A Two-Two Affair | A Peony Ballerina Birthday Party

in my next life, i really want to be a party planner.  or an interior designer.  or, while i am being really honest, a book publisher.  but back to party planning…i love it.  i stress myself out a little throughout the process, as i compile a master list and browse for months beforehand for just the right items that will complete the look i am going for.  but i also have a lot of fun and i love spoiling our girls.  on party day, watching everyone have a wonderful time and appreciating a pretty party is always really fun for me.  and while my girls are really too young to remember these details, my husband lovingly reminded me that birthdays are a celebration for parents as well.  so…we party!  and this year, we decided on a ballerina birthday party.

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after i cried and accepted the fact that our oldest daughter would be turning two, i knew i wanted to do a ballerina birthday party for her.  she has recently taken an interested in dancing and will hopefully be starting ballet soon.  because peonies are such a soft flower, i also wanted to inspire our party around them too.  as well as having our oldest turn two, our youngest turned 3 months on party day!  we decided to host a double party for our girls, both celebrating our oldest turning two and having a “sip and see” for our littlest…complete with rosé!  i have always wanted to host a sip and see with one of our babies, so i was really giddy about popping some rosé with our friends to celebrate our girls and debut our youngest!

this meant, of course, matching dresses for the girls.

to be honest, this party was mainly inspired around some leftover rifle paper co wrapping paper that i had from making our daughter’s play kitchen.  this wrapping paper is my favorite thing ever, so i wanted to base the party around it’s print and subtle tones as i incorporated the print into my homemade invitations and homemade party hat.

besides rosé for the adults and pink lemonade for the kids, i kept the menu simple.  cupcakes, cake, and popcorn.  my advice when party planning, keep the food easy…especially when hosting kids.  i also liked the idea of having dainty food to pair with the softness of a girly party.  in our experience with hosting parties, we love to mingle and have fun once the party starts.  keeping the food simple makes it so we can do everything up ahead of time and not spend any time in the kitchen during the party.  and clean up?  there is barely any cleanup…which is a win!

this sweet ballerina birthday party/sip and see turned out exactly like i hoped.  not only did we have a wonderful time, but my husband and i were humbled by the 30+ friends who surrounded us while we celebrated our girls and our amazing family who facetimed her throughout the weekend to celebrate her!  and also, that gluten free cake?  my husband made that!  he asked me exactly what i wanted and then MADE THAT!  he is the real deal, you guys.  the real deal!  below you will find all the links of sources i used to put this party together, enjoy!

A Two-Two Affair | A Peony Ballerina Birthday Party

Ballerina Birthday Party Source List

girls’ pink dresses // purchased from target

monogrammed bib // custom made locally, similar idea here

girls’ hair bows // courtesy of cammi and co

girls’ bracelets // courtesy of baby cates shop

ribbon streamer // purchased from target, similar idea here

rifle paper co. birthday sign // purchased from amazon

white letter board // purchased from amazon

pink letter board letters // purchased locally, but can be found here

bunny bowl // purchased at target

gold letter balloons // purchased locally, but similar ones found here

mini cupcake stands // purchased at target dollar spot, similar idea here

2 light // purchased locally, but can be found here

2 cake topper // purchased locally, similar one here

wooden spoons // purchased locally, similar ones here

gold party hats // purchased locally, similar idea here

invitations // handmade, with rifle paper co wrapping paper

wooden scoops // two sizes purchased locally, similar ones here

and finally, a huge thank you to our friend for taking a couple family photos for us, once the party started!  i am a huge believer in putting my camera down and living in the moment, as i am a mama first and a photographer second.  i took all of the party detail photos in this post before the party started, then purposefully set my camera down so i could enjoy our girls’ day.  we were lucky to have our friend offer to pick up my camera during the party and photograph some party moments for us (including these final two photos, which are my favorite!), as well as a family photo before everyone arrived.  i will always cherish these photos!  it’s always nice to be in photos with my family too, and my husband and i are intentionally getting a family photo with our children on their birthday.  isn’t that a fun tradition?