Mod Monkey Themed 1st Birthday

Description

We love monkeys and this was perfect!

Design Inspiration

Mod monkey theme 1st birthday. We love monkey theme stuff and this was perfect. I didn't want to go with the typical cartoon themes I see at every other party. I wanted this party to stand out since it was my son's 1st and I couldn't have been happier.

Decorating Style

Modern yet contemporary

Project Details

Since this was my son's 1st birthday party..I wanted to make sure it was kid friendly as well as the adults enjoying the party. I found the mod monkey theme on www.celebrateexpress.com. I made everything else work around this theme. I ordered the pinatas, balloons, favors boxes used for decorating, and large personalized banner from their website.

I created the thank you cards on MS Word and uploaded to www.vistaprint.com and ordered them in postcards. They turned out great. We had about 100 guests so I included the thank you cards in the adult and kid's favor bags.

The main favor was a teddy bear glass jar which I filled with personalized mms in matching theme colors. I also ordered the labels for the jar on www.zazzle.com I ordered the glass jars from www.newfavors.com. You can google teddy bear glass jars to find the best deal out there.

The personalized banner above the dessert bar was made at home. You can get what you need from your local crafts store like Michaels. They also sell the premade letters in a bag in the poster board section. That made it so much easier since it was our first time making a banner like that. Most of the stuff was all home made. Including the cupcakes and the cake.

If you get a chance to start planning early, you can save a lot of money as well as gather a lot of great ideas.

I also ordered mod monkey theme lottery scratchers and attached them to the kid's favor bags so they can win prizes. I ordered the lottery scratchers and personalized mod monkey birthday tshirt from ebay.com.

For the candy buffet I shopped around to find blue and yellow candies to match the theme. I even purchased the fundraiser chocolate candy bars to help support our local children's soccer team and that was a big hit.

We also had a photobooth there and we had the photo strips customized with the mod monkey theme and my son's name/birthday.

One of the best things I did was have a separate play room for the toddlers to play. The kids loved it and I didn't have all the kids running all over the place. It made it easier for the parents to also have a good time and watch over their little ones.

Favorite Items

My favorite item was the cake. Home made and not by a professional baker and it turned out awesome!

Advice

Start planning early and try to do most of the projects yourself. If you start early, you can potentially save lots of money by finding random deals out there. As you shop around you find different inspirations and additions to the party. I sure ended up with more than I planned, but most of it was at a bargain. The most important thing is to have fun while you're planning. Don't stress out and make it fun. Recruit some friends and family to help.