Birthday Party Planning (Invitations and Zazzle!)

Tate's birthday is on Wednesday.  Can you believe it's been a whole year that we've been able to get to know and love this little face?  I can't either. 

As you can imagine, the first birthday comes with a lot of pressure.  What kind of party?  Kids or no kids?  And how, exactly, does one fit adult beverages for toasting into a first birthday? 

 Because in future years Tate will probably be able to have some of his own ideas on his party theme, we decided that this year, we would go with something that was meaningful to us.  And that immediately took us back to that perfectly impractical day when I bought Tate's pirate ship sculpture.  So the theme, of course, had to be pirates. 

The party itself is going to be next weekend, but I already love the invitations, designed for us by Lillian at Simplicity Papers.  Aren't they sweet? 

As we were searching for invitations, I also stumbled across Paisley Prints, who had not only lovely stationary items, but also an amazing concept that involved guests gifting to a time capsule.  Inspired, we have invited friends and family to contribute to a time capsule treasure chest that Tate will open at his 16th birthday. I can't wait to see what creative ideas people think up!  And Lillian was fabulous to work with as we designed these inserts:

In order to make the invitations more exciting, we ordered matching stamps from Zazzle.  Against the bright red invitations, I think they looked fantastic.

Just one week until the celebration! I can't wait.

P.S.  We've decided on some sort of rum-based cocktail for the parents.  Do you have any favorites you would recommend?  We can't quite decide...

P.P.S.  Lindy and Javi's engagement party instillation has been featured this week on Hip Hip Hooray and Oh Happy Day.  I'm blushing!

Musings of the Birthday Party Variety

Tate's birthday is in just 2 months.  Two months!  This means that planning needs to begin now.  But I am completely, utterly stymied.  And the plan just won't come together in my mind.  I hate this feeling, because when you plan a party, I feel like there should be some vision of that party in your head.  And this one just won't come.  Perhaps because I am putting too much pressure for it to be something special (it is a first birthday, after all).  But I am also conflicted because back when I was pregnant, before Zach and I knew how totally head-over-heels in love you fall with your baby, we had joked about crazy first birthday parties that kids don't even remember.  And we had talked about how we were going to host a "we survived!", adults-only celebration with cocktails and no kiddie games in sight.

But now I am rethinking that plan.

But if we had a kids party,  I am troubled over who to invite... how many kids... and the fact that most of our friends kids are quite a few years older than Tate.  And that Tate won't remember.

So than I think we should just have a family dinner and call it a day.  But where's the fun in that?

You see how ridiculous this is all becoming?  I think I am going to have to shut my brain down by watching The Bachelor.  In the meantime, whichever way I go, I am loving these invitations by Simplicity Papers.