The First Birthday

On 13 March 2018, my baby boy Hudson turned one. His first birthday. A lot of people have been asking and wondering about his first birthday party and I thought that the easiest would be to do a blog post about the planning that went into his first birthday party. The key word here is planning. As an avid and very serious planner; I had ideas for Hudson’s first birthday party even before he was born. Yes, I am that Mom. Let me take you through the planning I went through for Hudson’s first birthday party which will be happening on Saturday 17 March 2018.

The Cake

You are all probably asking why the cake first? To be honest I get my inspiration from the designs of cakes. I literally googled “First Birthday cakes” and looked through all of the images. These are just some of the cakes that popped up on my feed.

I did not want a theme that has been done over and over again. Thus, my search continued. The above cakes were nice, not wonderful and amazing; so continues my search until I saw…..

And, since Hudson’s cake smash was based on “Guess how much I love you”, I knew that his theme would be….

When I spoke to Faranaaz from Far Far Away Events, she was ecstatic as she has never done a theme like this before. We had a few chats and both decided on a vintage Some Bunny is 1 theme. I also found the perfect cake design and you will have to wait for that. Now does it make sense that I chose the cake first to go with a theme?I know its a different way of planning, but it worked.

The venue

We are quite lucky in Cape Town that there are a variety of venues to choose from; the only problem is the price point. Here comes the budget talk! I had a budget; but I also wanted the venue to capture the essence of the theme. I knew I wanted it outdoors; magical and most importantly memorable. I searched the internet and it took me a few days to narrow down a few places and I did my inquiries. Most places can do everything for you; from decor to catering and entertainment for the kids; but it can be quite costly and in most instances when you do your own sourcing it works out much cheaper. I booked Hudson’s venue last year October. Yes, I am that mom. If you have a particular venue in mind, inquire ahead of time to not be dissapointed. I do not want to give too much away; but the venue is on a farm and in a barn. The kiddos will be feeding the farm animals and playing outside and just be kids.

Decor

You have seen some of Faranaaz work from Far Far Away Events on the “Up, up and away” styled shoot we did for Hudson; well all I can say is; if you want Far Far Away Events, you need to book ahead of time as well. I booked Faranaaz last year as well. It really helps when you trust the creative person and give them freedom. That is when creativity comes alive. We both decided on a theme; a party package which included everything. Believe me you are going to be blown away!

Photography

The beautiful and talented Talita from Inka Photography will be taking Hudson’s photos on the day. You will remember Talita from the Christmas photo shoot we did last year. Talita is another creative; that one can trust to capture all the special moments. Using you phone to snap a few photos is ok; but you want to look back on this day and have quality photos.

Catering for adults

Hudson’s party is from 9-11. This is the perfect time to serve coffee and tea with a breakfast platter that consists of croissants; muffins scones; jams and cheese. Remember, and this is what the event planner told me, the party is not for the adults but for the kids.