Warning: This was a party two years in planning and prep with a ton of help from talented people. No moms are allowed to feel shame or Pinterest-induced guilt from the reading of this article.
When a professional event planner throws a party for one of their own, it goes one of two ways. It’s either all in or next to nothing. That’s why after our daughter’s first birthday circus with over 80 close friends and family members (literally a circus, where there was discussion of live animals being brought in, but luckily we didn’t due to the rainstorms) I decided to only throw the fancy themed parties every other year. Part of the reason was because at the time, I worked on events at the magazine and was just too busy to execute my daughter’s birthday at the same time, blessing in disguise, because I think the every other year thing is going to work out great for us and thought it worth sharing for other mamas to consider.
So at first, my idea was to have a fairy tea party because that was what our soon-to-be-two-year-old Hazel was into at the time. But we wanted to be inclusive of our boy friends too. So I created a fairy and gnome tea party theme that included the creatures of the wood as well. By now, everyone has seen the woodland animal trend (remember this was planned three years ago). But they’re still just as cute.
What unfolded was a magical day full of whimsy and wonder.
It started with invites shaped like tea bags cut from craft colored cardstock, adhered with red and white baker’s twine and a tiny tea bag end stamped with woodland animals and toadstools. Guests arrived and were welcomed with a bubbles bar for mommies with champagne infusions of ginger peach and rosemary pear. Children were invited to transform into a character with shimmery butterfly masks or felt fox, raccoon and skunk masks made by my mom. (She’s where I get the craftiness.) Silver acorns and pinecones and spray painted metallic figurines such as deer, rabbits and butterflies were displayed inside jars and scattered throughout surfaces of moss. Nibbles included caprese salad “toadstools” with basil, mozzarella stick stems and tomato caps; bunny crackers; and pretzel “twigs.” Donut hole “acorns” quickly disappeared and the Pinterest-popular hedgehog cheeseball was a huge hit. We gussied ours up by adding thyme and dates to the cream cheese for flavor. Tea sandwiches included finger-sized PB&J (of course), cranberry chicken salad and the classic cucumber and herbed cream cheese. Toadstools were a theme throughout, with red and white polka dot napkins and cupcake wrappers. Children crafted toadstool gnome houses to take with them along with their masks and goodie bags of bubbles, fairy and gnome stickers, and animal and fairy coloring pages. Of course, rainbows were a must too—from the cupcakes made by my mom to the rainbow ball pit.
The most special part of the party was a beautiful puppet play by Once Upon A Fairy Tale Puppet Theater, led by Carolyn Mogey and Annelisa Aubry-Walton, who are both Hazel’s teachers at Heritage Creek Farm Camp, which she attends in the summers. “Old Gnome’s Blackberry Birthday” was the story told with Mogey’s hand-felted puppets, about Old Gnome’s woodland friends gathering for a celebratory tea party. Perfect for our theme and the tea party lunch that followed. The children gathered around a table my husband made under a canopy of wispy crinoline hanging from a blooming kousa dogwood, sitting on tree stumps under a tree just like the puppets in the play. Stuffed animals from the wood sat on the table and joined the party as the masked children enjoyed their fairy and gnome snacks before eating cupcakes and singing “Happy Birthday” to the special three-year-old (who is turning four this month). It’s an off year (as in mommy the party planner is off), so a small family party is in store until the fabulous fifth.
by Keely Childers Heany | Photography by Valerie Smith
