RJ's FIRST Birthday

Monday, April 28, 2014


Grab your hard hats, tools and fuel up for some dangerously cute Construction Party FUN!

Finally, after almost 6 months, here are the promised pictures for those of you who couldn't make it to RJ's 1st Birthday!  And thanks again to everyone who came to help celebrate our special little boy!


I must admit I got a lot of inspiration from Pinterest for this party... how couldn't I with all the fun ideas out there and I know there are few things that little boys love more than trucks, dirt, and construction equipment!  You name it we had it... all things "CONSTRUCTION" dump trucks, construction helmets, pylons, caution tape, etc.







First thing, I ordered these super cute invites from Zazzle, they had several Construction invites, but I chose these and was able to fully customize them.



Once we had decided on doing a construction themed party for RJ's first birthday, I started brain storming on possible places on where to hold it.  The thought of being able to hold the party in an actual construction yard came to mind one day and the search was on... After weeks of thinking about this, I thought John's place - 5G! And so, I made the call or rather I sent the text, asking if we could host the party in the construction yard of his business and he said YESSSSSSSS!

Let the planning begin... My plan was to keep it low key and simple, yeah right. Since when is anything I do ever low key and simple?  I guess I ended up getting a little carried away, but we had so much fun!

BEFORE...

AFTER...

This REAL sign sat on the corner of Superior Avenue and 40th Street directing all the party guests to the birthday site...


This was the kids table setup - I used a 6' x 30 children's banquet table with orange linen tablecloths and white Samsonite children's chairs.  Every place setting had a construction safety jacket and a hard hat, which the children could take home as favors.  Cones served as the center pieces and each chair was wrapped with caution tape! Genius!




THE BIRTHDAY CAKES

The cake table was the focus of the party. The cakes were displayed on an old wooden spindle that we found in the construction yard. No table linens needed here!  The back drop was made of different size ladders with a board running through the steps.  From the board we attached signs that said: Hard Hat Area, Work Area and Construction Zone. All of the signs you see were "REAL" signs used at construction job sites. And in the very far background, the Happy 1st Birthday RJ one, is an actual old sign that once hung on the freeway.  John had it special made for the party. It was enormous! Next time you are driving on the freeway and you look up to see the green signs that tell you the upcoming streets, yep, that's what this is. For elevation, it sat on the back of a flatbed pulled with a rig.

We had 4 beautiful custom cakes made. The one, two and three tier cakes were designed and created by Jackie Chaussee and the dirt cake by The Cake Lady, Chris Freeman. The one tier cake on the left was the smasher cake for our little guest of honor, No Fork Required!










THE DESSERT & SNACK TABLE

Using another of the old spindles, we filled the dessert/snack table with lots of delicious sweet treats and snack.  We served everything in the back of toy construction vehicles, empty paint cans, paint trays and used plastic toy shovels as serving utensils.
  • Gravel: orange, white and yellow rock candy displayed on a bed of crushed oreos.
  • Wet Paint:  marshmallows dipped in yellow chocolate and placed on a stick to look like paint brushes, then stuck inside a paint can filled with black gum balls.
  • Measuring Tape: bubble gum tape
  • Dirt Cups: chocolate pudding filled with creepy, crawly gummy worms. These looked so realistic!
  • Spare Tires: chocolate mini donuts
  • Rope: orange licorice
  • Rebar: root beer stick candy
  • Wrecking Balls: cuties oranges
  • Pavers: wheat thins and cheese slices
  • Builders' Squares: cheez-its
  • Bricks & Mortar: carrots and ranch dressing
  • Cookies - construction themed of course: dump trucks, hammers, construction related signs, wrenches. These were created and designed by Melissa Barbakoff owner of The Baked Equation. She never ceases to amaze me with her creativity!
  • Cupcakes - loved all the cute construction themed cupcake toppers. Also baked with love from Jackie Chaussee.












LUNCH TIME!

What to serve for lunch at a construction themed birthday party that's held in a real construction yard…  well what else but a FOOD TRUCK!  With an order-at-the-window queue and very broad food options, it was the most innovative, trendy, amusing and inexpensive way to cater this 1st birthday bash.  We didn't tell anyone that the truck was coming and so as the party progress you just knew the guests were wondering, well what are they going to serve for lunch… When the truck arrived, it pulled into the yard and right up to the party site blowing its horn announcing that it was lunch time. Guests were excited and I knew right then that the food truck was the best option and gave everyone a very unique experience while incorporating "something new." Who wants a commonplace buffet anyhow? It was the party centerpiece that no one will ever forget, the perfect touch, the perfect choice.













THE DRINK ZONE

No old coolers or ice chests but how about using the loader on a BACKHOE to hold the drinks?





THE ACTIVITY CENTER

We set up lots of fun activity stations for the kids.

Digging Station:  simple plastic container filled with sand , toy trucks and shovels to play with.

Block Building Station: what more do boys love than building blocks and knocking them over.

Hammering Station: using rubber mallets, our budding builders love hammering the golf tees into white styrofoam ice chests. It was a fun way for them to use a tool without the risk of hurting themselves with real hammers and nails.  This was WAY MORE popular than I'd anticipated!







































OUR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS & LABORERS
































HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR RJ! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!














PARTY FAVORS

We skipped the traditional goodie bags for this birthday party and instead rounded up these take-along wooden toy tool kits by Melissa & Doug.  Each set included 24 pieces: a hammer, wrench, screwdriver, wooden nails, screws, nuts and bolts that the kids could use for hours of creative "constructive" fun building projects!  We also snuck in some sweets-n-treats too: plastic shovels filled with yellow & orange jelly beans and construction themed cookies.



THE DETAILS!

Here are some of the little touches that went into making this party a little extra memorable, you know... those things that you want people to walk away from and think "WOW"


Vendor Credits:

2 comments:

Renae said...

Whoa!!! This has to be one of the best planned parties I've ever seen! You can plan a party for my daugters ANYTIME!! I have 2 girls but this "Construction" party for your grandson looks amazing. Whoa is all I can say. Great Job and Happy Birthday to RJ!

Wenni Donna said...

May god bless the cute one with extreme happiness. Lovely pictures. Hunting for some best San Francisco wedding venues for my sister's baby shower next month. Will invite all guests with pleasing invitation cards. Already thought of favor baskets. I think three cakes of strawberry, chocolate and truffle would be good enough. Really excited for the ceremony.

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