On Friday 15th May, we held Baby Z’s first birthday party at our home! It was a close family and friends affair, with the cake cutting, followed by an open buffet. His birthday is actually on the 12th of May, which was celebrated and blogged about too. You can read it here.

The Theme and Decoration: 

Baby Z absolutely adores fishes and you could plonk him in front of an aquarium and watch him be entertained for hours. Therefore, it was only fitting to have an “Under the Sea” themed birthday party. As soon as the theme was decided, I got on Pinterest (you can click here to check out the Board) and started rummaging through the ocean of ideas for some inspiration. Using paper plates, I created little fishes that “swam” around our living room, complete with their aluminium foil bubbles. The rest of the decor was quite playful with colour, and adorned with balloons. The party favors had personalised tags too. The husband and I also spray painted gold some thermocol that was cut into the number 1 and the letters that spelt Baby Z’s name.

The Invite: 

I designed this birthday party invite using Adobe Photoshop. I would be lost without that magical software!

The Cake:

This was in fact Birthday Cake Number 3. (You can see the first 2 cakes in Part 1) I had previously designed my idea on a piece of paper and offered it as a guide to the bakery where the cake was created. The bakery, Lareen Sweets, did an absolutely amazing job for a great price too! I really was pleasantly surprised when I opened the cake box to see how my vision had been brought to life. The taste was as expected, out of this world. I have had many a chocolate cakes from their little store, and each time they simply melt into your mouth like a dream. I was not dissapointed this time either. Lareen Sweets are based in Sharjah, UAE, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a yummy gorgeous looking cake!

The Food:

For the open buffet, we had a range of finger licking food, including pizzas from Pizza Hut, chicken from Tajaz and Kebabs. For the snacks/starters, my brother in law and sister very kindly made Chicken and Mayo sandwiches. All the food on the table was delicious, especially as it was served fresh and hot!

The Outfits:

The outfits were all Indian and every bit as lavish! Not ideal for breastfeeding, but I don’t think the Indian fashion designers really keep that in mind when designing their clothes. Baby Z’s sherwani  was from Zubair, located in Rola, Sharjah. My white and green dress was purchased from India.

The Party:  

Though the party was great, the only downside was that Baby Z began teething that morning and also woke up with a temperature. (How could the first birthday party possibly go smoothly and as planned?) Eventhough, I had METICULOUSLY timed Baby Z to have a nap so that he would be energized for the evening party, he still got quite cranky. He also was not particularly comfortable in his outfit, so after the cake-cutting and photo-taking drama was over, his sherwani was swiftly removed and he spent the rest of the party in ..well…pretty much a vest and some loose trousers. (How charming, and yes, we do have photos of that to taunt him with in his later years!) I have to hand it to my sister and brother in law, who pretty much saved the party from crashing, whilst the husband and I were busy “tackling” our unhappy, teething one year old! They fed and entertained the guests superbly, and I can only hope to return the favour at their child’s first birthday party.

All in all, I was actually grateful that it was over by the end of the night so that I could put Baby Z to sleep. We got some beautiful gifts that Baby Z is loving, and I feel as if a very big responsibilty is behind us. The first birthday is always the big one, isn’t it? There were smiles and tears, cake and food, balloons and fishes, and gifts and sherwanis. So I think all in all, we did a pretty good job! I will stop searching for more birthday ideas on Pinterest now…well until the next birthday comes along! Eeek!

Note: I was not paid or asked to review any brands or places mentioned in this blog. All opinions on this blog post are my own.

How did you spend your day when you little one turned ONE? I would love to know, so please feel free to share in the comments section below!