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I'm Lisa Kirk, a wife, mama, writer, and founder. Since 2010, Something Pretty has been home to my favorite memories, reflections, and inspirations. Thanks so much for reading!

Azelie’s Ladurée-Inspired First Birthday Party

Celebrations

After Charlie’s second birthday party, Dave and I started talking about the rhythm of birthday parties we wanted to establish in our family. When Charlie was the only one, it wasn’t a big deal to throw a huge party every year…but knowing we wanted more kids, we suspected we would eventually want to scale that back in an intentional way. I LOVE planning parties for my family members, but the idea of doing so the way I like to (with themes, inspiration boards, etc.) multiple times each year someday did feel like a little much. We decided that we would throw big parties for four milestone childhood/teen birthdays: 1, 5, 10, and 16. We hope this means each kid’s four parties will be especially memorable! Especially considering that this system means I will probably only get to choose one party theme without input from the birthday kid (ha!), I was thrilled to jump headfirst into planning a Ladurée-inspired first birthday party for Azelie!

I say “party” with a grain of salt, because it was nothing like the invite-everyone-we-know party we hosted when Charlie turned one. This was probably a bit of a blessing, because on our cold (but happily, sunny!) February Saturday, I think I would have been a little stressed if we had had tons of people and kids in our house…I strongly prefer outdoor parties for this age group ;) We hosted Dave’s parents and just one family of friends in person. As you can see on the invitation below, though, we invited our other family members and a few close friends from all over the country (and even my sister in Dublin!) to join in from afar on Zoom to sing Happy Birthday and see Azelie dig into her first cake. I loved being able to include everyone in this way, especially since there’s no way they all would’ve been able to join in person, even in normal times. As it turns out, I think it was one of my favorite parties we’ve hosted to date. Hope you enjoy this peek at the sugary-sweet details I pulled together for our sugary-sweet girl!

Macaron first birthday invitationLaduree-inspired first birthday partyFrench-inspired first birthday treatsMacaron first birthday cakeMacaronsPink and gold first birthday partyLaduree first birthday partyMonthly baby photo display

Macaron invitation: Minted / Cake recipe: Elisabeth & Butter / Floral plates, blush hexagon plates, scalloped napkins, floral birthday banner: Meri Meri / Glitter 1 candle, balloons: En Fete / Gold flatware: Target / Cake stands: borrowed from Emily :) / Azelie’s outfit: The Proper Peony / Azelie’s bow: Little Poppy Co. (use code BOWCLUB for $5 off your first month) / My bow earrings: The Tiny Tassel / Monthly photo mini prints: Social Print Studio / Mini pain au chocolat: Layered Croissainterie / Glassware: vintage from Dave’s great-grandmother

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  1. Teresa says:

    Oh, Lisa! These are the most BEAUTIFUL photos! I am swooning! You have such a gift for infusing MAGIC into life.

    • Lisa says:

      Teresa, this is so kind! Thank you so, so much. After this crazy year, the chance to plan a fun, girly little party for Azelie was a total joy!

  2. Kerstin says:

    This turned out so beautiful, Lisa!! I‘m also curious about your approach on birthday parties. We moved to the States a couple of years ago and I have to say, I am still overwhelmed by birthday parties over here, ha! I do love throwing parties, but I think, especially for children, they get so much more out of smaller gatherings. We loosely go by the rule: invite 4 kids for your fourth birthday, 5 for your fifth etc. and in Germany we usually did one with family and one with friends separately. Can I ask how you celebrate those birthdays that are not 1st, 5th, 10th or 16th? Anyways, beautiful celebration for a beautiful girl! Happy Birthday, Azelie!

    • Lisa says:

      Thank you so much! I LOVE that guideline–we considered it as well! For the other birthdays, we’re pretty open on how we celebrate them, and only have a few under our belts so far, but for Charlie’s 3rd birthday, we rode the train to Durham to go out to lunch and to a playground. On his 4th birthday, we went to the science museum after school to see the dinosaurs. Both times, we also did his favorite dinner and a homemade cake at home. I’m sure we’ll be open to including a friend or two on birthday outings in the future if the kids want to, but it just won’t be an all-out party :)

  3. Julie says:

    This is such a sweet first birthday party! I like the idea of having bigger parties on certain milestone years. I’m trying to decide how “big” I want to go for our daughter’s 2nd birthday in June. I prefer small family parties, but I did go all out on the theme for her first birthday :).

    • Lisa says:

      I suspect our kids’ first birthdays will always be the grandest…it is just too fun, and such a big milestone for the parents too!!

  4. Kristen says:

    She is sooo cute 😭

  5. Carol says:

    Lisa, this party is stunning. I hope you all had a wonderful time. Happy birthday Azelie!!! :)

  6. Dana says:

    The last picture of her eating her cake is soooo precious! What a lovely party! So glad we could Zoom!

  7. Alisa Zimmerman says:

    You have such a gift for creating beauty!

    My brother and I are both August babies, so our parents alternated years for our birthday parties. Our relatives lived too far away to join us but my dad always had the camcorder on hand to capture the fun.

    • Lisa says:

      Thank you, Alisa!! Two of my siblings and my mom have August birthdays too–I don’t remember my parents having a system, but by Dana’s birthday on August 31st, we were always a little tired of cake! ;)

  8. Em says:

    Such a sweet celebration! This party would have felt just right for me, too :) We loved being able to join in from afar!

  9. Such a perfectly girly and beautiful party for your sweet girl!! Like Em said, I’d be glad to have this setup for my own birthday, too!

  10. Absolutely stunning and so fun and intimate! Yes, absolutely enjoy being the one to choose the theme – it doesn’t last long!

    So happy that our decor worked so well with your theme!

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