It has been a year since our sweet boy came into our lives...a hectic and tiring year, but it was also an amazing year full of excitement, laughter, and so much love! As is with most families, when it comes to the first birthday party, you gotta go all out! It's a celebration of your child and you as a family. As I say, give credit where it's earned!
We wanted to come up with something special...something fun and exciting for all involved. Since there would be a lot of children coming, it has to be entertaining for the little ones! And what child does not love animals or at least is drawn to them!? Exactly! Almost all of them! This is how we came to the farm-themed first birthday.
WELCOME TO OUR FARM!
Our friend and coworker hosted the party, and we are forever grateful to him and his wife for taking on this type of party! As guests came to the property, they were greeted with a small table where we had cowboy hats and bandannas for the kiddos - blue for boys and red for girls! This worked perfect as a favor for the little guests.
The property was perfect for this type of party as it had a large lawn in front of the house. We rented party tables and chairs and laid out blankets, if guests felt like sitting down picnic style. The children's tables had the farm-themed table covers, whereas the adult tables had the red checkered tablecloths. It didn't really matter because everyone sat wherever. Ha! As long as the guests are comfortable and happy!
The best part, I think, was the petting zoo with farm animals!! Oh and let me not forget the pony! The kids had a blast riding the pony around and petting the cute little animals! We had little piggies, goats, bunnies, chickens, etc. Even the adults could not stay away. We had the petting zoo for about two hours, which was plenty enough time.
COUNTRY/FARM DECOR AND FOOD
We had a great time decorating this location. I found a lot of rustic decor, such as wooden crates, daisies and sunflowers, small haystacks, various vases. It all had a very "at home" feel to it, which I liked. I accidentally found a rustic collage photo frame with 12 slots, perfect to put photos of my son for each month of his first year!
For the food, we decided to keep it simple country-living food, such as fried and baked chicken, corn on the cob, chips, potato salad, Caesar salad, BBQ meat, mac and cheese, sandwiches, veggie platter, and of course, pizza. Let's just say the food was eaten pretty quickly!
As for the dessert table, I got creative with it! We of course had the cake (which turned out amazing with the farm bath toys as decorations!) and cupcakes. We also had the following:
-Farm animal pen: cake pops my friend made surrounded by a wooden fence, paper grass, and a bear cupcake for my son.
-Tractor with hay: Rice Krispie treats!
-Lassos: red vines
-Tractor wheels: chocolate covered mini donuts
-Worms in mud: crushed up Oreo cookies with gummy worms
-Various fruit and berries
AND THE FUN BEGINS!
Other than the petting zoo, we had to continue to entertain the kiddos! It was a lot of fun watching them and helping them! We had the donut eating contest (the kids had to eat a donut hanging from a string without using their hands), a burlap sack race, and a game animal sound game (blindfolded, the kids had to make animal noises and find the other kid who was making the same animal noise). The last game was a bit tough, but they still had fun! I was thinking these would be fun games to play with adults as well! Ha! We also had various stand-alone games all over the lawn, such as a bean bag toss game and balloon pig pen (get the balloon animals in a DIY pig pen). For prizes, we gave out animal books, barnyard drawstring bags, farm animal playing cards, and animal lollipops.
I thought the party was a great success and you realize how hard it is to throw a party for a bunch of children! But it is well worth it to see their smiles and laughter! As for my one-year old, I think he had fun...he did like riding that pony!
Vendor Credits:
Planning and Decorating - SMLA Happy Events
Petting Zoo - Jessie’s Party Animals (www.jessiespartyanimals.com)
Party Rentals (tables and chairs) - AV PARTY RENTALS (www.avparty.com)
Decor - Home Goods, Party City, Oriental Trading, Amazon, Joann
Food - Catering from Stater Bros, Costco
Cake and Cupcakes - House of Pastry (www.houseofpastry.com)
Photography - SMLA Happy Events