I can’t believe that I’m typing this, but Grey turned one this week. Last weekend we got our family and friends together in a snowy West Chester, PA to celebrate our little girl. I had been gathering ideas for this party for the last few months and changed my mind a few times on what theme I wanted and where to have it. I finally settled on rainbows a few months ago and just went with it. We had it at Grammy and Pop pops house, of course, and while I’m telling my mom the decorations I want to do I only get one response.
Can’t you just put up some streamers?
Does she even know me?
The first thing I knew I wanted was a crazy backdrop I saw on some IG page that was referred to as a “pinata backdrop”. It looked like a bunch of fringe or tassels layered in different colors and it just was perfect for a colorful first birthday party! I wanted to make it myself to save some money, but also because I really enjoy a DIY party project. This project was way easier than I even anticipated (and I kept telling to people it would take me a couple days, but only because it would be so tedious threading fringe). This only took me one day to make, and it probably could’ve taken less time if I hadn’t spent so much time on the first color. All you have to do is buy a 5-10 PVC pipes depending on how big you want them, cut them to your measurements for the backdrop, and put some sort of grated material on the pvc pipe. At that point you just thread away! I used the orange construction fencing and just threaded 2 pieces of plastic tablecloth strips through each square. Once I got in my groove I got a lot done, and with the help of my parents and James for the last two colors we got it done in no time! Now I have this backdrop for future parties, too!
I feel like we discussed food options for month, but we ordered a ton from Wegmans we were sure everyone would like. Subs and sandwiches, fruits and veggies, and even sushi. Yes – I had sushi at a one-year-old’s birthday party. Whatever. I mentioned maybe getting Chic-fil-a, and my mom agreed, and even tacked on pretzels. Because of the snow storm and some last minute cancellations, we ended up having wayyyyyy to much food and that’s not even including desserts! We ordered macaroons from Wegmans as well, and had Grey’s smash cake come from there last minute. My sister made some adorable cookies, and I had the most ah-MAZ-ing cake made from Cake.n.Bake in West Chester. She worked with me the two weeks leading up to the party and did an amazing job with this rainbow cake! I highly recommend this bakery for your wedding, shower and parties!
I found a really yummy boozy rainbow punch to make for the adults at the party here, however I would at least double the vodka amount you put in. I probably drank half the punch myself…I felt nothing and I had put an entire vodka bottle in the bowl.
I wish I got to take more pictures, but unfortunately I didn’t get to finish setting up before our guests started to arrive. I had plans to arrange the fruit and veggie trays into actual rainbows, and I had ordered 40 balloons to scatter throughout the house – neither of those things happened. I honestly barely even got dressed before 2PM when the party started.
Even though I didn’t get to do everything 100% to my liking, it was the best party I’ve ever thrown. I’d honestly be happy just throwing parties forever. Enjoy some party inspo below! If you need more insp, look at my pinterest board for Grey’s first bday here!
Ekstraordinaere 