Party Reveal: Hot Air Balloon Birthday Party

Before I could even begin to think about planning my daughter’s first birthday party, I came across a whimsical fabric in the remnant bin at my local fabric store and was smitten with the hot air balloon print on it. I picked it up and thought that it would be the perfect theme for a first birthday because “Time Flies When You’re Having Fun!” I went with a soft pastel color scheme, with pops of gold and glitter (very similar to her nursery), as these colors just suit her sweet little personality.

We also decided that a brunch party would work best for everyone. We served brunch themed food (like chicken and waffles), along with mimosas and coffee for the adults, which was a huge hit!

I wanted the dessert table to be the focal point when you walked in and chose to use an oversized 36” balloon, fashioned to a basket to really pull the theme in.

The birthday banner is an easy DIY using scrapbook paper, doilies and glitter letters from your local craft store. You can also easily create a DIY tissue tassel garland (can you believe that this entire strand cost only $3 to make?). The apothecary jars and cake stands were also an easy DIY.

The cake was exactly what I had dreamed, and I just added the little gold glitter banner. If you are in or around Charlotte, see sources below for information.

I found these Martha Stewart fringe lanterns on clearance and thought that they would make perfect hot air balloons. I suspended baskets from them and used fishing wire to attach them to the ceiling. They looked whimsical and fun over the brunch table.

The brunch menu consisted of chicken and waffles, homemade biscuits, gluten-free pancakes, fresh fruit and squeeze packs for the babes.

I love photos, and having a party really gave me a great excuse to actually print them. I found the Walgreens photo app to be very helpful and was able to use it to print all of my iPhone photos (bottom right), as well as all of my Instagrams (bottom left). I also displayed her monthly photos and milestones (top), which was tough to keep up with, but I am so glad that I have them now to document her first year!

At the sign-in table, I had each guest fingerprint his or her thumb onto a sheet of paper to resemble balloons attached to a big basket to serve as a guest book to remember all of her sweet friends who came to celebrate! I also loved the milestone chart that I found on Etsy.

Additional Sources: Invites: Designed by me, All balloons: Party City, Hot Air Balloon net: Etsy, Tissue Tassel Garland: DIY, Cake Stands/Apothecary Jars: DIY, Cake: Cakes by Carol Middleton, Fringe Balloons: Martha Stewart, Milestone Sign: Ladybugs and Grasshoppers