It’s probably just a personality thing, but I started planning Ava’s first birthday from the time I was pregnant. The venue, theme, cake… I had all these plans! Everyone was like, “Don’t stress, just keep it simple!” But as my dad used to regularly tell people, “Alexandra doesn’t know the word simple.” My mom still regularly reminds me that I over-complicate everything. Ha! Parents are always right.

I started ACTUALLY planning a month before her birthday and as I was typing up the guest list I thought, “This is basically an adult party… but I did give birth one year ago, so I guess I deserve an adult party. Okay, keep planning!“

Between the venue, catering, photographer, invitations, cake- I was basically planning a wedding for a birthday party. But then as I kept planning I started feeling super guilty because I knew Ava would not enjoy a wedding for a birthday party. So just like that, I switched gears to simple.

And by simple, I mean SIMPLE. I found ALL of the decorations on Amazon (linked below), ordered fajitas, had just our immediate family join, and didn’t take enough pictures of the decor, ha! Other than the lack of photos, I have no regrets! Ava ate her strawberry cake and opened presents with her cousins. It was perfect.

I am completely in love with the Mother-Daughter Matching Collection from Lilly Pulitzer. So naturally, Ava and I had to wear it 😉 My exact skirt and Ava’s dress are both sold out, but you need to see these:

All of the decor is from Amazon, and linked in the graphic below! Note: I would HIGHLY recommend ordering this balloon air pump from Amazon, which would have been SO much easier (and cheaper) than taking the balloons to get filled at the store.

Click directly on the image to shop!

All my love,

Alex