Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all took a peek at Olive’s 1st bash on 100 Layer Cakelet yesterday.  Today I’m back with more details + pics of a truly special day for our family!

Most of you know that our darling Olive was a long-awaited child so we knew we wanted to celebrate her 1st birthday in style!  In the Korean culture, the 1st birthday is traditionally a momentous and grand occasion, and many families throw lavish parties to herald it.  Since I am half Korean (and Olive is only 1/4 Korean), we went with an in-between celebration: plenty of details to make it feel special but with a casual vibe to still feel like a children’s party.

Our initial venue was on the beach, so we started out with a watery palette of blues. Although we ended up moving the party to another location, we stuck with that original seaside inspiration.  The party integrated soft shades of pool, sky, and aqua blue, along with complementary shades of mint, peach, and coral.  Gold was a subtle accent.  The lovely and talented Chelsea Petaja of Oh My Deer Handmades designed the beautiful invitations using swashes of watercolor and floral accents. Envelope liners featured a distressed scalloped pattern reminiscent of fish scales. Tied up in twine and sent off in kraft envelopes with white calligraphy, the invites set the tone for what was to come.

Franklin Canyon Park is a hidden gem tucked away off Mulholland in Beverly Hills, and their auditorium was a great blank canvas to work with.  We dressed regular banquet tables in various shades of blue + aqua linens from La Tavola Linen, and set them with playful pink and blue goblets from the fabulous Casa de Perrin.  Their pink swirl luncheon plates and gold flatware completed the ladylike placesettings. Luscious springtime florals were created by our dear friend Jaclyne from Heavenly Blooms Designs.  The featured flora included garden roses, poppies and anenomes.  I had collected an assortment of vintage bottles and modern vessels to use on the tables, along with some ocean-inspired decor like a glass fish terrarium vase and a classic white Shreve, Crump and Low gurgling cod pitcher.  My husband and I also made 7 lovely papier mâché boats using the lovely Ann Wood’s paper boat tutorial and we hung them up behind the dessert table.

I needed an excuse to pick up a Confetti System fringe garland so the party was the perfect justification!  We hung up the perfectly-hued garland over a lounge area created by {found} rentals, using their amazing vintage furniture, ottomans, and cozy quilts and pillows.

I wanted to provide lunch that was going to be appealing for all of our guests, which included vegans, vegetarians, paleo-dieters and omnivores alike.  I had a wonderful experience with catering through one of my favorite LA chains, Lemonade LA.  Their seasonal offerings were beautiful and scrumptious and we had rave reviews from everyone!  I went with five beloved marketplace offerings (including their watermelon radish ahi salad, Israeli couscous and mushrooms, curried cauliflower), lots of fresh seared ahi, buttermilk battered chicken, and of course their refreshing watermelon rosemary lemonade!  My mom and I also prepped lots of seasonal fruit, along with pouches from Ella’s Kitchen (our fav!) for Olive’s friends.

As a prelude to the sweet treats to come, I prepared a candy display with all of my favorite Asian sweets including Pocky and Milky.  They looked perfect on the round display from {found} and guests tucked their treats into hand-watercolored muslin bags I prepared!

I left the actual desserts to the experts, so we had Melody from Sweet and Saucy Shop create the beautiful cake (with rock sugar “sea glass”) along with mini desserts like candy bar cupcakes and passion fruit panna cotta.  As an extra sweet surprise, I had Geri from Sweet Lucie’s bring her party cart for our guests, and they served up three flavors of their amazing organic ice cream: pistachio, strawberry mint lemonade sorbet, and my special request of bananas foster: banana ice cream with caramel swirl and toasted almonds!!!

Perhaps the biggest hit of the party was the “bubbleologist” from Bubblemania and Company.  They were amazing to work with from start to finish.  Jilbert was our performer that day and he was INCREDIBLE.  Check out my faces in the photos… I think it’s plain to see that I was his biggest fan.  His fun show kept everyone entertained — he was funny, educational, friendly and a consummate professional. After his magical show (which concluded with him putting willing volunteers into giant bubbles!), he had set up equipment in the courtyard for the kids to play with themselves.  It made me so happy to see everyone rush out there to take their turn with the big wands and toys.

The afternoon ended with a slideshow that Erik put together.  It chronicled my entire pregnancy (from announcing it, to a montage of me growing everyday, to the parents  to the delivery room!) a well as Olive’s first year.  It was definitely a tear-jerker and was the perfect ending to a lovely day.

We were so blessed by everyone who came out to celebrate Olive with us! The day flew by but we are grateful for the gorgeous photos captured by Courtney of Erin Hearts Court; we will cherish them forever!!

Okay… now on to more photos!!  🙂  Here are lots and lots (and lots) of photos from the beautiful day.

Again, a million thanks to the people who made this day a reality…  I cannot say enough about each of these artists and purveyors of fabulous wares.  I am blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people in this industry!

• planning, styling & design: Love and Splendor (www.loveandsplendor.com)
• photography: Erin Hearts Court (www.erinheartscourt.com)
• invitation: Chelsea Petaja (www.ohmydeerhandmades.com)
• floral design: Heavenly Blooms (www.heavenlybloomsdesigns.com)
• china + glassware + flatware: Casa de Perrin (www.casadeperrin.com)
• vintage furniture: {found} vintage rentals (www.foundrentals.com)
• ghost chair rental: Chiavari Chair Rentals (www.chiavarichairrentals.com)
• catering: Lemonade LA (www.lemonadela.com)
• cake + desserts: Sweet and Saucy Shop (www.sweetandsaucyshop.com)
• organic ice cream: Sweet Lucie’s (www.ilovelucies.com)
• linens: La Tavola Fine Linen (www.latavolalinen.com)
• bubble entertainment: Bubblemania and Company (www.bubblemaniaandcompanyla.com)
• fringe garland: Confetti System (www.confettisystem.com)
• gold letter banner: Mint Loves Social Club (www.etsy.com/shop/MintLoveSocialClub )
• my hair and makeup: Fiore Beauty (www.fiorebeauty.com)
• venue: Rosenfeld Auditorium + Courtyard at Franklin Canyon Park in Beverly Hills, CA (www.lamountains.com/planning_franklin.html

I have one final post about Olive’s party that I’ll share sometime next week or so.  It will focus on the planning process and my tips & lessons learned from the big day! Also in the posting queue: Olive’s 13 month update (by popular demand, they’re continuing!), a wedding post, and another installment of {the nuptial primer}.

Hope you all have a marvelous weekend!!  xoxo, Angel