Mignonne's First Birthday Fete!
Where do I begin to write about the most perfect celebration for my Sweet Mignonne’s First Birthday? First of all, how do I have a one year old? It’s true what they say, the days are long but the years are short. I kind of want to cry writing this post. This past year has been the BEST YEAR yet and it’s really hard to imagine my life before Mignonne. She is the happiest little one year old and she is now walking all over the place. I look forward to waking her up every morning and seeing her sweet smile. The best part is getting home from work and her saying, “Mama!” It melts my heart every time.
Growing up my Mom always threw us the most epic birthday parties so it’s safe to say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I think since Mignonne was 6 months old, I was already dreaming and planning her first birthday party. I can’t help it! It’s runs in the family. Picking the theme was the hardest part, but I decided on going with a “pretty” theme because in a few years she will probably have an opinion and be asking for an Elmo party or Paw Patrol 😀 We just moved into our home last year so I wanted her first birthday to be at our house. I’m all about citrus, peonies, garden roses and chinoiserie so I came up with the theme of a “Citrus Garden Party” or in other words…Mignonne’s First Birthday Fete! Before I go on, I must let you know that my Mom and Mignonne’s birthdays are one day a part. It was special this year however because my Mom was turning 60 and Mignonne was turning 1. I decided to throw two parties and have Mignonne’s on Saturday and my Mom’s on Sunday. That way I could use a lot of the decorations and flowers twice!
I LOVE planning a party especially this one! Once the date was set I began sketching the invitation out and getting the guest list together. I know some of you think I am crazy and why would I throw such a large extravaganza for a one year old who won’t know what is going on but it’s important to me and I wanted to do this for her. One day she will look back at these photos and see how special it was and how much everyone enjoyed celebrating her first year. She might even say, “I have a pretty great Mom!” 😀 (Brett was also a good sport about it. He knows by now to just let me do my thing. Happy wife, Happy life!)
Like I said before, the invitations always set the tone of the party and I wanted the invitations to represent what the party would be like. I wanted blue ginger jars, chinoiserie, and flowers galore and citrus everywhere. I already had a lot of blue porcelain so that would be what we used for the vases. As much as I love putting together flower arrangements, sometimes you can’t do it all so I delegated that to my friend, Briana Belton Design. Briana is a super talented florist here in Shreveport, Louisiana. Basically I told her flowers EVERYWHERE in shades of pinks and whites. You can never have too many flowers. Briana knocked it out of the park. I joke with myself that it was Mignonne’s “mini wedding” because there was so many. Briana turned my back yard into a dream garden and even put together the most gorgeous entry, an arch of flowers with citrus dripping from the top. It was a dream!
For the table clothes, I found the fabric at a local shop and had a local seamstress make custom table linens for me. I went with a pink and white stripe and a pretty pink, playful toile. I love them and can’t wait to use them for future events. I’m starting to have a pretty fab collection of table linens.
Another thing that I found that I was determined to do was to get these custom pink parasols made. I discovered Anne of Boutique Tents on instagram and fell in love. I knew I just needed a reason to hire her and Mignonne’s First Birthday was the perfect opportunity. Anne was a delight to work with. She is based out of South Carolina and custom sews these umbrellas. They were probably my favorite detail of the soiree. They made the whole party and I love the large white ric rac design she used.
For the cake, I used Heather of Social Bites of Ruston. She is an amazing baker. Not only can she decorate cakes amazingly but they taste amazing too! I basically told her, here is the invite, do whatever you want! I couldn’t be happier with what she created. Don’t you love little Miss Mignonne’s smash cake? It’s DARLING! I also had Poppy’s Monograms digitize my invite design on her smash cake bib and bubble so she would match. I just love how it turned out!
For the other fun details like koozies, napkins, cups etc., I used imagery from the invitation I created so that everything would coordinate. I also had pictures framed of Mignonne’s first year to display on the tables. I ordered about 20 white beach balls for a fun decorative detail that was cute for looks but also fun for the kids to play on. We had kids come of all ages so I hired a face-painting lady that was a huge hit with the older children. I had an ice cream cart come too that is a local favorite in Shreveport from Sweetport! Everyone loved the ice cream because it was hot!
For food, I hired a local caterer and friend Jason Brady with Southern Fork. He created the most perfect menu for a first birthday including a Mac and Cheese Bar, burgers, chicken fingers and French fries! He also provided the bar and even had a signature drink! Every first birthday needs a signature drink, right?
Words can’t describe how perfect the evening was. Family and friends surrounded Mignonne and even though it was hot, we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. Thanks for following along this past year and thanks to everyone that came and celebrated or sweet girl. Brett and I sure are lucky and feel so blessed.
We had so much fun, the next night we flipped the party and celebrated my Mom turning 60. She is definitely the most fabulous 60 year old I know. It was a wonderful weekend celebrating the two girls I love the most! Happiest Birthday Mignonne and Cookie!
Credits:
Ellen Cannon Photography
Cakes – Social Bites of Ruston
Drink Stir Sticks – AcrylicSticks
Signage, koozies, printed paper goods – Sweet Caroline Designs
Food and Bar – Southern Fork Catering
Flowers – Briana Belton Design
