It’s a week later and I’m still buzzing from Pearl’s First Birthday Party. Despite it being the windiest day of the year (in August!) we still had the most perfect time, with all the children and adults having a fabulous time – although I’ll confess I did need a lay down and a large prosecco afterwards, but thats normal for a kids party – right?!
We decided on a jungle theme, based on Pearl’s love for her favourite toy – her sloth. We bought it for her at Drusillas Park and she LOVES it – it’s longer than she is with super long, cuddly arms and tickly fur – she cuddles into it with the biggest grin and an ‘aaahhh’ sound – it’s too cute! So, after scouring Pinterest for party ideas, I just knew a jungle theme would be perfect for Pearl!
I promised myself in the run up to the party, I wasn’t going to be too ‘extra’ about the decorations and food but it’s tough – I love hosting a Pinterest worthy party! I remember feeling so stressed out about Violet’s First Birthday Party – it was a lovely day but I was up until 1am carving babybels into ladybirds and making character shaped sandwiches I promised myself I’d never do that again, especially with two children to look after as well! That’s when the lovely Ami from Pinnable Parties stepped in. I met her through my blog and we’ve been friends for at least a couple of years now – she’s a fellow blogger, two-under-two Mamma and she also runs Pinnable Parties (what a super woman?). Her party decoration company is the perfect solution as they provide party boxes with either party basics (from £35) or custom boxes which are made to order to suit any party and turn those extra dreams into reality – without the stress. YES.
So, Pinnable Parties created me a custom box of decorations which turned a plain function room into the perfect jungle party atmosphere (keep reading for a special discount code!) When my box arrived I was amazed to see there was a mix of handmade and ‘available in the shops’ items. I couldn’t imagine how Ami would ever have the time to create party props to such a high standard, but let me tell you – this girl CAN! Inside my box had everything we would need from balloons, to table decorations, tableware, plates, cups, party favours – the lot, everything was covered and I didn’t have to buy a single extra thing. This took so much stress out of setting up the party on the day and the days in the run up to the party. Apart from the balloon arch (which I made the day before as it took quite a while!) we just took the box of decorations to the venue and set it all up on the day!
We had a chilled out morning before the party. Our lovely friends Rachael and Sam arrived around 11:30 for a cuppa tea before running all the decorations over to the venue to set up. We followed on with the girls and the CAKE. I think V was feeling pressure after Violet’s AMAZING unicorn first birthday cake, but smashed it out of the park again with the cutest, most detailed sloth cake! She has serious talent. But….. carrying the cake in the car was an event in itself! It was so delicate we had to drive at 5mph with the hazard lights on as any bumps were making chunks of icing slip down, at one point I could see the head separating from the body, so I was trying my hardest to hold it still, but with every bump I winced as I thought it was all going to fall apart. It was touch and go.
Luckily, we made it although opening the car door let in a huge WHOOOSH of wind, which blew green desiccated coconut “grass” EVERYWHERE, in my face, my hair, on my lap, in the car. I think our car will always be covered in green coconut, even after we clean it! But the cake made it in one piece, amazingly. It was such a relief!
Before we knew it, people were starting to arrive and the party started! We had such a lovely time welcoming all our friends and family – we had such a great turnout, seeing as the weather was so awful, I was so touched. Every time someone arrived, our helium balloons would fly out of the open door – at one point I thought I was going to lose the ballon arch at one point, so once everyone was inside it was quite a relief!
Our party had entertainment from the wonderful Kelly at Music Bugs Brighton and Eastbourne. Booking Kelly was the best thing we did, as we couldn’t have the bouncy castle planned, but she provided songs, music and dancing for the kids – which they LOVED and even the adults were getting into the zone by the end, I definitely saw more adults singing ‘Wimbawe’ than children, when Baby Shark came on everyone in the room joined in, it was fantastic! The parachute with crazy balls flying everywhere got the adults involved too – I’m not sure who was having more fun.
We cut the cake and sung Happy Birthday to Pearl. By this point I think she was feeling quite overwhelmed as she doesn’t look impressed with her cake AT ALL and got very grumpy – it’s a lot for little ones to take in, even Violet was knackered from all the dancing! Our guests ate cake and had snaps in our ‘Wild One’ photobooth – which was a really lovely touch, we had photo props included within our party box.
Pearl’s party zoomed by in what seemed like a blink of an eye, one minute I was blowing up balloons, the next we were doing Baby Shark, eating cake – then it was time to say goodbye. I kept apologising to our friends for not getting a chance to speak to them properly! It’s so hard to chat to everyone at a big gathering isn’t it? But as everyone left it was clear all the kids had a great time and we made memories to last a lifetime, so mission accomplished.
I want to say a massive THANK YOU to Ami from Pinnable parties for supplying us with such a wonderful custom party box. Pinnable Parties can create boxes for any event, with pretty much any theme – from kids parties to weddings or corporate events – also you can get an awesome £10 off custom party packages over £50 using my special code Pearl10. Honestly, Pinnable Parties had us covered and it made things SO EASY……. plus, I still got to be a little bit extra ?
We were gifted a box from Pinnable Parties in return of an honest and open review.
Her birthday party looks amazing – especially the cake!! x
I love the theme! So much fun! Desi’s first birthday is coming up soon and I’m already getting excited about having a party for him.
Amazing birthday party ideas. Thanks for sharing.