The Wonderful Things You Will Be Party
The Wonderful Things You Will Be party theme for a birthday party, baby shower, or nursery. Step by Step Guide to create a beautiful party on a budget, where to source the party items and tips for making a simple yet gorgeous dessert table!
FINDING THE FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY THEME
Our sweet boy turned 1! When I started planning his birthday, I wasn’t a fan of all the popular first birthday themes out there and knew we wanted simple decor for an intimate family gathering. I looked at the book ‘The Wonderful Things You Will Be’ sitting on the coffee table and said- that’s it!
We used this book in our baby announcement and I thought the illustrations, colors and message of the book were so perfect for a first birthday theme. Not even realizing the cute play on words ‘The ONEderful Things You Will Be.’
When I looked up this party theme- I couldn’t find a ton of inspiration or vendors to source party decor from so I am going to give you my breakdown.
It doesn’t take a massive budget or a lot of decor to throw a beautiful theme birthday party just some creativity and resourcefulness and you can have the cutest party!
PARTY DECOR
Balloons
We decided to use the book as inspiration for the colors and went with soft shades of peach, blue, mint green and a few pops of color with orange and red. It was so cute, gender neutral and I absolutely loved the couple of accent colors to really make the balloon garland pop!
We found the soft colored balloons in a variety pack on Amazon and used the orange and red from your standard variety pack of rainbow balloons. We arranged a small balloon garland that hung over a window that would be the backdrop for the smash cake photos with a 1 balloon on the highchair also found on Amazon.
We had a few large white balloons combined with a small cluster of balloons that stood next to the dessert table (see photos below).
Acrylic Signs & Cake Topper
We love to support local small businesses and partnered with David and Leanna to design and create a custom acrylic calligraphy sign with a quote from the book.
“This is the first time there has ever been YOU, so I wonder what wonderful things you will do”
a dessert table sign:
“You are the icing on my cake”
And the cutest ONE Cake topper in calligraphy! We also printed out several photos of our little guy and our baby announcement and put them in simple and inexpensive 4×6 frames from Target to scatter around the house.
Napkins and Glassware
Balancing Balloons is a local rental company in Seattle and they have the most beautiful collection of glassware! We opted for different shades of light and dark blue glassware for the adult drinks and handmade soft blue napkins, that was also used on the dessert table for added color and texture!
Dessert Table
Our favorite part! Landen had to have an epic dessert table and birthday cake. The dessert table is usually the focal point of the party so we decided to decorate this table with the most decor and offer a variety of desserts (I’m not naive that cake isn’t for everyone!)
We made the cloud backdrop and it honestly took less than 10 min! We just did a quick YouTube search and found a super easy method. I love the way they turned out and they absolutely made the dessert table!
The Happy Birthday Banner was such a perfect addition and found this on Meri Meri, including the adorable paper plates!
Florals
These were also DIY! Trader Joes as the best prices and a variety of beautiful flowers. We got soft blue hydrangeas, peach colored roses and greenery and made 4-5 small bouquets to scatter on different tables, including the dessert table.
Creating a Dessert Menu
Not everyone likes cake as much as I do (spoiler alert- Landen was a big fan of the smash cake!) I always suggest offering 2-3 different desserts at a party. We offered a Funfetti Smash Cake, Carrot Cake for the adults, homemade marshmallows for the kiddos that also made great party favors and 1 shape rice krispy treats and Cake Batter Flavored Caramels! We used the extra marshmallows to cut out a cloud and 1 shape for an edible cake topper!
We have a Smash Cake Tutorial here! How to Make a Smash Cake
There was a taco bar, spicy margaritas and lots of dessert! To make the party extra special, I made a quick video/slideshow of photos to recap Landen’s first year and included all of his amazing family in the video! We also had a banner of his 1-11 month photos that added such a special touch.
Happy Birthday baby boy- we love you so so much and can’t wait to see all the wonderful things you will be!!
Desserts: Eat More Cake by Candice
Photography: Eat More Cake by Candice
Glassware and Napkins: Balancing Balloons
Cake Topper and Acrylic Signs: David and Leanna
Happy Baking, Friends!
*IF YOU WANT MORE BAKING & PARTY TIPS, RECIPES, AND LITTLE DOSES OF JOY- SAY HI ON INSTAGRAM & PINTEREST OR SUBSCRIBE TO MY BAKING TRIBE E-MAIL LIST! MY HEART IS ABOUT SPREADING JOY AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
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This is beautiful! For my baby shower I had this book as a guest book.
I always thought this would make a beautiful birthday theme. Your post has truly inspired me to do this theme even more for a first Birthday!
I love that idea using the book as a guest book! I’m so glad this blog post has been helpful and inspiring for you!
Love this!! Where did you find the striped shirt for your son? I’m using this theme for my son’s 1st birthday and need the perfect outfit!
It was a sweater and pant outfit from H&M last year. I also found cute white and red stripped sweaters/shirts from Nordstrom. Good luck!
Where did you get the little blocks with images from the book?