This Up, Up and Away Hot Air Balloon Birthday will make you feel like you’re floating among the clouds! Bruna Sanches, the amazing photographer of Simply Lace Photography, had this theme picked out months before her son’s first birthday, so with all that planning time, it’s no wonder this party turned out beautifully! I absolutely love the hanging mini hot air balloon backdrop — adds such a fun touch of whimsy! And of course, the larger hot air balloon basket is just too adorable for words, especially when the mini pilot is included! :)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Vintage pilot helmet & goggles for the birthday boy + world globes, vintage suitcases & toy airplanes
• DIY first year photo display & a hand-built lemonade stand with fresh squeezed mint lemonade
• A hot air balloon birthday cake with mini bunting topper + cloud & hot air balloon cookie pops

PARTY DETAILS as told by Bruna…

Hi there! My name is Bruna Sanches and I’m the photographer/mother who designed, planned out and photographed my son’s first birthday bash. When he was around 7 months old, I decided to start planning out his party to make sure that every single detail was carefully thought out (it was a busy 5 months of planning). The theme Vintage Hot Air Balloon came from my passion for flying and traveling the world and seeing all things vintage and antique.

For the sweets table, I spent lots of time collecting cake stands, apothecary jars, milk bottles, mini vintage suitcases and world globes to make sure that everything would fall into the same style and colours (which was very challenging but also very exciting once everything fell into place). I wanted to incorporate a vintage picnic style, as well as bring in some modern activities to the party.

The lemonade stand, which was a great hit, was carefully built by a friend who did the whole thing in less than 3 days. Being a photographer, I spent most of my son’s first year photographing every little moment and so the idea of showing his first years through photographs in the style and size of Instagram pictures made sense, so that’s where I got the idea of building a large rustic frame. I got my father to build the frame where we hung 100 pictures to highlight special moments we shared with him during his first year.

We also did a Photo Booth with lots of fun props and a “if you Instagram please #SamIsOne” to encourage guests to take lots of photos and document the party. For the loop bags, I purchased the FUJIFILM Instax mini 8 camera and got every guest to take a photo with Samuel before they left. Everyone got a bag of goodies (candy, sweets, chocolate) and an instant photo with the birthday boy that they were able to take home with them.

The big basket with the helium balloons was also lots of fun for the kids. They were all able to get in and play & had such a great time! The aviator hat was from a local boutique shop and it fit just perfectly. We also added a small painting and drawing area so that the kids could enjoy and let their imagination flow. It was a lovely evening and an unforgettable event. Can’t wait to start planning for next year’s party! :)