Once our son was getting closer to reaching his first birthday, I started thinking about what we were going to do to celebrate this big milestone. I knew we wanted to host something at our house, but I couldn’t think of a theme. People kept asking, “Well, what does he like?” I was like, “I don’t know. Food. Pooping. Naps. He’s a baby.” But one day when we went to a friend’s son’s fourth birthday party, Liam was MESMERIZED by the balloons. It hit me! That’s what we should do! A balloon themed birthday party!

Balloons are easy, cute, fun, not crazy expensive, and perfect for boys and girls. Everyone loves balloons, right?! I set out to plan the perfect balloon themed birthday party for our son, and I have to say, it turned out great! Everyone loved it and I was even asked if I had hired professionals for the décor. (Major compliment to me since I set it all up myself. And I am not a crafty person.) So if you’re looking for some inspiration for a balloon themed birthday party, look no further! Here’s what we did.

Send an Invite

Weeks in advance, we sent this precious balloon invitation from Orange Valentine to our family members and friends. It gave them a little hint as to what the theme was of our birthday boy’s party. I love that it was a classic and clean design. It’s a perfect memento for us to save to remember his special day.

Make an Entrance

If you’re wanting to help your guests know where the party is, a Ballooms Creation yard structure is the way to do it. They won’t be able to miss it!

A “Balloom” is a seven foot balloon structure that blooms from your yard to honor a special occasion or event like a birthday, graduation, or corporate party. They handle the delivery, setup and take down the balloons. Amber at Houston Ballooms was fantastic. We can’t recommend their company enough!

A cute wreath at your front door also is a fun way to welcome your guests. 🙂 We bought a wreath frame and blew up small balloons and strung them on with fishing line.

If you have a staircase near your front door, another great way to make an impressive entrance is to have a gorgeous balloon garland cascading down the railings. All of our guests were in awe. I ordered this 20′ balloon garland kit from All Events Prints. It was so nice and simple to put together because it comes with everything you need in the kit–including instructions. People were shocked when they found out I blew up the balloons (with a pump, of course) and put it together. I will for sure be ordering from them again!

Strike a Pose

It’s very popular nowadays to have a place where friends and family can take a cute photo at your event or party. A Photo Booth or photo backdrop is the perfect thing for this! I found an area in the house to do just that. We ordered another balloon garland kit from All Events Prints (custom 10′ garland called Tutti Frutti). It was bright, colorful, and so much fun. Our guests loved being able to take photos as they entered.

Birthday Attire

Have the birthday boy or girl stand out! We ordered these matching tees on Etsy and thought they were a great fit for our balloon theme.

Memory Lane

So much can happen in a year and it’s crazy how your baby changes and grows in that time. We ordered a custom balloon 12 month banner from Sweet Paper Moments to be able to see how much our little boy changed in his first year of life. It was the cutest thing. Everyone loved being able to look at the pictures. Truly the sweetest thing.

I also wanted to be able to capture more memories, so I printed out on card stock a few simple questions for our guests to answer about our birthday boy. I thought it would be a fun activity for the adults to do and something special for our son to look at, read, and feel the love that we had for him on his first birthday.

Food & Drinks

Every party should have something for its guests to eat, drink and enjoy. We made sliders, our own fresh fries, chips, fruit, rice krispie treats (with sprinkles, of course), wine, beer, and lemonade!

And how fun are these paper straws from Party Gloss?!

It’s All in the Details

I wanted this balloon themed birthday party to be colorful! So these birthday garlands from Any Occasion Banners were the perfect thing. I cut the garlands to be a little shorter so they could hang in the doorways of the house. Any easy, simple and super cute detail that adds fun to the room!

And being a balloon party, I knew we had to have a “Happy Birthday” balloon garland somewhere at the party! This garland from Shop Just Celebrate was perfect. It came all together in a box included with lots of decorative honeycomb pennants in a range of bright and beautiful colors. We loved it!

I’m a sucker for a temporary tattoo. This custom balloon themed temporary tattoo from The Clever Seagull shop was too cute to pass up. The kids loved them too! An easy, no-mess, wearable party favor that makes all the guests (no matter what age) smile. 🙂

Have an Activity

If there are going to be other kids coming to the birthday party, you need something to keep them busy that’ll be fun! A good (and not messy) activity keeps everyone happy. And bonus, they get to take something home that they made to remember your event by! We decided to do foam picture frames and got different stickers (letters, stars, animals, etc.) that they could customize their frames. I loved this idea because there was no glitter, glue or scissors that were necessary. Just peel and stick. You can also then send them a picture that you took during the party in your thank you note that they can add in their frame later!

We also ordered these adorable kid sized folding chairs (weight capacity of 220 lbs) and wrapped our coffee table with a tablecloth to keep everything clean and easy for clean up.

Dessert Station

Everyone loves a dessert station at a party! We had the smash cake, matching cupcakes (for our guests), and fun decor on ours. One of my favorite things on the dessert table was the Grow and Glow candle from Uber Mom. I had something similar to this growing up and I loved lighting it on my birthday each year. It was such a special memory and cool tradition and I am so glad that we get to do this with our son. Not only that, it comes with a storybook that walks you through all the milestones of a child’s life. I really like that it comes in a keepsake box so that it can hold and protect your candle year after year. Seriously, this is a wonderful birthday present for any baby or child.

Our cupcakes were so cute and delicious! We got these great custom cupcake toppers from Party Gloss and these adorable bright balloon party picks from Honeybear Parties. They really added extra flair to our sweets. 🙂

Buy Custom Cupcake Toppers    Buy Balloon Party Picks

Let Them Eat Cake

And at first birthday parties, you can pretty much count on there being a smash cake. Create a place where your birthday boy or girl can sit and get some great photos of them digging in! I got this gorgeous 22′ sprinkle balloon garland kit from All Events Prints and, if I do say so myself, it is a show stopper! And yes, I put it together. It is that easy!! Below it I strong our son’s name in large gold balloon letters right above where he would sit.

Buy Sprinkle Balloon Garland Kit    Buy Gold Balloon Letters

The birthday banner, highchair banner and cake topper all came from the talented shop Itsy Bitsy Paper Cuts. She is amazing. She knew exactly what we wanted and created a cohesive look between all three for the party. We loved them!

And can we talk about that adorable birthday hat?! I die! We got it from Gray Ivy Hats and their hats are seriously handmade with so much love. I really liked that it had a ribbon to tie around my son’s head instead of an elastic band. It was like the cherry on the cake for the party!

Thank Your Guests

Every party does have to end so have your guests leave with a party favor. We got these personalized thank you bags from With Love & Confetti. I loved that you can pick the size bag that you prefer, customize it for your child’s party, and they are incredibly well made. We filled them with little goodies that we got from the dollar store and a little craft that I made with confetti balloons. 🙂

Have Fun!

Overall, this party was a blast! Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the activities, food, drinks, and, of course, the balloons!

If you want to see everything in action, watch our Facebook Live for all the details 🙂

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