Celebrating A Year Full Of Magic
My baby is one! How did the time go by so fast?
I’d had visions of an enchanted first birthday party for a girl since before I was even pregnant with a girl! And since that dream manifested, I took the opportunity to go all out with the fairy and enchanted forest theme- butterflies, mushrooms, and all things beautiful. Life is too short not to go extreme with the birthday theme of your soul, am I right?
The vibe I wanted for this party was whimsical, woodland, magical, enchanted and dreamy. In this post I’ll share with you how I made it happen.
Sourcing Inspiration
I use Pinterest as my main source of inspiration. I don’t limit myself to other fairy first birthday party posts but expand into weddings for even more ideas. I guess you could say I was also inspired by the real magic of nature and forests that surround me, too.
Click below to see my Fairy First Birthday Pinterest inspiration board:
I wanted my guests to step into the party and feel a sense of enchantment.
I originally wanted to set the entire thing up outdoors, but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate- but no problem! I set it all up indoors which ended up working out even better because I was able to decorate a day ahead and keep adding more and more to it to make it even better than it probably would have been outdoors when I’d have less time (and proabably a lot more wind!).
Decorations
I began seeking out decor from thrift shops and yardsales in advance. I knew the vibe I wanted and had visual ideas of a tablescape of moss, butterflies, mushrooms and candles. I also imagined sheets hanging, like magical forts.
I picked up items from the dollarstore that fit the vibe- mushroom touches mainly.
I also used Temu which is a great place for party supplies for specific themes you may not be able to find at your local shops.
What I ended up getting:
Dollarstore: green tablecloth, coloured streamers, mushroom touches, terranium
Thrift shop/yardsales/local auction: Sheets to hang up, green fabric for tablescape, wood platform for cake, old candlestick holders, coloured candlesticks, candles.
Temu: Faux flowers to hang, mushroom lantern decorations, star garland, faux moss, fairy dresses, butterfly touches, mushroom hats for lootbags, fairy wings, floral crown.
Craft store: Butterfly cake toppers, faux moss.
I also did some DIY touches which included the floral crown my baby wore, her high chair sign, and a mirror I glued moss, mushrooms and butterflies to, a wooden sign, a drawing and quote on my chalkboard, paper chains.
Here are some photos of how things turned out:
Food and Snacks
To be honest I spent so much time focusing on decorations I barely thought about the food. We decided to do hot dogs and sausages a couple days ahead.
I also made fairy wand fruit sticks as a snack!
The Birthday Cake
I had seen a lot of inspiration on Pinterest and in my due date group on Facebook. The classic fairy first cake seems to be a light green heart shaped cake. My mom usually makes the kid’s birthday cakes and enjoys the creativity in doing that. I showed her some inspiration photos but let her decide what she wanted to do. Here is the beautiful cake she came up with! Thanks mom!
The Cake Smash
I did the cake smash on a seperate day ahead of time, so I won’t go too into it here.
I did the cake for the cake smash, which was just a simple boxed cake. Nothing too special! I topped it with some cake toppers from a local craft store. It was basically the first warm day of spring, so at the last minute on the morning of I threw everything together and it worked out beautifully.
Loot bags
For the party we had 3 other kids only. I put snacks in zip lock bags, tied them together with pipe cleaners to look like butterfly antennas and then glued eyes on them. I also put mushroom hats the other kids could wear to fit in with the theme. To my surprise, they actually wore them! And looked so adorable. It was a great touch and it made the party even more whimsical. The other items in the bags were geared to their interests and not related to the theme.
Other Touches
We had an ambient fairy scene from youtube playing on the TV for an added touch. I also had a fairy playlist with ethereal and fairylike ambient music… however my guests complained asking “what is that noise?” so I turned it off, haha! They preferred socializing without the distraction- that’s fine too… even though I put time into that playlist haha.
A Birthday To Remember
I love the way the party turned out and have looked back on the photos so many times already. It had such a whimsical, fun, cute vibe. I love all the details and decorations. My baby looked adorable in her dress and flower crown and she loved spending time with her family.
I took out her baby book while the guests were over and asked them to write a message for her in the back of the book. They all wrote special messages for her on her special day that she can read into the future and remember the people who were close to her at this magical time of her life.
I encourage anyone out there planning a Fairy First Birthday to plan ahead, decorate ahead so you don’t stress on the day of and can focus on having a great time. Focus on making it meaningful rather than perfect. We all have our own vibes and aesthetics and just be true to yours and don’t try too hard to copy someone else’s, embrace your own!
My daughter had a great first year of life and this party was the best way to celebrate that.
The only downside is: Am I going to have to try live up to this level of effort every party? Haha!
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