The 1st Birthday Party!!!

6th December (Sunday) was little girl's 1st year birthday party. We had to celebrate it one week early as my parents were going overseas and hubby and I each have a function to attend on the following Saturday and Sunday.

The Invitations...
The invitations were sent out to close friends (esp those with kids) and relatives (most of them were hubby's relatives from Malaysia). Hubby made an invitation card for me to give out. It was sized on 4R photo paper and folded into half. The invitations sent out via facebook and emails was an adpatation of hubby's card (see below). Thanks hubby for coming up with such a nice concept for the card! : )

The food...
We catered our buffet from DeliHub and it was a good deal as we got the 20% discount for booking a month early. Thanks to Jowinbaby for telling me. :) Good thing is no food was wasted, left overs were packed up and taken back by hubby's relatives...

The cake figurines...
Hubby suggested that we use the Slyvannian Family. It was something special other than the usual Pooh or Mickey/Minnie theme ( I wanted those usual theme, because it's easier to get party supplies). Originally, we wanted to get the mouse family. But we couldn't find a nice one, so we chose another rodent - the Walnut Squirrel. :)  We bought the outdoor table set and hence the concept of "Garden party with flowers" was born.

The cake...
This was my greatest worry because 1 week before 5 Dec, I was still in the midst of confirming the design with Pine Garden. Luckily for me, Shi Hui was helpful and we manage to confirm the cake's flavours, size and design.

The design was adapted from one of those in their catalogue. As I was crazy about bees and ladybugs, I requested for them to be placed on the cake... This is the best photo I could find of the cake... Until I get a better one, this is how the cake looks like...

The cake is 3.5kg (1kg on top, 2.5kg below). The top tier is Moutain Cat Durian flavour while the bottom is Chocolate Hazelnut crunch. No doubt that the cake did burn quite a hole in the pocket! But! All was worth it when the kids and adults Oooohed and Ahhhhed about how beautiful the cake was... And of course, the adults who LOVE durians raved about how fantastic the Cat Moutain Durian (or is it Moutain Cat Durian?) cake was! The adults who didn't like durian and kids loved the Chocolate Hazelnut crunch and even the icing (yes, they asked for 2nd serving. And they even asked me "Auntie, can I have the (alphabet) please?"). The kids also did not forget about those chocolate bees and lady bugs and the icing that were in cubes!

As you can see, the little one just recieved 2 angpows from Ah Tai and she's not letting go! I guess she must be wondering why everyone is "crowding" around her.

The door gifts...
Hubby and I spent an entire afternoon hunting for special door gifts. I had already planned to give the kids things that can be eaten. While walking around Bugis, we came across these nice little Disney Pooh PVC jars (there was Pooh - purple, Piglet -pink, Tigger -yellow and Eyeore - blue). There were those strips of paper inside for folding stars. And since it was within our budget, we bought 16 of them (luckily, we bought extra because we realised that it was just enough for the kids). See this was when I told hubby that if we chose the "Pooh" theme, then the PVC jars will gell nicely (oh well too late to change anyway...).

3 days before the party, I sat in the living room packing in the goodies which included : 1 mini lollipop, 1 Ferror Rocher,  1 pack of Neon Gummy Worms (hey it's a garden party lor...), 1 small pack of Healthy Times Organic teddy Puff and 3 pcs of Healthy Times  Organic Arrowroot Cookies (It's flower shaped! Maple or Vanilla Flavour packed in a small zip lock bag.)

The kids were excited! Especially the older ones who were in kindergarten because the strips of paper provided entertainment and they started to fold "stars". Even the parents join in the fun. Too bad I did not take a photo of the kids and parents folding "stars"...

PS: The kids also got to choose water-on-tattoos! :) Bee or lady bug. Hubby found them at the party store while we were getting the birthday candle and banner. These were originally for the kids but the adults wanted too! Too bad the some of the lady bugs got wet and there were only a few left. (You can see the photo below, the kid on the right side of the photo has a "bee" tattoo on her right arm... the gal on the left had one too but hers was covered by her shirt...) :P

The main part of the party ended and the tradition begins... Little girl ate her chicken drum stick with one leg stepping out of the door. It signifies 出外不愁吃.

And of course the "Dah Ku" ceremony where she steps on the super sized ang ku kueh. To me it signifies a life with progress while my hubby's grandma says it's a ceremony to ensure that she grows well and safe. I can't seem to find photos of this part... After the ceremony, little girl gets to wear her first pair of shoes. The "old people" believe that babies should not wear shoes too early (i.e. before 1 year old) else they will "run away". I do not know how true. But hubby and I picked out a new pair for her and it's cute pink Disney Baby shoes!

Photos (posed) with the birthday girl
PS: The balloon deco was proudly put up by hubby and I the night before. Thanks hubby for blowing every single one of them and of course a pat on my own back for tying them together into flowers. :)

A BIG THANK YOU! 

Sadly, I missed taking photos with many of the guests and not to mention my own family (sobs...). I was too tired and the whole party was too big for me to handle. Perhaps if I ever have such a huge party, I will call for a professional photographer to take photos of the entire event...

I have to say a BIG thank you to:

Hubby - for being the only photographer (and entertainer to the kids - teaching them how to fold stars). And putting up with my naggings on invitation cards, invitation list, etc. And of course, the brain child for the cake figurines which I love too (since I was looking for something special too... although it's difficult to pull it off).

My parents - who came super early with our breakfast and helping me get the "chicken drumstick" and prayer items for the day. And of course sponsoring little girl's Ralph Lauren red dress (which I got from the US store when they had sale) and the pair of shoes...

My sister's boyfriend Jeff - who came with the much needed stools and of course a video camera. ;)

My grandma + aunt - Who also came with the much needed stools too and entertained Xi En when all the guests have left.

AND ALL THE GUESTS!!!
Who came despite busy schedules (like going for another party and rushing to mine, coming to my party although brother was getting married, coming all the way from Malaysia, dropping by despite busy wedding celebrations - you know who you are!) to celebrate with us this special occassion.

And on behalf of little Nicole - THANK YOU for the generous gifts and ang pows!!!