Vienna’s birthday party last month was a lot of fun. As you can tell from the title of this post, I chose a Mother Goose theme. Vienna already had a Mother Goose book and stuffed animal, so I just ran with it. Plus, how sweet is a Mother Goose party for a baby girl? I spent a lot of time planning all the logistics and decor for the party. I’ll be honest. It wasn’t easy. You’ll find hundreds of ideas on Pinterest for winter one-derland and unicorn parties, but not so much for Mother Goose. I had a blast though putting everything together and DIY-ing a few things, as you’ll see below. All the stress of planning was worth it, because Vienna had a wonderful day. She napped right beforehand and woke up a happy kiddo. She was surrounded by so much love from our closest family and friends.
This post took me a while to get up on here because I wanted to be as specific as possible for you guys. Links to everything are below, but if I missed something, leave me a comment!
Party Details
LOCATION: I went back and forth on the location for Vienna’s party. We ended up having it at our house and I’m so glad that we did. I was nervous that our place wasn’t big enough, even with a very small guest list. Thankfully, it ended up being just fine. After having so many parties at other people’s houses, it was nice to start making memories in our own place.
Simple tip: Rearrange your furniture and put away all countertop appliances to make extra space.
FOOD: Planning a party with a baby is hard work, so I kept the food super simple. We had a large pretzel tray from Philly Soft Pretzel Factory, potato chips, fruit and veggie trays I made myself, pasta salad from my mother-in-law, and four large hoagie trays from Primo’s Hoagies (nonna veggie, turkey & cheese, Italian, and roast beef). Hoagie trays are great for parties because most people enjoy them, they can be eaten with your hands, they are fairly inexpensive, and they aren’t messy. In terms of drinks, we had white wine, craft beer, soda, sparking water, still water with strawberries, and coffee.
Simple tip: Make sure to have snacks for the kiddos too. I set out apple juice boxes, Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, mandarin oranges and applesauce pouches.
DESSERT: I waited until the last possible moment to figure out Vienna’s smash cake. I ended up modifying a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Instead of doing three layers, I just did two using a 6-inch cake pan from Amazon Prime. If I were to do this again, I would have ordered two pans so I could bake the layers at the same time. I didn’t try the cake, but Vienna seemed to love it!
The rest of the dessert table consisted of store-bought white chocolate covered pretzels and cookies, and cupcakes made by my sister-in-law. I made cupcake toppers using Mother Goose clip art (c/o) from kimBLISSartdesign. I created the file in InDesign (you could also use PicMonkey), printed on card stock, cut them out using a scalloped hole punch, and used wood glue to stick them on lollipop sticks. Cupcake toppers are an easy way to incorporate the birthday party theme.
Simple tip: If you decide to bake your own cake, do it a day in advance and keep it in the fridge. You’ll need it to cool completely before icing.
FLOWERS: Do a quick search for “first birthday party” and you’ll find tons of photos of parties with magnificent floral displays. As much as I would have loved to have that, the budget didn’t allow. One blog post I read literally said, “XYZ Florist really captured my vision for my daughter’s birthday party.” I have to laugh because Vienna’s birthday flowers came from Produce Junction, not a fancy florist, and I’m OK with that. Produce Junction is a store that sells produce and flowers at wholesale prices. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a great look.
Simple tip: Call Produce Junction ahead of time and ask when they get their flower deliveries. If you don’t have a place that sells flowers at wholesale pricing, call your local florist. Ask if they have any flowers from weddings or large events. Sometimes they will sell these “leftovers” at a discounted price.
DECOR: On our foyer table, I placed this Mother Goose Plush Toy, some green branches from Produce Junction, and the favor bags. I also inflated helium balloons and scattered them throughout the foyer, so it was a nice surprise for people to see as they arrived. Plus, the kiddos loved them! On our bar cart, I put wine and cups on top and two floral arrangements and a Mother Goose Storybook on the bottom. I also hung a “Happy Birthday Vienna” sign (c/o) from the Etsy shop TwoConfettiCupcakes in our kitchen, and made a DIY highchair tutu by watching this Youtube tutorial.
My favorite piece of decor was our massive 12ft balloon garland (c/o). Aside from how adorable Vienna looked, the balloon garland was the talk of the party! It took me around 2 hours the night before to pump up all the balloons, assemble them on the garland and hang it on our wall. It came from an Etsy shop called HaightAvenueParty, and contained a Worry Free Kit with the balloons, air pump, string, and clear strip that the balloons are attached to. I would do a balloon garland for every single event moving forward. It was such a great statement piece of decor!
Simple tip: If you’re doing helium balloons, I HIGHLY recommend buying your own helium tank and filling them up yourself at home. It’s so much easier than going to a party supply store and traveling back with balloons in your car.
INVITES: I ordered digital invites from an Etsy shop called HopeandArrow. The owner worked with me to make sure the colors and design were exactly what I wanted. Once everything was absolutely perfect, I uploaded the file to Vista Print. I’ve used Vista Print for a few events in the past, so I was confident in the quality and service. I really loved how they turned out!
Simple tip: Before having your invitations printed, do a test run on your own printer to ensure that the colors are exact. Sometimes they appear differently on screen vs. ink.
FAVORS: To save a little bit of money, I only did party favors for the kids. I kept with the Mother Goose theme and gave a Mother Goose coloring book and crayons to the older kids and a Mother Goose board book to my friend with an infant. I put the goodies in pink bags from AC Moore and added a DIY thank you tag for a personalized touch. To create the tag, I used the same Mother Goose clip art that I used for cupcake toppers. I created the file in PicMonkey and printed them on card stock.
Simple tip: If you are buying a lot of favors, check Amazon first. You can find loads of options that can be purchased in bulk for much cheaper than Target.
VIENNA’S OUTFIT: Vienna wore the most adorable birthday smocked dress (c/o) from Smocked Auctions, a white WeeOnes bow, white Mary Jane shoes, and a birthday hat (c/o) from PrettyPoshShoppe.
Simple tip: If your party is indoors, don’t bother with layers no matter the time of year. Your child will likely be a bit warm with all the excitement going on. I was going to put a white cardigan over top Vienna’s dress, and I’m glad that I didn’t. Our house got pretty warm with all the people in it.
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Lovely visuals! Looks fun!