first birthday parties

We see a lot of adventurous birthday party themes for little boys, but who says girls can't also get in on the action? For little Reese's first birthday bash, her parents decided a safari theme was the only way to go.

"Reese's first birthday was a very special day," says Lisa Hanson of A Little Savvy Event, the party planners hired to execute the kiddie event. "The safari party inspiration came from the birthday girl herself. Reese loves animals, so her parents wanted to incorporate fun, live animals into her celebration.

"Being that Reese is very girlie, the color scheme was pink leopard print," Lisa continues. "The children had bean bags to play on, a binocular-making station, different food stations, and a dessert station featuring safari animal cookies. But the greatest activity of the day had to be the live safari animals. Reese loved seeing the snakes and baby alligators, and it added an unexpected and lively aspect to the day." Keep clicking to see all the sweet safari details!

What do you get when you put together an event planner mama (Angel Swanson of Love & Splendor), the Korean tradition of a Dol (an over-the-top first birthday celebration), and a whimsical under-the-sea party theme? Party perfection! This party, thrown for little Olive, has something for everyone: a baby lounge, kid-friendly entertainment, including an amazing bubble show, plenty of sweet treats, and gorgeous decor in shades of mint and pink. "Our original venue was by the sea, so we had adopted an ocean-inspired palette," Angel says. "We later moved the party to an inland location, but we kept the soothing hues of aqua, pool, and mint with hints of blush, peach, and gold accents. It was a feminine, Spring-y color scheme that felt perfect for the celebration." You have to check out all the details, beautifully photographed by Erin Hearts Court, of this dreamy party!

Magdalena Czerny of Oh So Chic Celebrations gladly rose to the challenge when tasked with creating a modern, red, gray, and blue party for 1-year-old Julian. "His mommy is a wonderful lady with a great sense of style," Magdalena says. "She had a vision of what she wanted to do, and when I showed her the chevron fabric I had just purchased, she loved it. We found an invitation with an elephant, a red balloon, and a chevron pattern, and the rest of it just flowed from that." We're loving the modern color combination, along with the adorable cake, macaron towers, and awesome balloon cookies and cake pops, but not surprisingly, the birthday boy's favorite treat was his smash cake! "He had a blast smashing it with his hands," Magdalena says. Keep reading to check out all of this party's awesome details!

Source: Oh So Chic Celebrations

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

"Even though we live in Los Angeles, and it's not technically freezing over here, I still loved the idea of making a Winter wonderland-themed first birthday party for Ariella, our little Winter baby," says Emily Klaparda, mom of two and the creative mind behind Emily K Paperie. "I didn't want to re-create those typical Winter parties with penguins, polar bears, and igloos. Instead, I had the idea in my head for a rustic, shabby-chic party that had the Winter feel, but was a bit more girlie and sophisticated — just like our little girl!"

With gorgeous and cozy details including Manzanita branch centerpieces, glittery snowflakes, a sweet hot cocoa bar, and lots of sparkly silver and pink trees, this party makes us wish it was Winter all year round (minus the freezing temperatures, of course).

Source: Emily K Paperie

Blabla's adorable stuffed animals and dolls are among our favorite-ever kid finds, so we were instantly enamored when we discovered the Blabla-themed birthday bash thrown for 1-year-old Margot. Margot's mom, Lauren Overton, enlisted the help of her good friend, photographer Lucinda Newby, to plan the pastel-popping party, dotted with Blabla dolls wearing birthday hats! "The charming toys were baby gifts, Christmas gifts, Easter bunny gifts, and 'just because' gifts . . . and she adores them all (and so does mom)!" Lucinda says. "The fun palette and cute striped wardrobe of the classic dolls made a colorful backdrop for a celebration." We love the idea of taking a simple, already-on-hand inspiration point and running with it, and we bet you'll agree after you see this party's cute details.

Source: Portraits by Lucinda

Confession: I have a thing for the Magic Kingdom (I've taken multiple kid-free trips), and "It's a Small World" is always my first stop. So when I stumbled upon this lovely party inspired by the ride, I was instantly in love. Created by Linsey Latimer's Lux Events & Design for the first birthday party of photographer Kristine Atienza's daughter Eva, the party is full of pink, purple, and gold details. "Kristine choose It's a Small World as the theme because it was the birthday girl's first-ever ride at Disneyland and because the family loves to travel," Linsey says "I took all of my inspiration for this party from the Small World castle. I just love how all the elements played off of the building!" Keep clicking to check out the beautiful global details.

Source: Kristine Atienza

Melanie Holt of New Zealand-based event design company All the Frills designs gorgeous, whimsical events for grown-ups, so it's no surprise her kids' parties are equally lovely and elegant. That sophistication — combined with a heavy dose of sparkle — had us falling head over heels for the adorable peach and silver party Melanie planned for her 1-year-old daughter, Sienna. "Almost everything turned out as I expected, and the color scheme was a perfect mix of silver and peach," Melanie says. "Peach wasn't the easiest color to find, but it was well worth the search!" We agree (I'm already hunting for peach and silver finds for my own little girl's next birthday bash)! Keep clicking to see all the beyond-beautiful details (captured by Jel Photography), including the amazing DIY scalloped backdrop.

Source: All the Frills

We've seen plenty of adorable, pink-drenched little girls' birthday parties in our day, but this Breakfast at Tiffany's-inspired party for 1-year-old Riley manages to be both girlie and chic, much like style icon Audrey Hepburn herself. "I wanted something that was ultimately fun and glamorous, and nothing was better than Breakfast at Tiffany's!" says Riley's mom, Cassidy Freitas. "Also, the theme would combine two of my all-time favorite things: diamonds and breakfast. I felt the theme had been done before, and I wanted to change it up and make it a little more youthful, so we went with the color scheme of mint, peach, and silver instead of the traditional Tiffany blue." A stylish DIY photo booth, a yummy breakfast buffet, and one scrumptious birthday girl dressed as Holly Golightly add to the appeal of this simply stunning party, beautifully captured by Susan Yee of En Point Photography. Keep clicking to check out all the divine details.

Source: En Point Photography

"Wren is a tiny human who loves to smile and walk and point. She smiles at strangers, adores her shoes, prefers to eat with a spoon, and she's running for president," says her mom, Heather Cook Elliott, a photographer who also created Wren's global, industrial nursery and stepped up her creative game to throw her an election-themed first birthday party. "We've discussed her platform at length, and I'm proud to endorse her as the bipartisan, all-American candidate for people who believe we should all just get along. She's No. 1 in 2012." And this party is getting our vote for creativity and cuteness. Full of election-inspired details, an awesome cake dotted with campaign buttons, and one adorable candidate, Wren's first birthday bash is pure political genius!

Source: Heather Cook Elliott