The past week my one and only daughter Anouk has turned one. I started planning her birthday party in late December of 2020 as I knew I would need four months to arrange this. I worked a few days picking a color palette. We looked into a few places such as Canva, Coolors, Adobe. (I used this softwares for my work.)
Once I picked the color palette from Pinterest – linked here, I started working on the party.
I looked into Pinterest once again for her birthday party ideas. Click here to see all pins I saved. We all decided to have a simple but elegant party. I wanted large green walls, banners, etc.; given that we are currently residing in a 953 sq feet condo, we decided to tone down the party. Perhaps when we have a larger space, we can throw a big birthday party with friends and family.
Birthday Girl Outfit – Most people I know get an outfit from Janie and Jack. While I adore their styles, I am not fond of polyester in clothing items. Plus, Anouk has sensitive skin, so we only get organic cotton or linen clothing for her. I picked a vendor from Russia, and it took me six weeks to get her tunic dress.
I also got her a white cotton sweater with fancy lace, stockings, and shoes. When all these came, we found out that the dress was a bit small, and we did not get anything for her diaper, such as bloomers. So rushed to Prudential at 6 pm a day before her party to get white tights. It worked out!
I also got her a lovely lace headband but she refused to wear it because you know she is, after all, a baby. : )
Birthday Decoration – As I mentioned, we planned for a super simple party as only us, my parents, and in-laws were part of it. It was a super short and small celebration. Also, as my parents were leaving for a quick trip to India, we had to celebrate the first part of the party on March 19th, and we did another celebration with my in-laws in April last week on her actual birthday.
I got this birthday banner from an Australian vendor on Etsy. She was willing to do custom color matching my theme. It took me three weeks to get this item as well. I ordered the balloons from Michelle. She made a fantastic balloon garland for Anouk’s rice ceremony, so I worked with her again to create a birthday balloon garland matching the color palette.
Here is a list of all items from Etsy
- Birthday Cake Topper – https://www.etsy.com/listing/723597208/custom-name-year-birthday-cake-topper
- Birthday Banner – https://www.etsy.com/shop/FunstaCraft
- Balloon Garland – https://www.etsy.com/shop/PrettyCollected?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=518862770
- Headband – https://www.etsy.com/listing/295350461/white-baby-headband-baby-headband-flower
- Organic Cotton Socks – https://www.etsy.com/listing/886998827/4-pack-100-organic-cotton-winter-baby
- Shoes – https://www.etsy.com/listing/921676289/soft-sole-baby-mary-jane-patent-bow-baby
- Sweater – https://www.etsy.com/listing/763171818/cotton-baptism-cardigan-christening
- Dress – https://www.etsy.com/listing/857944104/linen-shirt-long-sleeve-2t-linen-blous
Birthday Cake – Unfortunately, my daughter is allergic to eggs. So I called a few bakeries to determine if they are willing to make an egg-free birthday cake. Oakleaf Bakery was ready to make a vegan cake, and we got an 8″ cake and 12 cupcakes from Georgetown Bakery. After trying it for the first celebration, we decided to not order it again as we did not like the artificial taste of vegan baked goods.
I reached out to an Indian bakery in Mansfield, and she made a fantastic egg-free Mango Cake for the actual birthday celebration. I sent her a simple design from Pinterest and she delivered it. Link to her cake shop – https://www.facebook.com/Siddys-Bakeshop-116377673523796/.
It was a less than perfect and one-of-a-kind birthday party for Anouk. Hopefully, next year she can have an actual birthday party with everyone together under our roof. A mom can hope, right?
