Beckett’s Vintage Americana 1st Birthday Party

Description

We celebrated our sweet Beckett's first birthday with a Red, White, & One themed backyard BBQ at our home.

Design Inspiration

The inspiration for Beckett's birthday party was born out of my love for everything red, white and blue, and stars and stripes. I knew it would be fun to decorate, and I could take advantage of after-4th-of-July sales for decor.

Project Details

I knew I wanted to incorporate Beckett's silhouette into the party decor. I created it using Photoshop Elements, and then Lora from Lora Lang Designs on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/loralangdesigns) took the silhouette I made and used it in her designs for all the party printables. She created the invitation, water bottle labels, napkin wraps, cupcake toppers (which I also used on rosettes for the dessert table backdrop), a welcome poster, favor tags, and customized thank you notes. For adult favors, I made Patriotic Popcorn using the recipe from Bloom Designs (http://bloomdesignsonline.blogspot.com/2012/05/happy-monday-you-all-enjoyed-you.html). For the dessert table backdrop, I made lots and lots of rosettes using scrapbook paper and free papers I found online...I used the tutorial from A Blissful Nest (http://www.ablissfulnest.com/?s=rosette+tutorial). My friend Jennifer of Pea Pie Photography (http://www.peapiephotography.com/) was on hand to take all of the beautiful photos.

Favorite Items

While I love every detail of Beckett's birthday party, I think my favorite is the rosette backdrop for the dessert table. I finished each rosette with a cupcake topper adding an even more personal touch. The rosettes were pinned to a large piece of burlap and accented with white balloons. I'm also especially proud of the "Happy Birthday Beckett" banner hanging on the dessert table...I made it using ribbon, card stock, scrapbook paper, and cereal boxes :} I'm also thrilled with how the red, white & blue cake and decorated cookies turned out...I made them all in the days before the party.

Advice

My advice to anyone planning a party is to start early on the smaller details, especially if you plan to make them yourself. A checklist of everything I wanted to incorporate was invaluable, and on the day of the party I was able to check off things as they were done, to make sure I had everything done just as planned. And definitely accept help from those who offer :}