Luau Pool Party for One Year Old’s Birthday!
by @ambthegoddess
Many parents do not believe in going big for a birthday party celebrating one year. The child will probably not remember when they are older, so why even waste the money? Well for me, this party was not just for my daughter’s memories. This luau pool party was a celebration of my sweet baby Sol, our support system, and I surviving a year of adversity. I severely stressed myself out over my gender reveal and baby shower. I reminded myself throughout the whole time to focus on celebrating. Stressing over planning sucks the fun out of it! To maintain my peace, Sol’s party did not go entirely as planned, but nonetheless, it was a hit! I will break it all down into what went right versus what went not-so-right.
What Went Right
One of the most nerve-wracking factor’s of an outdoor pool party is crossing your fingers and hoping for no rain. I chose a date months in advance, and in even with Cleveland weather’s unpredictability, there was blazing sunshine! It was absolute perfect pool weather.
Usually, I wait to the last minute to buy party supplies. The financial burden becomes too heavy, so I would buy the bare minimum. With the party being in July, I started buying supplies in March! Before summer even started, I acquired plates, utensils, balloons, decorations, bubbles, doggy bags, candy, and table cloths. All the money I spent did not hurt as bad when it was spaced out as $30/$40 here and there. I bought supplies from Walmart, Target, Amazon, and two different Party City’s! My favorite decorations were the luau party photo booth kit and the tiki deck fringe.
I was so impressed with the guest turnout. There were friends and family from two months to eighty years old! I was just happy there were a ton of babies and kids. My daughter has yet to attend daycare, so I make sure she gets that social interaction with humans her size! Our loved ones are so amazing, that they even helped with the party from start to finish! My heart melts at the though.
When it comes to help my mom outdid herself. I am so grateful for the amazing cake she curated and all of the help with making food! Please check out her cake business here. We were so busy, that we would not have any time to take pictures. She paid for an event photographer who came in handy! Orlando McCall (Cleveland, Ohio) was professional and was able to deliver a ton of precious memories.
A gigantic part of single mom life is being prepared to handle situation by myself. Sol’s father did not let me down when it came to this party. He stepped in and helped out with some big expenses! Co-parenting may not always be breeze, but when it comes to important events the child should be the first priority.
Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed myself. I had time to get in the pool and play in the water with my little mermaid! My mom took Sol while I sat down and ate some food. I took pictures with all of our loved ones. I played with all of the kiddies! My anxiety felt in control for pretty much the whole day!
Not-So-Right
The venue was a camp with a beautiful air-conditioned room with access to a private pool. The place was almost too nice, but ended up being too good to be true. The party scheduled after mine somehow got moved up in my time slot. They were double booked which made me double brokenhearted. Although I had already gave them my deposit, I felt changing my party from twelve o’clock noon to ten o’clock in the morning was ridiculous. I could not imagine anybody waking up early for a kid’s birthday party. However, with just weeks before the party, I struggled finding a nice place available to be booked with such short notice. I decided to keep the original venue and just tell the guests the party will start at eleven o’clock. (I felt eleven sounded much better than ten!)
Although I started preparing months in advance, a lot of my checklist came down to just days before the party. I was feeling the stress I swore I would avoid. To keep my sanity, certain things just did not get done. Oh well! Better luck next luau. Those balloons I mentioned earlier never got blew up. Those bubbles were never freed in the summer air. I even bought boxes of sparklers that went unsparkled! All of these blinded visions are now in a box with other unused luau decorations waiting in the attic for my next pool party! Next time, I will for sure have my entire checklist checked off by the day before the event.
For some odd reason, I scheduled my hair appointment right after the party. Well the party partied on until about two hours after the scheduled end time. Clean up time takes way longer than expected! Luckily, my hair stylist is amazing and worked with me. Her name is Brittany and her Instagram is @thairapy.hair. She specializes in braids and ponytails in Cleveland, Ohio! It all worked out, thank goodness!
At the end of it all, I am more than satisfied. Babies do not always make it to their first year, so I feel blessed to have made it this far. I did not expect perfection, but having all of our loved ones smiling and laughing together was perfect enough. I hope my lovely readers can learn from my mistakes and success! Please comment any advice on throwing the perfect Luau Pool Birthday Party!
Love and Light,
@ambthegoddess
