Not so long ago, I posted that hubby and I decided not to have a birthday party for our son, Kayden – for his 1 year milestone. We were happy with the decision then to just do a cake smash photo shoot as a rememberance of his 1 year milestone.

Believe it or not, as affirmed as we were about the decision then, about a week before his birthday, we decided that we will do the party thing.

Time was very limited and I also was very sick with the flu the week leading to his birthday. We had family from Durban coming up to spend Kayden’s 1^st birthday with us in that week. Whatever plans I initially had, was cancelled due to me being sick.

I then had to improvise…what would be the easiest theme with such limited time. That’s when I stumbled upon the “Little Man” theme and I immediately fancied it.

Coughing, sneezing and feeling miserable, I managed to get myself out of bed and make my way to the nearest party store, to see what decor I could find for the theme. Sadly enough, this theme wasn’t available in the store. I bought a few things that I thought would work, with some creativity in mind.

Here’s what they ended up looking like…

Little Man Birthday Cake:

Nope, I didn’t bake this. I ordered this cake from 180 Degrees Catering & Confectionery. I’ve been using them for various functions for the past few years and have never been disappointed. Besides them being able to make a cake exactly like the picture you send them, the cakes are D E L I C I O U S!! I haven’t tasted a better red velvet cake than the one they make!

The Cupcakes:

Like I mentioned earlier, my initial plans were all interupted due to me being sick, hence, I didn’t get to bake the cupcakes myself, so I also ordered these from 180 Degrees Catering & Confectionery.  I did make my own cake toppers which you see placed on the delicious cupcakes. The kids (and adults) loved them and finished them all.

The party packs and milkshake bottles:

I bought plain blue paper bags from The Party Spot as well as a small bottle of buttons, a packet of little pegs and “moustache” straws.  I printed moustaches which we placed on the bag, together with buttons and the little pegs. The pegs didn’t come in black, so we painted them black.  Also printed “Little Man” stickers which we placed on the corner of the party pack.

I got some Bubble Gum milkshake for the bottles, which I printed labels and moustache for and used the moustache straws – which sat above the upper lip, as a real moustache does – which was amusing for the kids as they drank the milkshakes.

For the Tables:

Printed some Little Man themed moustaches, hats and round labels to place on the table.  The chocolates matched the theme colour, so was also placed on the tables. (The hotdogs for the kids were on the outside table with the rest of the finger foods prior the main meal – which was a spitbraai)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

BIRTHDAY SIGN

Decided to keep his birthday sign simple; bought the “Happy Birthday” sign from The Party Spot and printed his name banner which we placed below the Happy Birthday sign as you can see below:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Tent, Tables, Tiffany chairs, draping, tables and overlays were all hired from ABC Function Hire. After some online research, I found their prices to be the most reasonable and the service was also good.

At the end of the day, everything worked out well. It was a small, intimate party with our close family. We have photos of him with family that we will be able to treasure and one day show to him.

So, I’ve learned that things won’t always go as planned or as we want them to. Sometimes in life, there are other people to consider, like my grandmother, who is 86 years old – it meant the world for her to have her photo taken with Kayden on his 1st birthday.

I am so glad that we decided to have a party for him despite our initial decision not to. The time spent with family on his special day are the moments in life that we treasure as they are far too precious. Thankfully through technology, we were able to share photographic moments of his birthday with the closest family who was not able to be there.

If you liked this post about the Little Man Birthday theme, feel free to share it, all the links are at the bottom of this post.