Birthday Parties

Sometimes a party just captures us at the first glance, and in this case, we were sold the second we spotted this bow-tie-inspired first birthday's amazing invitations. "I worked and worked on his invitations and could not for the life of me create something worthy of his very first birthday. I knew I wanted them to be tactile, not just a piece of paper. I wanted them to be Southern and sweet and with the personality of a playful little boy," says mom and designer Emily Ley.

Luckily, Emily has talented friends, including Amber Moon of Pitbulls and Posies, who dreamed up an adorable silhouette invite. "I took a photo of Brady with my iPhone and sent it to Amber, she traced his sweet little head, and created these little wooden silhouettes which she (by hand, no less!) screen-printed with the party information. She also designed and created box liners to hold the little silhouette."

The awesome invite introduced Brady's first birthday party in grand fashion, and the party itself was full of cute bow-tie details. "We decided we wanted it to be sweet and young and classic . . . so we chose a Southern Picnic theme and used bow ties to tie the entire affair together," Emily says. Keep clicking to check out all the details of the spectacular invites and the sweet party!

Source: Emily Ley

Kate Brown and Yolanda Cerra, the creative minds behind Aussie event company Kiss Me Kate, never cease to amaze us with their gorgeous parties, and this barnyard-inspired birthday bash for 2-year-old Indiana is no exception.

"Our client Megan approached us to design a dessert table," Yolanda says. "The brief was simple: a farmyard theme with a girlie bent. We achieved this look by incorporating sweet cottage flower prints and a pastel color palette throughout. The party was scheduled in the first week of Spring, so we drew inspiration from flowers, fabrics, and, of course, assorted farm animals." Anders Ruff printables and desserts, including farm-fresh egg cake pops, farm animal cookies, and macarons, are just some of the highlights of this sweet affair, photographed by Eleanor Conduit of Yuelle Studios. Keep clicking to head down to the farm!

Source: Kiss Me Kate

What to do when not one, but two of your kids have birthdays during the most wonderful, chaotic time of year? Find a theme that they both love (in this case, Angry Birds), and run with it!

"December is a busy enough month as is, but add birthdays for two children to the mix, and you've got downright chaos," says Jennifer Carver of Banner Events. "To simplify things this year, we decided to host a combined birthday party for my son Jacob (turning 11) and my son Landon (turning 5). Since they are both huge gamers, we knew this theme would be perfect!" And Jennifer thought of every single detail — from an amazing Angry Birds cake, cupcakes, cake pops, and more sweet bird-themed treats to some supercreative themed games like Capture the Egg, Bird-O Bingo, and Slingshot Lane, all designed to delight the 20 party guests. Keep clicking to check out all the party details, captured by A Fresh Take Photography.

Source: Banner Events

It's your little one's special day, so there's no stopping Mom when it comes to planning the perfect birthday bash. Kids wait all year to celebrate their big days, and with one of these amazing party themes, they're sure to have the best days ever. From parties inspired by glitter, sprinkles, strawberries, and lemonade to princess bashes of every variety to boy-perfect soirees featuring mad scientists, pirates, ninjas, and even construction cones, we've rounded up the best themes for the guest of honor! Keep clicking to find the party that best matches your little birthday boy or girl.

Baking is in this birthday girl's blood! "My daughter and I are both obsessed with bakery Sweet & Saucy Shop in Long Beach, California," says Hilary Freeman, owner of The Sugar Studio, a shop offering hands-on baking and pastry-making classes. "She wanted to have a cake decorating bakery party, so we decided it should be an ode to our favorite bakery. While guests decorated their own mini cakes — and took them home in awesome glittered chevron pink bakery boxes — cake wasn't the only sweet treat at this party. Confetti marshmallows, vanilla bean mini donuts, mint chocolate chip cupcakes, apricot salted caramel macarons, mint chocolate chip macarons, and apricot panna cotta, all made by Hilary, are among the sophisticated offerings this birthday girl's guests enjoyed. Keep clicking to check out all the sugary details, photographed by Gus Dizon!

Source: The Sugar Studio

Peter Pan is one of our all-time favorite animated characters, and Kenna O'Brien, aka Miss Party Mom, did the flying Lost Boy proud with the creative party she threw for her son, a major Peter Pan fan.

"I threw this party for my son after a year of him talking about his 'Peter Pan Fourth Birthday Party' (he’s definitely the son of a party planner!)," Kenna says. "He pitched me a lot of ideas, including the cake with flying characters! I love how much he is in to Peter Pan, so I really wanted to try and turn our backyard into a Never Land the best I could." Goal achieved! Pixie dust, treasure maps, pirate ships, teepees, and more make this one of the most thoughtful and inspirational parties we've seen. Keep clicking to check out the details, photographed by Jen McGinn!

Source: Miss Party Mom

Event planner Keren Precel has fast become one of our favorite kid-party planners, and her latest — a safari party full of adorable baby animals — is yet another major mini soiree. "We chose a color palette combination of powder pink, aqua blue, light green, and lavender," Keren says of the bash, thrown for a 1-year-old little girl with the catering help of Freshmade NYC. "Among the decor items were a custom-designed backdrop, a lion jelly bean doll, a large paper carousel, and a wishing tree." But it's all those baby monkeys, hippos, lions, and more that have our cute-o-meters really going off the charts. Keep clicking to check out all the details of this party, which we think would make an equally cute baby shower!

Source: Keren Precel Events

Photographer (and supercreative mom of twins) Melanie Monroe jumped to the challenge when her girls requested a Wicked-inspired sixth birthday party. "This party was so much fun to plan! I started a Pinterest board months ago and got lots of great ideas!" Melanie says. "During Halloween, I was able to get some great witch decorations, and I was able to snag some fun green items for the 'Emerald City Dress-Up Boutique' when all the St. Patrick's Day items came out right after Christmas." Add in karaoke, a Flying Monkey zip line, a Madame Morrible tornado ride, and Glinda and Elphaba cupcakes, and you have one "wicked" cool party for two lucky twins, beautifully photographed by Amy Gray. Keep clicking to check out all the witch-tastic details.

Source: Melanie Monroe Photography

Congratulations, you've made it through the first year of parenthood! Ask any new mama – who just yesterday brought home a newborn and is now planning baby's first birthday bash — and she'll tell you how fast a year can fly by. Baby's first birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime affair and as parents, we all want to make it a memorable one — but where to start? From smash cakes to party favors, we've got you covered. Put on your party planning hat and get inspired to throw the party of the year with these 27 creative first birthday party ideas.

February may be cold and snowy in much of our country, but in Australia, this month is all about sunshine. So it was the perfect time of year to throw a combined birthday pool party for Tess and Sienna, the daughter of Leanne Ambrogio of Sweet Style, a stylish event planning and party supply company. "Once the pool party idea was set, we then wanted to come up with a cool theme to go with it . . . so enter the retro pink flamingo!" Leanne says. "Tess' mom is a super-genius graphic designer, so she came up with the amazing invitation and party stationery that set the tone for the entire day. Both the girls love blue so we incorporated this into the color theme. It was perfect to tie in with the pool!" A candy and cake table (featuring an awesome ombre, flamingo-topped cake) and a fun outdoor ice-cream bar ensured that this party appealed to guests of all ages. Keep clicking for all the chic details.

Source: Sweet Style