Melody's SECOND Birthday Party
Melody turned two back on May 25th! It is crazy considering I feel like we just celebrated her first birthday! I started contemplating her theme about 6-7 months before. I went back and forth between two themes, but I ultimately decided on "You are my Sunshine" as her theme. I sing her that song every night as well as sometimes throughout the day when she naps or doesn't feel great. I knew I could easily play up the pink and yellow, so it really would be fairly easy to put together. We ran into a few hiccups, but overall her party was a success. Check out the general details below! I plan to write about the crafty aspects of her party in future posts.
Our biggest hiccup of Melody's birthday party was the location of the party. Due to our kitchen repairs/renovations, we were delayed getting into our house before her birthday. The original plan was to be back about two weeks before, but repairs/renovations never go as planned. Since we were living in a hotel, we had to come up with a new plan. One plan was to have the party in our backyard, but it would be super hot and there was a chance of rain. Our second plan was to try and have the party at our hotel. The hotel had a conference room, but unfortunately it was booked for her party date. The only available day they had was Sunday, but moving it to that date wasn't a possibility. Then my best friend, Emily, was nice enough to offer us her house to use. She had just had her daughter's birthday there two weeks before, so it was easy enough to re-set things up.
So party day finally arrived, and we threw one heck of a party especially considering the venue wasn't 100% decided until about two days before, ha! I basically mimicked Emily's party setup that she used for Lydia's birthday party.
On her front porch we put out two tables along with chairs. This gave extra seating in case it became too crowded inside. With the weather we didn't expect people to really hang out outside, but I wanted to give them the option.
In her living room we had one table with chairs, and we had a smaller table for the kids.
I decorated Emily's fireplace just as I had planned to decorate my own.
I also have a book conveniently named "You are my Sunshine" that we placed on a table by the door for extra decor.
We placed all of the food, gifts, and favors in her kitchen/dining area. We placed the food on her counter, and I added some vases along with Melody's cute invitation as added decor.
All of the gifts were on a round table in the corner. I included a few pictures of Melody, and I even made a cute canvas painting the week of her party to add to the table.
The favors were on a console table of Emily's. I wanted simple favors this year that I could make well ahead of time. So I opted to do some sunglasses with a cute thank you on them. I also placed some coloring sheets on the table along with sun stickers for the kids to take with them. I had always planned on the coloring sheets and stickers, but I originally wanted to put them on the tables for the kids. But in the end that seemed too dangerous to the walls, so we opted to do them as favors instead, ha!
Last but not least was the cake table. I put all of the desserts on the cake table too. I decided to do cupcakes instead of a cake, and I made cupcake toppers for them. Above the table, I made a Happy Birthday banner too.
The only thing I didn't get a picture of was a banner I made that said Melody is Two. I completely forgot!
The only hiccup we had aside from the party location was some food issues. First, we went back and forth over the "main" dish, but we decided the week of do to sub sandwiches from Subway. Well as Brad is arriving with the sandwiches, he dumps over half the veggies out on the driveway trying to escape a wasp. So we had to call my mom to bring more. Second, I had planned to have a cheeseball at the party, but the restaurant I buy them from was sold out. So we did cheese spreads from Publix instead.
However, no one knew about any of those hiccups except those involved until now, ha!
Below are some other snapshots that I captured throughout the party. I think it went perfectly. We had plenty of food (too much as usual), everyone socialized and easily found Emily's house, and Melody came home with way more toys that she needed but she loved it. She has definitely conquered unwrapping gifts! Oh, and she refused to eat her birthday cake after blowing out her candle! Who doesn't eat cake when they are TWO??? My kid, that's who!
Be sure to check back over the next few weeks (maybe even a month) to read all about the specific crafts that went into her party! I will link them below as I post them!
