It has been nearly 6 months since our sweet Wells turned 1, so here’s a wildly delayed recap of his first birthday party! Our Peanut was feeling a little under the weather on his party day, so forgive him for not being his smiley self in all the photos. He really did have a wonderful time with our amazing family who traveled near and far to be at his party.
First up, the theme—Dogs. Wells’ main interest at that point was dogs (& still is). He especially loves his own dog, Penny, but truly is enamored with all dogs so that seemed like an obvious theme choice for a 1-year-old.
The Decor
I chose to make things black and white with red accents to keep things simple…and let the dog things stand out. 🤗 We went with pennants like a carnival and I looooved them. I collected a few dog stuffed animals from my childhood and a garage sale (and washed them, obviously!!) to anchor the buffet line and spread throughout the house. A couple different dog bowls were perfect to serve food out of, which I thought was so cute!!
The cutest decorations we had were the two doghouses that anchored the party—one for Wells, one for Penny. Instead of just ordering some online, I naturally wanted them to match the whole party setup and decided to make them on my own. 🙃 My father-in-law swooped in to finish the project for me at the eleventh hour. He finished constructing them and made them look SO cute just like my vision. So grateful for him, his patience with me, and his love for his grandson!! ❤️ (BTW, my MIL was also so, so helpful!!) We also had a red fire hydrant I carved out of a sheet of cardboard and painted, which was maybe the cutest part.
Displaying Wells’ monthly photos with Penny was a MUST since Ryan and I truly had to work so hard to get those photos every month. 😅 Thank God he loves her so much! I printed them all out and pinned them on a black and white ribbon I had already. Our family members loved looking at them all and seeing how he changed throughout the months of his first year. Satisfying to see mom and dad’s work being appreciated, too! 😉
The Food
Hot DOGs, duh! We bought the super yummy and giant ones they sell at Costco. We also had puppy chow, PUPcakes, and sugar cookies that looked like little dog bones. 🐶 The rest of the spread was full of un-themey and just plain good foods. It was a great meal and the puppy cupcakes served as decor as well as dessert since I had enough to spread throughout the first floor.
Wells was completely unimpressed with his puppy cake that looked nothing like what I thought I was ordering, haha. There was no smashing and he got overwhelmed and cried a little when we sang to him…but otherwise enjoyed his day! Especially the dog balloons and opening / investigating his presents.
Basically, it was a really special day celebrating a whole year of our dreamy little boy and our super rewarding roles as his parents. The Roomie and I are so grateful everyday for our boy and it was so fun to celebrate him and watch our family love on him. It was a pretty perfect puppy party for a very deserving little boy! 💙
