Party

  • Motherhood

    How I decorated for my daughters 1st birthday

    Firstly, can we just take a minute because I cannot believe my little girl just celebrated her first birthday, where did that year go?! 

    Secondly, I shared a couple of photos of her party on Instagram and got a whole host of questions about where I got my inspiration from and how I organised her sweet treat table, so I thought the best thing to do would be to jump on here and tell you guys all the what’s and why’s and how I organised and styled her first birthday party.

    But she won’t remember it…

    No, she won’t, but I will., her family will and all the people who love her will. I know she won’t actually remember the day but she will see photos and so because of that I wanted to make a big deal for her, so she knows how loved she has always been.

    I’ll start by saying I am not a Pinterest mum usually, I am a wing it mum, but I did get a little excited about pulling this altogether. Like I said, I know her memories of this will purely be from the photos so I wanted to make sure that she will be able to see all the little details I put into it. I had decided I wanted to create something with a pink, white and gold theme and I really loved how it turned out.

    The Sweet Treat Table

    The sweet treat table was the main attraction and the thing I was most excited about. I am not sure where I got the actual idea from but it was probably a mash up from sweet tables I have seen at weddings and something I saw on Pinterest, but as with most things I do I just made it up in my head.

    cakes and birthday cake on table

    I set aside the sweet treat table away from the main food so it really stood out on it’s own and also placed it where everything could see it as soon as they arrived. I picked a variety of goodies, not a single one suitable for a one year old (sorry Hadley), and set them out on different cake stands. 

    Some of the sweet treats I set out:

    • Mini Krispy Kreme Iced doughnuts
    • Krispy Kreme doughnut holes
    • Fresh cream lemon & chocolate sponges
    • Strawberry & Chocolate cupcakes
    • Party Rings

    These are just some ideas you could use when setting up a sweet treat table – I bought all of these and didn’t make any of them myself.

    The birthday cake

    Let’s put this out there…I am not a baker and I was 100% not going to bake her cake because in all honesty I don’t think I am very good at things like that and I definitely don’t enjoy it. But things happened and I decided that it was going to be the best option for me to make it for her and actually I ended up being quite impressed with what I created. I made her a 4 layer rainbow cake with buttercream icing and it was actually good and everyone else said they liked it too – so either it was a good cake or they were just trying to make me feel good, and I’m happy with either option. I bought her cake topper from an Etsy shop called Oh So Glitter and a 1 birthday candle to decorate the top of the cake and it sat in pride of place on her sweet treat table. After the birthday girl blew her candle out share had her first slice of cake and I think she really enjoyed it. Although I wasn’t keen on making her cake at first I actually really enjoyed doing it for her and will make it a yearly tradition that I made her birthday cakes. Maybe I will become a baking mum after all. 

    The food

    For the party food other than the sweet stuff we did a small table with sandwiches and savoury options. Nice and simple and enjoyed by everyone.

    The guest list

    I didn’t want to throw a huge first birthday, I didn’t want to hire a venue or catering and I didn’t want to make it a huge thing, just something simple, tasteful and with all the people who love Hadley so much. We had just family and it was the absolute perfect day.

  • Simple Living

    So you want to host your own tea party?

    So you want to host your own tea party but don’t know how? Trust me, its really very easy! All you need to do is follow a few simple tips and you can create an afternoon tea/high tea that is worthy of the Ritz (but for a quarter of the price).

    Firstly, Decorations!

    Decide where you’re going to hold your tea party, if its a nice day and held during the summer season you might want to consider holding it outside in the beautiful sunshine, maybe under a gazebo or just inside at your dining table will work just as well – in fact 99% of our tea’s we have held have been held at the dining room table and they’ve been amazing. Wherever you decide to hold it, table decoration is key.


    – Lay out a nice table cloth, I like to use a soft pink table cloth and then lay a lace table cloth over the top.


    – Pick some mats that will highlight your table cloth, whether they are the same colour or contrasting, whatever you do from the table cloth upwards should all tie in together.


    – We gave every guest a tea plate (For their sandwiches and cakes), a cup & saucer (for their tea), a knife (primarily for their scones, and spreading the clotted cream & jam), a cake fork (for their cakes, obviously!) and a napkin, which was also in a chintzy pattern which matches the table mats somewhat.


    – On the table we had our cupcake stand, the sandwich stand, a selection of teas, sugar pots, milk in jugs, a plate for the scones, mini pots of jam and some clotted cream in tiny pots. As a little extra we scattered a little confetti over the table.

    Next, the food!

    Lets face it, the food is the main reason for the afternoon tea, and while the pretty looking table certainly helps, the food is the place where you can really shine.

    The sandwiches should be small, dainty and not overfilled. They should be small enough to eat in 2-3 bites. What you fill them with is totally up to you, but try and cater for everyones tastes.

    Here are a few suggestions:
    – Cream Cheese & Cucumber
    – Salmon
    – Egg Mayonaise (with or without cress)
    – Chicken Salad
    – Ham (with or without Mustard)
    – Tuna

    One suggestion I do have for the sandwiches is make sure you don’t have too many fillings if you have just a small group. A big group would be fine for all six fillings, but with a smaller group maybe just pick 4 out of those six.

    The scones were an idea I came up with to incorporate a West Country tea with an Afternoon Tea (I am half a West Country girl afterall), and of course we had to serve them with a selection of jams and clotted cream, just to get that real Cream Tea vibe.

    Now, to Dessert!

    Mmmm, my favourite part!

    For dessert, as tempting as it may be, don’t go overboard with the options. A couple of different selections of cakes or cupcakes will do, along with one larger cake if that works for your group. Also, don’t forget to provide alternatives for anyone with allergies or intolerances.

    The look of your cupcakes and the way you display them will really add to the look of the table. There are so many different types of cupcakes that you really can pick a few flavours which you know will go down well.

    The Tea!

    The tea we offered was a selection, and my best advice is to buy the Twinnings selection box. If you buy the boxes of tea individually the cost can really soar, but Twinnings do a selection box of 5 different teas (Assam, Lady Grey, Earl Grey, Ceylon and English Breakfast) and you get 5 of each, and that is more than enough for a small tea party, and gives everyone a varied choice. Also I put little jugs of milk and little sugar pots on the table too, and don’t forget to provide somewhere for the used tea bags too!