What I wore:
Necklace: House of Harlow sunburst necklace in silver and grey
Dress: Jeanswest 'Chantelle' crochet detail blue printed maxi dressBracelets: the usual plus silver charm bracelet and House of Harlow sunburst wrap bracelet in cobalt
Why I wore it:
This is what I wore for baby T's first birthday party. The same formula I wore when we were guests at other first birthday parties - maxi dresses are perfect for so many occasions! I quickly took this photo about 5 minutes before the guests arrived, after everything was set up and the last of the food was in the oven cooking. As we had the party at home, I stayed home all day, setting up before the party, having the party and then cleaning up afterwards. So I just wore some cosy blue socks! No shoes, no bag. I did try do some eye makeup for the occasion following a tip I'd picked up at a Clinique counter a few weeks before.
There wasn't really a 'theme' for the birthday party, everyone kept asking if there was one. Blue is a theme right?! We had everything blue, including the cupcakes! I did spend some time considering buying a blue wig to wear too, but DH told me that was going a bit too far!
Most of our decorations were pictures of baby. As well as buying up every kind of blue birthday decoration at the local dollar store (also Kmart has a huge range!), every wall and door had some kind of photo theme going on. Some of the photos, like the wall of Cooper and baby T photos, we've left up after the party as they make us smile. Others we had printed out to give away to the guests with the photo holders in party bags alongside some lollies at the end of the day.
We had made plenty of floor space for everyone to sit down and play with baby, but that floor space was quickly filled up with all the gifts people generously brought. We asked people to fill in a 'birthday wishes' card so there was no pressure with gifts. It's hard not to go all out with gifts for a first birthday though!
It took more effort than I expected to plan and host a first birthday party, but it was worth it in the end. We just had finger food (pies, sausage rolls, sandwiches, fruit kebabs, cupcakes) so that all the prep was done up front. Once the food was served people could help themselves and I could concentrate on enjoying the day with friends and family and sharing stories about baby's first year. I'd filled out the baby books we got as baby shower gifts, so people were flicking through them during the party when they were letting others cuddle baby. We did the cake smash photos at the end of the day too.
It was wonderful spending the day surrounded by family and friends celebrating baby T's first birthday. He got lots of gifts and we had a lot of fun, but the absolute highlight of the day for me was when I had run upstairs to grab something after our first lot of guests arrived, and another group of people arrived. I looked down and saw baby's confused but happy face as the room filled up with even more people he knows and loves. The look on his face just made my entire day. Although he's a little too young to understand the concept of birthday parties, he has spent his first year getting to know and love his friends and family and he enjoyed having them all come together just to fuss over him. It's moments and days like these that are the best part of being a mum.
Last worn: blue printed maxi dress.
Other ways to wear: blue printed maxi dress in summer.
Linking up with Passion for Fashion, Casual Friday, Friday Favourites, Fashion Friday, The Ultimate Rabbit Hole, Modest Monday today.
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