I'll be the first to admit that I tend to go over the top when celebrating my daughters' birthdays because I truly want them to feel how loved they both are - especially on occasions celebrating them. The creativity behind decorating just brings me so much joy and gives me a way to showcase my love. Don't worry though - I tend to only stick with our dining area for the major decorations to keep both myself and the budget reasonable. 🙈 Because it's another creative love of mine, I wanted to bring small party ideas and inspirations together with my cake creations. Perhaps it'll spark inspiration for your next party! For my youngest daughter's first birthday, we decided to go with a strawberry theme which seriously turned out so cute! 🍓
One important note - she's a February baby so I just couldn't help myself and added love hearts into the theme. The sequin, iridescent tablecloth was an Amazon purchase - originally for my oldest daughter's first birthday - that I held onto in hopes to reuse it with a fitting theme like this one. Typically, I stick with table runners only, but I wanted her first birthday to be a bit flashier, so I doubled up. When it comes to table runners, my trick is to go purchase chiffon fabric in the length that I need, fold it in half, tuck the seams in, and makeshift the fabric into a table runner. This is a great money saver and I do plan on saving and reusing these throughout the years.
Since the cake I create is often used as the centerpiece of the decor, I always break out the cake stand my husband and I used for our wedding cake as a sentimental touch. Matching the theme, I typically adorn the table with paper plates, napkins and utensils. For this particular birthday, I completed the look with a gorgeous, beaded heart runner that I splurged on at World Market (seriously can't wait to reuse this for Valentine's!) and small floral arrangements in the cutest strawberry vases.
Our dining wall has this gorgeous piece of artwork hanging directly behind the table and - as the front is glass - it works so well to place vinyl lettering directly onto the surface. This might be my favorite personal touch as it can easily be removed following the celebration. To solidify the theme even more, I added a matching balloon arch with a few additional strawberry balloons. For both vinyl lettering and balloons, my go-to is supporting small businesses on Etsy.
How adorable are these paper place settings?! I can't help myself when it comes to Meri Meri party supplies - they always have the cutest selection!
These floral arrangements were everything! I found these amazing strawberry vases off of Amazon
and snagged a bouquet of flowers at my local grocery store that I deconstructed to create the arrangements on my own.
I absolutely love that a first birthday is an excuse for me to whip up two cakes. 😂 Adorned with strawberries and hearts, I loved the large one so much that I decided to just go ahead and make a mini version for the smash cake.
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