just might copy you for this New Year’s eve……..x
Really lovely! Everything is so beautiful and serene. Isla’s first birthday party consisted of a village hall decked out in Halloween decorations, as we hired it in between their two Halloween parties! There were at least some balloons and a homemade toadstool house cake!
I love seeing other babies scoffing on cake, makes me feel so much better about my own sweet toothed girl!
ha ha Lauren! There was no getting Mabel away from the cake! She probably had too much to be honest but hey ho, if you can’t over indulge on buttercream on your birthday then when can you….:)
A Toadstool house cake sounds epic! x
What a lovely party! I hope Mabel had a wonderful first birthday & what wonderful memories you have made for her to look back on in years to come. 🙂
Thanks Sarah – she has sure got a lot of new nursery decor! x
What a beautiful party, for a gorgeous little lady. And fab styling as expected missus… where are those pretty Mason jars from?
Hi Steph. they were from the U.S https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Kateslittleshop x
Happy First Birthday to Mabel! What a sweet and gorgeous party –
lots of lovely details. Particularly love her monthly photos. Oh and those flowers of course – just lush. Next on my to-do list is to definitely start planning Bo’s, which will be in June. Yep… really not long to go – must get a move on! x
Carmen it will be just lovely I’m sure! the flowers looked fab for a good week or so after too x
gorgeous 1st party, it all looks so pretty and stylish. I might have to steal the 12 month banner for Isla’s 1st birthday next month, I love that! x
Steal away Angela – I mentioned in a comment earlier, it’s so lovely we still haven’t taken it down off the kitchen wall! x
I really love that this isn’t an explosion of pink and glitter but something much more subtle and chic whilst still being exciting for the little ones. Can I ask where you got that beautiful grey wing-back chair? xx
your hair charlotte, i love it soooo much!!
Also now i want cake and to have another baby so I can do another first birthday party ha aha ha ha!!
LOVE these. Love these even more as I am back from a two week holiday and have lots of posts to catch up on. Where is your gorgeous dress from? It may have answered all my spring dress problems! x
[…] to pop Mabel’s on my blog at some people but if you want to take a look please head over to Rock My Style to see […]
[…] And if you are looking to sprinkle some star(dust) prettiness across your abode – it is nearly Christmas after all – then head over to Cox and Cox. I need this brass star mirror in my life. And if you’ve got a little one, Lottie is talking star print fashion and interiors over on Rock My Family today. Or if you’re after some party inspiration of the starry variety then check out the epic-ness that was Mabel’s first Birthday party. […]
Oh wow. What a beautiful party. I love neutral colours. Mabel is a very lucky girl. And photos are great too! x