The concept for the party was to create a fun and casual party atmosphere for our guests. We decided to have it at a photo studio where kids and their parents had the opportunity to take family pictures while celebrating Grant’s first year in life. Having a photobooth at parties is HUGE these days and when I visited Olive Studio the idea of hosting Grant’s birthday here came to life. It was the perfect space for 30-40 of my closest friends. Now as parents, we realize we don’t get too many opportunities to take family pictures with our kids. With a majority of my friends being moms I wanted to seize this opportunity and wanted to have them enjoy an afternoon taking tons of pictures with their kids. Olive Studio offers a lot of different backdrops and props, it is a very neat and CLEAN place. I know that a lot Korean moms are planning extravagant and traditional “dohl” parties but I wanted to stay away from the tradition of having a guest list of 100-200 people. Basically I didn’t want to plan another wedding reception!
When my husband and I started planning the party we decided that we wanted to give all of the gifts and proceeds to “Giving Children Hope.” With this is mind we wanted to keep things simple (well, this was my intention at first, but things got a little out of control with all the DIY projects I decided to do last minute) and BUDGET FRIENDLY. It really wasn’t until 2 weeks before the party that I started renting items and picking things up from here and there. I found a lot of great things on the clearance racks and at Michaels. The studio already had a lot of cute props and furniture so we just re-arranged it a bit and created a casual outdoor party atmosphere under the tree with picnic blankets & throw pillows. We also brought in some of our own furniture as well.
Things I borrowed:
-The lanterns that were hung from the tree were borrowed from my sister.
-Party trays & plates for the dessert bar and the red wagon where we placed our drinks were borrowed from Kristine.
-Kayla, kindly provided the cookie lollipops with mini cupcakes.
-All floral arrangements & wheat grass box were also kindly provided by Jina from T.H.E flower.
The DIY projects which I pulled off at the last minute! I swear, I don't think I'll ever do them again.
- Pinwheels on the grass to welcome the guests
- 'Curious Grant Turns One' flag banner
- Cookie Stands (borrowed Styrofoam from Kayla) and hot glued the paper
- Dessert Bar circle garlands (inspired by this project here)
- Birthday party hats
- Small flag banner
Gosh..I know he's my son, but he's so adorable! :)
now onto some details...
Shopping Details & Resources:
-Cocktail napkins were purchased at For Your Party
-All adorable signs, cupcake toppers, favor tags were purchased from Heather from Chickabug (I love love her work and I was so thrilled when I found her on Etsy! but I somehow misplaced some of the dessert tags & customized dol ja bi tags she made and couldn't find it anywhere!!! I usually double and triple check my set up items and I still have no idea where they went!)
-Red & White stripe straws were purchased from Etsy and just printed out "Happy Birthday" sign and taped it on the straws
-Dessert bar plates, the popcorn bags and sparkling sodas were purchased at Cost Plus- World Market (I LOVE this store).
-Red blankets were purchased at Ikea for under 5 dollars each and the yellow throw pillows were purchased at Cost Plus for 10 dollars each.
- Curious grant books & lunch box were purchased at a local bookstore in Irvine.
- 6 ft table for the dessert bar & the blue runner were rented from KiKi Events
- Color coordinated jelly beans were purchased at Sweet Factory & other filler candies were purchased from Smart & Final
- 6 ft table for the dessert bar & the blue runner were rented from KiKi Events
- Color coordinated jelly beans were purchased at Sweet Factory & other filler candies were purchased from Smart & Final
The garlands were pulled together the night before the party & Angela helped me finish it on the day of. :) I actually made a garland mobile and hung it next to Grant's crib because I didn't want to throw them away after the party.
Milk shooters with chocolate cookies on top
I'm hooked with the sparkling sodas from Cost Plus! They're so good!
Party hats I also pulled together at the very last minute.
pop quiz made by my hubby & the tacos were from Adolfo Tacos. We also had Costco pizzas for the grown ups, cut fruits (mango, strawberries & green grapes) were skewered and small cut sandwiches were prepared for the kids.
Pinwheels were also pulled together at the very last minute. I don't know why I keep doing this to myself.. haha
Almost $900 sent along to Giving Children Hope's We've Got Your Back program.
Thank you everybody for helping out~!
Grant's playmates!
dol-jabi time! You place array of objects and whatever my son picks speaks into what he could be. When he was doing this, he got freaked out because of all the attention he was getting!
it looks like he grabbed the book, but he passed these items and came to me instead. -__-
my better half.. cannot be where I am today without his wisdom & guidance. Although we annoy the heck out of each other and argue over the same things, I can't imagine my life without him. Our love is a work in progress but at the end of the day, we both know we're perfect for one another. :) Love you honey!
My MIL- She stayed with us for almost 5 months and left to Korea last week. Although we had some rough spots here and there, I am still very grateful that she came to watch the baby. One important lesson I learned: It's always better to keep a safe distance. :)
Lastly, what is a birthday without a cake? He was so happy when we sang the birthday song all together. To my birthday boy...you have brought us so much joy than we could ever begin to tell you. You are our little teacher and our inspiration. We will always love you more than we have years to count...
LOVE, mommy & daddy
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
-Don from Don& David photography. He contacted me a few weeks before the party and he generously offered to take the pictures for us. These photos truly far exceeded my expectations and I cannot thank you enough. You captured them so beautifully and I'm sure my in laws will be talking about these photos for a very LONG time. :)
-Jina from T.H.E flower for generously providing all the small centerpieces & the wheat grass.
- Kayla & Kristine for their mental & emotional support throughout my first year as a mom.
-Katie Lee of Bella Destinee, my dear Elisa & Angela for coming early to set up all the props. Angela took some of these detail shots too!
- My dear hubby who stayed up all night to put together a video of Grant's milestone.
