If you’ve looked at some of my other parties, you may already know that I love to run with a good theme! My son’s first birthday party was no exception, but with loads of family and friends invited, I had to be thoughtful about where to spend the party budget and source inexpensive details that would carry the theme. We were also very lucky to get a helping hand from local friends and family - my mother-in-law baked the number 1 cookies, a good friend baked the cupcakes and made the adorable airplane chocolate toppers, another friend loaned us his model plane collection to use as centerpieces and balloon weights. So as much as the theme for this party was “aviation,” it was also “use what you have and don’t go over budget!” Can you feel me?

I’m going to tell you all about how we pulled it off, but first, a disclaimer: this party was over five years ago. FIVE. Camera quality has greatly increased since then so my apologies for the dated photos. That’s what I get for taking five years to write it all down. I thought about skipping it, but this blog is as much for me as it is for sharing with you and I know down the road I’ll be grateful to have this collection of memories. Prepare for takeoff (see what I did there??)!

The party always starts with the invitation for me. We purchased an aviator jacket and hat set from Costco and had a photo shoot at home to get an image to use for the invitation. I promise you the outtakes are just as adorable as the invitation shot and I love scrolling through those sweet moments. The invitation is now for sale in my Etsy shop.

We couldn’t find any invitation we liked that included a photo. So we designed our own modeled off the Top Gun logo and a vintage airline ticket. This invitation is now for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Once the invitation was out, we started thinking about details. The party was too large to hold at home and we definitely couldn’t move outside in Chicago’s February weather. We found a great location nearby that had everything we needed to throw a comfortable party. With most of the budget going to the rental, we were thoughtful about food and decor to not go crazy. We kept it simple with food from Costco and it was thankfully better than airplane food!

I used IKEA frames left over from another event to display themed signs. We wrapped utensils and napkins and sealed with a matching label to add to the theme.

We scattered toy airplanes anywhere we could!

Of course any first birthday party is all about the sugar! A friend made these cupcakes and the chocolate airplane toppers. Clearly, baby Jack approved!

My mother-in-law made the number 1 cookies and we had a decorating party together. She also made some cookie balls she has become famous for at family gatherings!

I added ribbon the a tiered dessert tower just to carry the theme colors to the dessert. I love all the little details of a party theme.

Though the party was mostly grown-ups, we still had to think about the littles. With a bunch of kids gathered indoors, it was important we have some activities for them. The ample venue space allowed us to set up a table with coloring sheets, paper airplanes, and straw rocket materials.

The grown-ups had just as much fun as the kids launching paper airplanes through the room.

We had a large sign printed at a local print shop that matched the invitation.

Cloud balloons tied to model airplanes gave the flying in clouds atmosphere.

Included in the goody bags were foam gliders, printed paper airplanes, and airplane shaped crayon.

It was a wonderful day celebrating our son's first birthday!

And there you have it! A cute invite, easy food, cloud balloons, airplanes galore, and loads of signage to pull it all together. Time really did fly his first year and beyond…. baby Jack turned six last month! Now he has lots more input on his parties!!