A First Birthday Party Success Story

Alright, I know, I am a tad late on the news about my son's first birthday party. I've been so busy eating the leftover birthday cake all week, I lost track of time! So, we had the party last Sunday, on the day of my son's birthday... February 26th. I am still in shock that my baby is a year of age! Where did the time go, seriously?!? Anyhow, I am not here to become all sappy on you guys. This is suppose to be a happy post!!!

As I brought up in my post Planning A Birthday Party?, I got all the supplies from this great website called "Birthday Express". It was a package purposely made for a 1st birthday based on the safari animals theme. I even had the cake made with the same theme and design (please refer to my post Talk About A Birthday Cake!). Since we were going with a jungle theme, I had even purchased some inflatable jungle animals off of Ebay. I had the whole jungle gang!... A giraffe, zebra, lion, tiger, elephant and last but not least, the monkeys. I must admit, I impressed myself with my stylish creativity and how astonishing it turned out.

Seeing that we have a newly renovated basement, it just made sense to us to host the party down there. Knowing how fanatic of balloons my son is, I decided to really go all out and have some all over the place, all arranged in bouquets attached to mini gift bag balloon weights. Super cute! The birthday kit we got contained so many neat things... lion and elephant dinner plates, hippo and giraffe dessert plates, cone hats, cups, a tablecover, a centerpiece, a foil balloon that read "Happy 1st Birthday", balloons, curling ribbon, crepe paper rolls, and plenty more. It was all matching and coordinating to a T and made everything come together nicely. We had the food catered, since we didn't want to endure the stress of meal-planning and cooking during that weekend. After all, we were a total of 14 people, which translates into a considerable amount of food! We simply wanted to take it easy that weekend in order to dedicate all our time to our B-Boy since it was his weekend. But ultimately, it did not turn out to be a 100%-stress-free weekend. We couldn't get away from the mandatory cleanup and last minute errands. But overall, I think we didn't do so bad.

The morning of, I was nervous! Don't know why. I think I was just so overwhelmed with an assortment of emotions that it made me feel like I was all over the place! And I was dying to make my son happy that it almost turned out into desperation. I think I was setting my expectations a bit too high! But hold on, it's not like I am trying to say that I am disappointed or bummed out about how it turned out. On the contrary, I am really, genuinely and profoundly happy that everyone enjoyed themselves, especially my son. Even though he had skipped his nap and was remarkably tired, he was a really good sport! He was all smiles and giggles! When we reached the last stretch and began unwrapping the gifts though, his attention wasn't quite there anymore. Which is okay, he's only 1 and he doesn't grasp the whole concept of a birthday party... yet! He will soon enough! Now, he did get spoiled, but to a reasonable extent. I am happy that he got stuff that will really be useful and come in handy. Like a 3-in-1 tricycle, clothes for the upcoming summer, a bicycle seat, a floater for the pool, Baby Einstein DVDs... All great things! I think that in due time, he will learn to appreciate all these nice gifts. But really just, in due time.

Oh! I just remembered! My boyfriend had this really cool and smart idea. He wired our laptop to the big screen television and had some pictures from throughout our son's first year displaying as a slideshow. The guests really enjoyed it!

In all, i don't think I could've asked for a better birthday party for my son. Everyone came together and really made this moment, or rather this day, extremely special for him. We had everyone sign this framed signature matte we had purchased with all the supplies and, again, with the same safari theme design. It makes an incredible souvenir for him. So so phenomenal. We love it! And I don't want to forget about the banner, the infamous banner. This cool creation measured over 6 feet long by 2 feet high. But the perk about this banner is that it is personalized with my son's pictures on it. I'm not talking wallet-size picture here. I am talking about a picture that takes up about a fourth of the whole banner! And the quality?! Incredible! Made out of thick vinyl, this puppy was hanging outside in a windy and freezing -20 degrees weather... and it survived the ride! It's made tough!!!

In retrospect, it's hard for me to say what I liked most out of this party and what I think was the best. Every party supply, every detail, every aspect of this party was perfect. I wish I could find a better or more intricate word or expression but I can't... the only word that comes to mind is perfect. I think it really sums it all up, perfectly.

Here are some pictures of the whole setup, along with all the party supplies and decorations I was telling you about. In all honesty, if you are planning a birthday, I strongly recommend that you get your supplies from the same place I did. Worth every penny! Go visit them at link right here below (or look for the banner at the bottom of my home page).

Birthday Express