Last weekend we had a Secret Garden Birthday Party for our Rosie! Due to the pandemic, we debated having the party, but we figured with a few modifications we could still celebrate. For us, a smaller celebration just meant bigger decorations! I ordered basically everything online and also did some DIYs. Here are all of the links for you guys for any future party planning!
How did I think of the idea for a Secret Garden birthday party? I wanted to do something that was kind of “rose theme” for Rosie, and I had this idea randomly. I know I won’t always get to pick the theme of her birthday, so for her first birthday, I wanted it to be PRETTY! Next year it can be Elmo or whatever she wants.
We had been working really hard with Rosie to get her to make a “1” with her fingers! By the party she was really nailing it! Here are links to my dress and headband, as well as Rosie’s dress and hair clip.
Secret Garden Invitations
The first step in part planning was the invitations! I ordered these invitations from Etsy. I tweaked them a little (removed the butterflies and edited the text) and then printed them on Vista Print. The text said “please bring your key and meet us in the secret garden” and I attached keys to the invites. It was super cute (I can’t find a photo of them!)
Secret Garden Decor
Here is the main decor for the party. My father-in-law built the backdrop and then I attached the balloons and this rose garland. The link for the “ONE” balloons is here. You can do any letters or numbers you want and you just pay by the letter. My mom made the “R” by attaching faux roses to a galvanized letter like this one.
I added the “one” banner and a floral garland to Rosie’s high chair for the cake smash. Other details about her high chair are in this blog post.
I “planted” all of Rosie’s milestone photos in these window boxes. There were two of these boxes on our dining room table and I did them double sided.
At the last minute I decided I wanted to have a board like this for her party (thank you Amazon Prime!) I ordered this board and some liquid chalk markers and they made it for the party just in time!
Secret Garden Favors and Guest Book
For party favors, I gave everyone a little packet of seeds to take home and plant. I saw this idea somewhere on Pinterest and thought it was super cute! There were a few babies at the party as well, and I gave them little bags of these hair clips.
This was maybe my favorite detail of the party. We had everyone write Rosie a little note in this Secret Garden book. I like that she will have a guest book forever and know who was at her party, but I also like that it’s a book that she can read too.
Secret Garden Food and Drinks
One of the highlights of the party for me was the treats! Wuollet Bakery gifted us with this amazing rose cake. The top was vanilla (nice and plain for Rosie!) and the bottom had raspberry jam. SO GOOD! My mom also made the most amazing sugar cookies. I convinced her to add the keys (same one as from the invite) on top too.
We had a “Rose bar” which was really fun! I made these ice cubes with rose petals in them and got a bunch of different kinds of rose. I ordered these disposable wine glasses for easy cleanup.
All of the food was individually portioned out so that it was as safe as possible with Covid-19. My favorite Secret Garden themed items were the butterflies (celery, peanut butter, and pretzels), the grape caterpillars, and the cute flower sandwiches.