In light of our little ray of sunshine, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate our girl’s first birthday! While Emerson is almost 17 months old, I couldn’t not share a bit about her celebration.

With Emerson’s birth song being the timeless “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles, we embraced its essence and crafted it into a bright “Here Comes the One” themed party, a perfect tribute to the sunshine she brings into our lives. Incorporating shades of the sun, we hosted a small early summer gathering for family and friends the day prior to Emerson’s actual birthday. Acknowledging that the party was more for us than for her as she would only remember it through photos, I challenged myself to keep it small with just a few decorations. I thought a balloon garland set in shades of yellow and peach would give a nice touch (friends, this was way harder than it appeared, especially considering our air pump wouldn’t inflate the balloons!). Although balloons kept popping in heat AND the wind kept dismantling the garland, it was a simple (read: simple in theory) piece to have as a backdrop. I couldn’t resist the darling cake topper and coordinating sunshine decor sticks.

My favorite piece of decor was the sunshine garland I made. Using foam sunshines and wooden discs I had found, I attached a picture of Emerson from her first year to the middle of each and hung it in the doorway between the food table in the kitchen and the back patio. She has always been a expressive gal, so it was such a treat to have her hilarious expressions on display.

She has always been a lover of the outdoors so it seemed fitting that the party was on our back patio. We enjoyed finger food and Smith Island Cake – a lemon lavender cake for the adults and lemon raspberry (her current favorite fruit!) for the birthday girl. We sang and opened gifts, which wore her out because she wanted another nap before the party was over and laid herself down on my lap that evening. It was the sweetest celebration for our sunshiney girl.

As for the one-year old’s opinion of her party? She wasn’t too sure about all of the people cheering in her house when she woke up from her nap, but she was pretty excited to have a cake all to herself! 🙂

Invitations: designed by me / Sunshine Plates: Meri Meri / Rose Gold Plates: Target / Sunshine Decor: Amazon / Birthday Banner: MudPie / Glitter Hat: Amazon / Emerson’s Outfit: The Smocked Flamingo / Balloon Garland: Michaels / Sunshine Cake Topper: Amazon / Cupcake Stand: Borrowed from my Mom / Smith Island Cakes: Layers by Shawn