Last weekend a small group of family and friends gathered in our garden to celebrate Olive and Ziggy turning one year old! It’s hard to believe we survived an entire year with twins plus two more young ones, but somehow we are all still alive and Will and I did not get divorced, so I would say it was a successful year!
It turned out to be the most beautiful spring weather and we had such a wonderful day celebrating our babies.
We decided instead of a big party we would host a small intimate brunch at our home. The timing of the tulips and ranunculus blooming in the garden could not have been more perfect and made for the perfect setting for the party. I decided to not do a balloon arch (or any balloons for that matter) and I did very little decorations. Instead we let the garden do the talking! I hung some simple bunting along the fence and pergola (which I made out of felt, string, and a hot glue gun) and voila!
I loved being able to incorporate some of the flowers from our garden onto the table decorations so I added some of our white ranunculus with a little bit of chamomile I picked up from Trader Joe’s. I really love the simplicity of these two flowers together!
These paper plates are vintage inspired floral paper plates from Kate Aspen. They are only 9 inches so they aren’t the biggiest but they were sturdy, very precious, and went along with the “garden theme” party. And we didn’t have to worry about the kids (or clumsy adults) breaking the real floral china.
Brunch was prepared by myself with the help of my mother, my mother in law, and my aunt who all graciously chipped in to bring their breakfast specialities. The menu began with lots of fresh fruit and yogurt parfait with granola and nuts. But the main course was ham and cheese biscuits made by my mother-in-law, sausage and egg casserole, and the yummiest french toast casserole for which I found both recipes online. It was my first time attempting these dishes but it will not be my last! They were so easy to prep the night before and then just place in the oven that morning right before the guests arrive.
This year I also tried my hand at baking fresh edible flower cookies. My friend Sally brought us a box of cookies like these from Alma Kitchen Co last summer and Will and I were obsessed. She however is currently sold out and is not taking custom orders so after unsuccessfully shopping around for a bakery in Charleston who could make them I decided (like all crazy people do) to just make them myself! I ordered the flowers from a farm in San Diego called Gourmet Sweet Botanicals. For $14 plus the cost to overnight ship refrigerated flowers (which is the only option) I spent $40 on the flowers and another $10 for ingredients to bake sugar cookies and a small vanilla cake. I got the 200 count micro flower blend so there was a nice variety to choose from and I was able to make about 3 dozen cookies and use the remaining flowers on top of the cake.
The little rainbow sprinkle smash cakes are from Whole Foods and about $6 a piece.
The older kids ran and played in the yard and I set out white plastic eggs on a blanket as an egg-coloring station as well as an informal Easter egg hunt later after brunch. The babies enjoyed the old sand box which I converted into a ball pit by laying down two layers of cardboard + towels + 400 plastic balls from Amazon. We are still enjoying the ball pit long after the party!
And that’s all! I linked up a few more sources from the party:
vintage inspired floral paper plates // Ziggy’s first birthday hat // Olive’s outfit // Ziggy’s outfit // ball pit // my lace dress // bunnies // yogurt parfait cups // blue gingham table cloth // blue floral tablecloth
