A brief disclaimer:
Many have commented on the extravagance of Lucy's parties but I want to remind you that while some choose to put major emphasis on Christmas gifts, we choose to leave the emphasis for Christmas on Christ and only give Lucy 1 gift. Therefore, for Lucy's birthday, the emphasis is on her and we want her life and her personality to be celebrated on that day.
Also, sorry for the random placement of pictures/descriptions. I usually like for things to be more uniform in a post but some things it wouldn't let me do.
Also, sorry for the random placement of pictures/descriptions. I usually like for things to be more uniform in a post but some things it wouldn't let me do.
When I found out we were having a girl, the party ideas started flowing and I now have party themes and ideas up to Lucy's 16th birthday. Obviously nothing is set in stone and they can change based on her preferences, but a mom can dream can't she? So far, all of the themes I've had planned have fit right into what Lucy's into at the time. For year 1, we had a ball party. Since "ball" was Lucy's 1st word and her nursery was done in polka dots, it pretty much summed up her 1st year of life and we truly did have a ball at that party. We "Turned 2 at the Zoo" and really, what 2 year old doesn't love animals? I was right on target once again for #3 with a Princess party. To say Lucy is into princesses is a huge understatement so she couldn't have been more excited about this party!
Of course you can find Disney princess junk anywhere and it would have been super easy to use a party pack but where is the creativity in that? I wanted the day to truly be a royal affair and create 1 of a kind things for our princess. Playing Cinderella is fine for an ordinary day, but every princess deserves their own special princess things for their special day. So, I searched and searched and searched for ideas of actual royal events and then customized them to fit Lucy's taste. Luckily The Royal Wedding wasn't that long ago so I found some inspiration from that, especially with the invitations. My initial thought was to just use fancy wording but after finding what was listed as the "official invitation to William and Kate's wedding," I went with that wording instead. (I must say, William and Kate's invitations were awfully plain. See for yourself.)
Our invites started with the ribbon but were too big to fit in my hot pink envelopes so I cut them down and used crown stickers to attach the invitation printed on velum to sparkly princess scrapbook paper. I'm kind of glad the ribbon didn't work because I used ribbon on her invites last year and didn't want them to look the same. I wanted the crown stickers in the beginning but had a hard time finding some I liked.
Every princess needs a signature princess dress and Lucy's turned out almost exactly how I had pictured it. I started with a dress from Target and added the layer of satin then gathered it in the middle. I sewed some tulle on the shoulders to make them a little puffier and found the gloves in the dollar section of Target. (From that description, it sounds as though it took me 5 minutes, but believe me, this was one of the bigger projects of the party.) Lucy was thrilled when I showed it to her and it's still one of her favorite dress up dresses. Initially, I had planned to make a tutu dress but I was worried it would be too itchy so when I found this tulle dress at Target for $20 I knew we had a winner. The whole thing ended up costing about $25 and a little bit of sweat and blood (no exaggeration here) but it was definitely worth it to see my little princess in her custom princess dress. 
The party started at 10:30 so we had mini-muffins and sparkling grape juice for our guest to snack on as they visited with each other and played at the various stations.
The girls started in the playroom for lots of dress up fun. We started packing early so all that was left was princess goods.
Girls party favors- jewelry boxes, crowns, a necklace, bracelet, and earrings.
Plenty of shoes to go around! I think the boys had some fun with these as well.
No princess is ready without her hair and make up done. Lucy's boyfriend, Will, had lots of fun helping the girls with this.
Lots of wardrobe changes for everyone!
Cinderella and Sweet Pea Beauty were home and ready to play.
Behind the couch in the living room, we set up Lucy's princess tent with big, comfy pillows and some princess books for those wanting to explore the "Palace Library".
A castle full of princesses
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| In the middle of the deck we had the "Royal Games"- princess bowling and princess bean bag toss. (See above) Next to that we had princess puzzles for the kids to work. |
At the opposite end of the deck from the castle, we had "The Royal Ball".
After some royal playtime, the royal feast was served.
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| I tried really hard to get a picture of our feast without children but they were just too anxious to get started once they got a load of all the sweets. Please notice the birthday banner fit for a princess. A sweet, sweet friend of my mother-in-law GAVE me her old Cricket and I have had so much fun playing with it, not to mention it saved me hours when making this banner. Thanks Mrs. Becky!!! |
(My pictures were reversed when they uploaded and I'm too lazy to switch them all so we'll start with dessert and end with the main course. )
Pink and white chocolate and sparkly sprinkle covered pretzels.
White chocolate covered marshmallow "crowns". Marshmallows are 1 of Lucy's current favorite foods and I think she had about 10 of these at the party.
Ring pops and princess fruit snacks
Glad to see the melon balls made it out this year. My poor mom spent hours making them for Lucy's 1st birthday party and we forgot to actually put them out for the party!
Crown cookies- This was my 1st time working with cookie icing and lets just say I have a lot to learn but these things were yummy! I used this recipe which tasted delicious, but boy was the dough sticky and really hard to cut with. I let it sit overnight in the fridge and still had to pop it in the freezer often. 
Crown PB&J sandwiches
Chicken salad sandwiches on mini croissants
Princess and the Pea Pasta Salad- bow tie pasta with veggies including little green peas and some Italian dressing.
I think cupcakes are a million times easier for this age than cutting a cake, etc. so chocolate pound cake with buttercream frosting and sparkly pink sprinkles it was. (Thanks to the Cricket again, those cake toppers were free and took about 5 minutes to make. Love that machine!)
Strawberry yogurt parfaits with raspberries, strawberries, and homemade granola.
This was my 1st attempt at Brie and I will be making it again. It was so yummy!
Our happy crowd
We did cake,
Gifts
and time out (Oh don't act like we're mean parents for putting her in time out at her party. This was actually after the party and the chairs says "Even princesses need a time out." Too bad the seat broke so she's literally "in" time out.)
Princesses have to potty too.
And we called it a day. Lucy had the best time at her party. She still talks about it and says it was the best day ever! She loved having all of her friends and family all in 1 place and I am so thankful everyone could come and celebrate our precious princess' life!
To my beautiful princess,
Oh my sweet girl, I still look at you and cannot believe you are mine. You are so smart and funny (definitely from your daddy) and just so beautiful inside and out. You certainly keep me busy but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you, sweet girl, more than you'll know until you are blessed with a smart, beautiful, crazy girl of your own. (Which may or may not happen because as of now you say you want the baby but don't want to get married but you know you have to get married first.) I love your big smile and your big hazel eyes (those are from me!) and even all of your questions (most of the time). You've changed our lives more than we ever could have imagined and made life so much more fun and fulfilling. Thank you for being you!
Love and Happy 3rd Birthday,
Mommy and Daddy
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