Ok, ok, you can stop begging … I know you’re dying for a mom to tell you all about her son’s first birthday party …

Three months later.

Well weep no longer, I’m here with enough details to put People magazine’s coverage of Jennifer Aniston’s wedding to shame. (#teamjen for life).

The briefer version is: it was a wonderful day full of family and friends and while George will never remember it, it meant a lot to his dotting parents to see so much love poured out on him.

Now, on the the good stuff.

I think the first birthday of a mom and dad’s first child is a legitimate landmark: You made it through the first year! You did one year, you can do another year! This is an event I actually showered for!

While some people may scoff at big-deal first birthday parties, deeming them superfluous and unnecessary, we planned to party hard (on a budget and with limited time and resources).

We did not spend a lot of money on George’s party, and I got creative where necessary. His birthday party took place on a Sunday afternoon at the end of a very busy and stressful month for us, so I could not devote much mental or physical energy to the party.

But I wanted it to be something for us to remember – because like most first-time parents, we needed that.

So I did my bargain hunting and cooking and DIY-ing and had lots of help from my beautiful new sister-in-law and it all came together to be something I was truly excited about for little Giorgio. He, of course, had a stinking blast playing with his cousins, loved all the attention from grandparents and aunts and uncles, and devoured the food because he has the appetite of his father. It really was a beautiful day that I’ll treasure for this next year and always.

^our extra special helpers for the day (heart eyes)

For those who are considering throwing a Curious George birthday party for their kiddo, here are all the details!

The Setting

Since our darling little apartment could not even begin to accommodate the number of people in attendance, we hosted the party at our church’s parish hall. It’s a big spacious room that gave the littles lots of space to run around 🙂

The Invitations

Whenever I’m in need of invitations, decorations, stationary, or anything creative, really, I go to Meyer Market Designs. Bernadette is an absolute dream to work with. I sent her a couple of inspiration invitations I liked,and she created something more perfect than I could have imagined. It’s like she knew what I wanted better than I did. I really did just adore these invitations, and you’ll see that this image carried over to be the real theme of the whole shindig.

The Menu

Since the party was on a Summer Sunday afternoon between lunch and dinner, we wanted to keep the food pretty light. We had chicken salad, turkey, and ham along with a variety of sandwich rolls for people to make whatever they fancy. We had the standard sandwich toppings available, along with different chips, salsa, and guacamole. We sliced fresh fruit and veggies and served with ranch dip and hummus. My mom also made her classic relish tray which I snacked on all afternoon.

The Cake

I made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with white icing and red sprinkles (including gluten free options). I topped them with adorable cupcake toppers made by the wonderful Mrs. Bernadette Meyer. Told you she makes all our things!

The Decorations

Again, we were on a budget, so I wanted to make it festive and colorful, but it also couldn’t be over-the-top.

Tablecloths

I snagged some plastic table cloths on clearance from Target (like these) in red, blue, and white. We used a mixture of oblong and circular tables, so I just planned ahead and picked up what I needed.

Balloons

We bought simple balloons in red, blue, and yellow, tied them in sets of three, and used those as centerpieces on the tables. This also gave some great height to the space since the ceilings are so high.

Signs

I made the “Happy Birthday George” sign with some good ol’ constructions paper, sticky gold letters (like these), glue, and white sewing thread I already had on hand. We hung it over the gift table that was placed near the door for easy drop off for our way-too-generous guests.

Table Settings

This was quite possibly my favorite decoration of the partay. We made yellow hats out of cups and plates as a nod to The Man in the Yellow Hat. I just bought yellow paper plates and napkins (like these and these) and used black construction paper and glue to create the black band around the hat. George’s older cousins couldn’t get enough of this and loved that little detail. I then felt like my hours of cutting and gluing were worth it 😉

Dessert Table

Ok, so this part was really fun as well. On our desert table, we had our cupcakes, but also some extra treats! I bought clear plastic display containers (again on sale) like these, and filled them with (clearance) blue gumballs, green sixlets, and Twizzlers. I liked them for the ascetics, the kids liked them for the sugar.

Speaking of dessert … George thoroughly enjoyed his first encounter with a sugar-laden substance …

The Party Favors

We wanted to send everyone home with a few extra goodies, so I picked up some cellophane bags (that come with their own ties). We filled them with a small container of bubbles, yellow banana candy, and red, blue, and yellow party mints. We added a little “thank you” card to the ties, once again, made by Meyer Market Designs.

Overall, it was such a fun party and felt like an enjoyable labor of love for our little guy 🙂

What about you? What are some of the best themed parties you’ve been to?