Milly’s Daisy Themed 1st Birthday

Milly is ONE!

We celebrated Milly’s first birthday at the beginning of May and we had the best time celebrating our girl! Planning her party was all consuming for several weeks leading up to the event so it was nice to see all the details I had stressed over, come together. All in all it was a great day – even if several of the things/décor I had planned, didn’t come to fruition, it was a beautiful party for our sweet girl!

We started planning the party right around the time the war in Ukraine broke out and I saw a list circling on social media of Ukrainian Etsy shop owners who were being displaced from their homes and who needed monetary support. I figured that purchasing a digital download invitation from this shop was a great way to get money into hands of the Ukrainian citizens who needed it most while also receiving something that I was already planning to purchase.

The invitation really set the tone for the party and the theme developed from there. 1st birthdays are a big deal for us – especially in the Korean culture – so I went all in on the planning, décor, and really ran with the daisy theme.

I created a little party station under our pergola that contained all our plates, napkins, and utensils which made it easy for guests to grab before digging into the food. I added some photos of Milly to a wire grid and hung a daisy garland across the top. Disco balls were a big part of the décor and they were scattered throughout the backyard – the little reflections of light bounced across every surface and made for lots of fun and whimsy.

In a state of panic, I purchased striped flat sheets to use as tablecloths because the ones I typically use* were nowhere to be found the day before the party. We’ve since found the aforementioned tablecloths but using flat sheets is pretty genius idea in a pinch if I do say so myself!

I kept it simple with the flowers and only used Chamomile is various different vases and scattered them throughout. I basically purchased every bundle of Chamomile that Trader Joes had that morning and it kept the arrangements fuss-free and on theme.

*pro tip – invest in high quality neutral table cloths and reuse for every event*

The tone-on-tone balloon garland was probably my favorite detail and acted as the backdrop for the cake smash and all the photo ops. We purchased an actual backdrop with a white curtain from Amazon, swaged the balloon garland across the top, then added the daisy garlands intermittently amongst the balloons.

My sister made the cake and I ordered a personalized cake topper and party hat which are now special keepsakes that we have displayed in Milly’s room. Milly dug right into the cake and enjoyed her first ever sugar high haha!

After the cake smash, we set up the doljabi which is a Korean tradition where the child is placed in front of several items and urged to choose one. In Korean culture, it’s believed that whatever the child chooses will predict their future endeavors. Milly chose the softball!

To keep the kids entertained and busy, we hired a local soft play company to set up a gated soft play area for the kids to play in. It was a huge hit and made the party stress free for us parents! In addition to the soft play area, we set up our small bounce house for the older kids and had an area for kids to sit down and color if they wanted. Between that and the bubble machine, there was plenty to keep the kids happy and entertained!