Darling 1st Birthday Party: "Our Little Fishy is Turning 1"

In my college circle of sorority girlfriends, we refer to ourselves as, The La La's, (bc all our names start with either L's or A's) they're two Lauras.  Myself, whom everyone calls me to this day "Madonna" (I still get a chuckle out of it.  I don't think they have called me Laura for like 13 years)  and another girlfriend we call "Sweet" Laura, whom is just that, SWEET.  She's sweet natured, kind spirited, and as you can see from this amazing party she threw for her little one, a sweet mama.

Sweet Laura, emailed me a couple of weeks ago with a darling idea for her daughter Evelyn's 1st Birthday.  She had found a cute invitation and had the theme "Our Little Fishy is turning 1" and asked me to create a printable to go with party.

I asked her to write a little description of the party and here's what she sent me. I couldn't decided on the pics because they were all so cute so I add them all up top in a slide show.

Planning our daughter's first birthday was so much fun!  We wanted it to truly be a celebration with our families and closest friends.  Evelyn is so sweet and loves splashing in the pool so we chose a pool party theme!   This way the older kids would have something fun to do and it was a great way to enjoy the beautiful spring weather.  We heated the pool the day before so the water temperature was perfect! The pool idea allowed me to coordinate a cute fishy theme perfect for a one year old party. I was also able to create an all seafood menu including crab cakes, oysters, shrimp, and fish spread which was a hit!  I used cookie cutters to make fish and starfish "peanut and jellyfish" sandwiches and paper cones of "fish and chips" (goldfish and Doritos) for the kids!  We served a white wine sangria along with beer and wine which went perfectly for the seafood menu and warm spring weather. 

I loved best making the party favors!  Each child received a personalized pails with fun party straws, leis, bubbles, sunglasses, and sweedish fish candy! Party tags of "thanks for making my party a splash" were tied to each pail.  My years of sorority date functions and decorating buckets finally paid off!  I also loved going through and finding pictures from the year to make a banner to hang over the drink table.  You forget how little they are and was a great way to see how much Evelyn has grown! 

The most challenging aspect of the party was getting the fabric to stick to the pool screen.  I ended up using small safety pins which were small enough to use without damaging the screen. 

I got ideas simply from goggling everything from "pool party"  to "beach cupcakes".  I think the watermelon shark was the biggest hit!  I came across a picture of a watermelon carved like a shark for a shark week party.  I looked on "you tube" and followed directions for the carving.  I was amazed how simple it was.  Thank goodness for the Internet!

As you can tell from the pictures... Evelyn loved her first cupcake!  We chose aqua icing like the sea and decorating some with goldfish and cake toppers.  Some of the cupcakes had graham cracker crumbs to make a sand appearance.  I used party umbrella with a gumball to make a beach scene! Evelyn didn't know what to do at first but once she tasted her goldfish with the icing... it was all over!  We had a small baby pool with water so after she was done, she just played in the pool and made for easy clean up! 

 Evelyn's first party was truly amazing.  I think what makes the party stand out was all the small detail and personal touches Laura created for me with the printables.  It was exactly how I imagined it and I couldn't have pulled it off without her help!!!  Thank you so much Laura for making "our little fishy" first birthday party such a success!