I’m a bit of a fan of parties – so it’s probably obvious that I’d go a bit over the top with Henry’s first birthday. I really enjoy planning and DIYing, so it was really so much fun for me to see it all come together.
Henry has been obsessed with guitars and music since he was born. He loves Ryan’s guitar and his favorite toy is a ukelele. He loves listening and dancing to old records on Ryan’s grandpa’s record player in our living room.
So I knew I wanted a party theme that played into music and the guitar. But I didn’t want to go the normal “rock and roll” route. I enlisted the help of my ridiculously talented friend Shannon at Bottle Pop Party to help me put together a full party plan. I’d like to post more about why I think that hiring an expert to help narrow ideas and bring fresh perspective to a party is a smart move, but that’s another post for another day. (P.S. This isn’t a sponsored post. Like, at all. I hired my friend to help me and she rocks. Go hire her.)
Shannon put together a GET PARTY PREPPED package for Henry’s party. Which was awesome. Because it pretty much narrowed down the entire Internet for me and kept me from going insane. Here’s a little sneaky peaky at a tid bit of the inspiration she shared with me to execute a birthday party for a rustic Americana birthday party with a Southern Blues twist.
(Sources clockwise from top left: Little Rascals Party Theme via Amy Atlas, Vintage WWII Dessert Table via At Home with Kim Vallee, BB King’s Blues Bar via Pinterest, Guitar Cookies via Polka Dots Austin Flickr, Rustic Photo Styling via Jam and Toast, Nashville design via Mary Kate McDevitt)
After getting all this inspiration (and more), I set it aside and didn’t look at it again until April. Then, I realized that I’d better get cracking if I wanted to finish anything.
Starting with pictures of Henry and his guitar. I wanted an invite that felt like a vintage concert photo. Specifically, this one:
(Source: Johnny Cash poster via 123 Posters)
So, after failing miserably at taking a picture of him myself that I loved, I sucked it up and took Henry to The Picture People. I knew they could do what I wanted – a white background, a guitar and lots of space. And, oh my word, they did an amazing job and I ended up with a ridiculous number of photographs of my little musician. I spent a small fortune and ended up with tons of cute images of my little guitar man. I also purchased the image rights and CD so I could use the photos throughout the party.
I knew what I wanted to accomplish with the invite, but after a few hours of tinkering around, I decided to call in an expert. My friend Greg Gosline is a super talented designer and I emailed him to ask if he’d put an invitation and concert poster together. He obliged and it turned out SO CUTE I COULD DIE.
Seriously, I’m dead.
So, that set the tone for the party. Now, I’ll get to the point. First, photos of the decor and DIY projects – please forgive the photo dump, but I love all the details and cannot choose. And I’m afraid if I don’t share them all now, I never will.
(Pennants made by me with leftover fabric from Henry’s room, tutorial for the ONE marquis and the fans forthcoming, chalkboard tutorial from Perfectly Imperfect)
(Seriously, veggies in individual cups is a genius idea. And the labels are wallet-sized prints.)
(Chalkboard design by Bottle Pop Party)
(Arrow chalkboard signs via Save on Crafts, Black guitar cutout made by my father-in-law)
(Favor bags with $1 harmonicas and bubbles from the Dollar Tree, sealed with a guitar cutout made of chalkboard contact paper)
(More engineering prints via Staples)
(Engineering print via Staples, designed by Greg)
(Water bottle wraps printed at Persnickety Prints using their template)
(Frapp bottles cleaned and reused as glasses, paper straws from Etsy)
(Special guitar cutout made by my father-in-law and used as a signature “guest book,” chalkboard arrows from Save-on-Crafts)
(Sugar cookies by 2 Mamas Baking)
Not only did everything look cute, we had a ton of fun, too!
Despite the rain that haunted us, we had a wonderful time. 40 of our closest friends and family members joined us to celebrate our favorite little blues star. Henry tried cake for the first time and opened more gifts that he knows what to do with. Lots of wheels and John Deere. All in all, a success!
I LOVE this party! Can you please tell me where you got the guitar Henry has in the pictures? I keep looking for one and can’t find anything! Thanks!
It’s a ukelele from Land of Nod. Thanks so much for stopping by.
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ridiculously wonderful!!!!
A perfect party…the details were perfect and it looks like he had a great time. The theme is so creative and you guys really knocked it out of the park. Not to mention he is one…where did the time go?
Love, love, love it, girl!!! Glad I finally found my way back to reading blogs in the past week—this is such a cute party and you worked so hard on all of the details. Just love!
I LOVE everything about this party!!!! So cute! Glad you guys had a great time! I’m singing Wagon Wheel and thinking of this 🙂
this is such a fun party – the theme is great and clearly fits in perfectly with your (and henry’s!) style. he looks so cute in all of those posters. i’m sure it was rough planning and executing all of that – but fun too! great job (shannon too!)
Oh my goodness this is too cute. I love the theme and everything you did just adorable. I can’t believe he is one. Wow time sure flies for us in blog world who do not have to deal with diapers, and not much sleep during the nights. Happy Birthday Henry!
Super, super cute! What a great theme, and execution. I can’t believe your Henry is one already (and mine to follow in not too long)! Time flies when you’re having fun…
It all looks great! Aren’t you glad it’s over, though? I was exhausted after T’s first!!!
I love seeing all of your hard work come together! I knew the party would be awesome and it really is! I love everything you did but especially that you tied the theme in so well with everything. What a wonderful party!!!
OMG, so many Pinable elements to this party!!! Seriously, Henry’s party was magical!! Such a lucky (adorable!) guy to have you as his mama.
Also? You look freaking amazing. #hateyouloveyou
P.S. That Shann is GOOD. I mean, she is DAY-UM GOOD.
Wow! What a stupendous party! And I love the theme. It’s unique and sounds like it fits Henry’s personality perfectly.
Every detail was perfect, Kim! I am glad you had such a fun time putting it all together! I am a little jealous. I haven’t been able to get my act together for two birthdays. My poor kids with near-Christmas birthdays will always suffer!
Oh my goodness! How cute. You did such a great job with all of the details.
So super cute! I’m sure you’re exhausted for all the crafting and prep (I haven’t forgotten the mulch). Kick up your feet super mom you have a whole year to recover….and the 2nd year goes just as fast as the first!!
Rock on, Henry!
LOVE LOVE LOVE every detail! Such a cute party!
Seriously, I have never seen anything like this. So fantastic! What wonderful memories for your little guy. 🙂
I love every single thing about this party. You did an amazing job!!!!
Oh my goodness! Cutest party ever! That is seriously all so adorable!
Adorable! What a wonderful party you had for your special little one year-old! Looks like a good time was had by all.
I love the invites especially! Definitely deadly 😉
How fun! All of the little details and decorations you thought of are perfect and I love Henry’s face at the end 🙂
OMG!! I love every single thing. You did amazing mama! I should not have read this before Hudson’s party this weekend as you have just added multiple projects to my overflowing list. 🙂 Congrats on making it a year!!
This is MY KIND OF PARTY! 🙂 A stupendous job, Kim! The special details made it that more awesome! You are a #1 Mama! <3
This is so over the top in the absolute best possible way it could be. I love every single thing about this party right down to the small itty bitty details. I’m so impressed! I’m definitely pinning this. Great job! Henry is lucky to have you as his mommy.
I am seriously impressed!! I think you have a new career as a children’s party planner. You can travel all over the country! That chalkboard guitar guest book was one of my favorite items…aside from Henry himself who looks freaking adorable in all of these photos. Love!!
Ca-RAZY awesome! This is THE coolest first birthday party in the history of time! I love that it’s a unique theme that hasn’t been done a million times, and then you executed it with the most creative touches. High fives and happy birthday to that little cutie!
This party looks fantastic! You guys did an amazing job decorating and went all out for the little guys party. The one sign is by far my favorite addition. Very cute, very tasteful job! The cookies were awesome btw…
You are so creative!! What a cute little party 🙂
Oh my goodness – this is adorable!! It looks like a ton of fun but you kept it so tasteful! I love all the little guitars sprinkled about 🙂
This came out AWESOME!
I’ve been dying to see how it all came together after all the instagram pics. You did an amazing job!
Oh WOW! What a seriously phenomenal party! Henry is such a lucky boy (and such an adorable little charmer, too!).
As you know, Corbin is also about to turn one … and, well, he’ll be lucky to get a character-themed paper hat. Nobody on either my side of the family or Curtis’s seem to be able to muster up the time or energy to make the four-hour drive up here for a birthday party (hmmmph!) so we’re not going to have a big shindig. Boooo ….
Oh. My. Goodness. I am blown away Kim!! This is beyond amazing! You are incredible!!! Love it!
Oh… my… goodness! What a wonderful party!! This turned out great! And I love Henry’s facial expressions! Too cute!
Oh my word!!! I LOVE IT! Girl, you went all out. Henry water bottle labels??! I’m obsessed. Total inspiration to get my butt in gear to plan my little H’s first birthday in August. I mean, hello, why are these boys growing so fast?! Happy late first birthday, Henry!
OH.MY.WORD – every inch of the house looks amazing!!! I can’t even imagine how much time all of this took you – and I’m sure your guests loved it! Henry is a lucky boy!!
I love it all! From the guitar cookies to the decor. And Henry looked like he really enjoyed his special day. You’re more than welcome to plan my birthday party or my future children’s parties.
HOLY MOLY, KIM! I don’t think I will ever throw a party after seeing all of this amazingness! You did a P-H-E-N-O-M-E-N-A-L job!!!!
You are way to Talented! 🙂 Happy Birthday Henry!
This was quite the affair. You knocked the first birthday out of the park. Seriously. I was beyond impressed. And you know that takes a lot. 😉
This is just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen – without being too cute – fun and sophisticated. You did an awesome job putting this all together, Kim. I love the fireplace vignette, it’s perfect. And Shannon rocks my socks, seriously, she’s awesome.
Seriously THE cutest first birthday I have ever seen!
You Are Amazing!!!! I love every last detail, and I’m so glad the party was a hit!! Henry is just so handsome… I can’t believe he’s ONE!!!!!
soooo sooo cute. You did a great job! Those cookies look fantastic….yum!
You did such an amazing job. I think the invitation and concert posters are definitely my favorite. Well worth the extra effort!
I am planning to do a post on my son’s birthday party soon, but I am clearly still at the “garage band” stage of party planning, while you are ready to rock out Madison Square Garden. Seriously–great job!
i’m dying also!! this is all seriously cute. what a fun party!!
~Leah
SO many great ideas–I don’t know which ones to copy first!!! I’m a sucker for the red, white and blue and lots of the decorating would work for summer get-togethers.
Couple of questions, if you don’t mind…
–HOW did you get the sticky-ness off of the Frap bottles? I’ve been collecting some and have peeled off the labels and run the bottles through the dishwasher, but some sticky-ness remains.
–The veggies in the cups…do the veggies just sit in in the dip? Do they get soggy?
Thanks for sharing!
Oh I love everything about this party, Kim! I’ve been following your party prep via Instagram & I couldn’t wait to see more. The pictures of Henry are so cute – worth every penny I’m sure!
Sarah