Emma Belle's Birthday "Tea Party"

I have been planning Emma's party for months! How fun is it that I now have a little girl to plan birthday parties for?? I can't get over it. Birthday parties are definitely going on my list of favorite things about being a parent. I know that Emma won't remember anything about this year but, it's just so fun to get to plan a special event all for her.

Emma's party was a tea party theme and I think it looked just like a little tea party! (besides the fact that we didn't actually serve tea...) I chose the tea party theme because I just thought it was so elegant and feminine. I loved the idea of serving dainty, petite "tea foods" and decorating with tea cups. Also, Emma had THE cutest one year cake smash photo shoot that was tea party themed. (pictures to follow) I wanted her party to continue on from the theme of her cake smash.

Emma's one year photo shoot/cake smash pictures were taken by the lovely and oh so talented Brandi Tuescher. Here is a link to her FACEBOOK and WEBSITE. If you are looking for a photographer, you should really check out her work. She is truly amazing and I have absolutely loved working with her. Aren't these pictures stunning??

I am absolutely in love with them. 

Anyway, back to Emma's party! I had so much fun planning it and really went a tad overboard (in my opinion) for a one year old party BUT I was able to do pretty much everything I wanted to do on a smallish budget and I think it turned out pretty cute. 

I sent out invitations a couple of weeks ahead of time. I had ordered them from a little Etsy shop. (Link HERE) They sent me the digital version and I sent them to Walgreens to be printed. With the design + 20 printed invitations, I spent about $14.00. 

I was pretty excited about the food! I served three kinds of "tea sandwhiches". 

1. Cucumber & Dill

2. Turkey & Swiss

3. PB & J

I cut them into little shapes which made them extra cute and something that both adults and kids could enjoy. The cucumber & dill were my favorite. 

I had 2 mini sides:

1. Fruit Kabobs

2. Mini Caprese Salads

They were super cute and added a lot of beautiful color to the table. Not to mention, delicious! I was so glad I decided to try the little caprese salads! The combo of mozzarella, tamato, and basil drizzled with balsamic was so yummy!

 The desserts were:

1. Mini French Vanilla Cupcakes
2. Cream Puffs
3. A variety of chocolate dipped cookies

 It would have been too complicated to serve any kind of actual tea so I served lemon water and raspberry lemonade instead.

I just used simple, plastic table cloths from Walmart but dressed up the table with fancy serving platters, teacup & a teapot, and roses. I was so happy with how it turned out! 

I had a separate table decorated for a few other things. On one side, guests set down their gifts. In the center I had her smash cake displayed along with her 1 year album (which by the way has a RIDICULOUS amount of photos in it. So many that I can't even quite shut it! There were too many to choose from!!!) On the opposite side of the table was Emma's 1 year time capsule. I displayed several extra special items from her first year along with a little written description of each item. I also asked guests to fill out a card with writing prompts like "my favorite memory of you in your first year..." and "My message to you on your 18th birthday is...". I will be adding the items along with the cards to a time capsule that she will be given on her 18th birthday. I was so grateful to everyone who participated by putting such thoughtful answers on the cards, I think she will be so excited to read them someday! 

I made Emma a highchair tutu to dress up her high chair. It was SO easy. HERE is a link that shows you how to do it. I did it pretty much the same way shown except that I didn't use elastic. I used tulle for the skirt and tied it onto a braided yarn rope. The velcro held it perfectly. 

The princess enjoying a PB & J sandwich in her princess chair

 Emma's outfit was so cute and so perfect for a little tea party! The weather had been really rainy and kind of cold all weekend to the point that I was worried we'd have to move the party indoors. Lucky for us, the sun peeked out just in time for us to have our party BUT unfortunately, it got cold after a while so I ended up having to cover Emma's cute outfit up with her Hello Kitty jacket. I barely got any pictures of her outfit and her skirt didn't really show in any of them! Oh well. :) That's how it goes sometimes.

Emma's cake smash was highly entertaining! Because it was technically her second time digging into a cake, she pretty much knew what it was all about. She started off by eating enormous amounts of the frosting but, eventually got into the cake and enjoyed that just as much. This little girl is a pretty big fan of cake. 

Oh we had so much fun! Emma got so many wonderful gifts and we were so grateful to everyone who came and showed their love for our little Emma who is not quite as little anymore. What a fun party. You better believe I've already got ideas for next year...I'm that crazy.

Happy 1st Birthday Emma Belle!!