Hellobee

When we started planning Lil Miss Wagon’s first birthday party, we wanted to keep things as simple as possible. We wanted a laid-back party where family and friends would gather and eat yummy food. We also wanted to have the traditional Korean Dol display table and doljabi. And that’s pretty much it!

The venue was the clubroom of a nearby apartment complex. Our close friends live in the complex and were able to rent the room for us. The room itself is a huge, gorgeous space with two living room areas (complete with TVs), a pool table, a game table, a shuffleboard table, a kitchenette, a separate conference / dining room, and a balcony overlooking the beautiful pool and hot tub area. We were thrilled to find such a great venue easy to work with and so close to home.

I ordered the invitations from an etsy seller. I purchased the custom digital file and had the invitations printed at a local printer. I wrapped the invitations with a pink satin ribbon and tied it with the bow of a hanbok (traditional Korean dress).

I wanted to incorporate LMW’s Chinese zodiac animal (black dragon) in a subtle way, since it’s tough to incorporate such a fierce and fearsome creature into a girly, pretty party for a baby! These Year of the Dragon stamps from usps.com fit the bill.

This fabric streamer banner was my big DIY project for the party. Thanks to my lovely friend Mrs. Paintbrush for all the tips and moral support!

The absolutely amazing flowers were provided by our dear friends at FiveFork Farms. They are a brand-new, family owned and operated sustainable flower farm. They are so new that they are still in the process of renovating all the buildings and growing areas, all completely on their own. I can’t wait until they’re open to the public because it’s going to be a GREAT place to take the kids. And it’s only half an hour away from us. My friend Lyh was a floral designer for many years at a place that rhymes with Pinston Powers. His sister and family recently bought this farm and they are pursuing their dreams! How amazing is that?

We ordered LMW’s cake from Montilio’s, the same bakery that made our wedding cake almost 8 years ago. LMW’s cake consisted of 2 tiers covered in fondant — very traditional with a quilted aqua bottom layer with little pearls (white cake with fresh strawberries, our wedding cake flavor) and a top layer featuring pink ribbon rosettes and a pink ribbon tied like a han bok (yellow cake with chocolate chip ricotta, cannoli-like filling). The bottom layer came out a few shades darker than I expected, but obviously there’s nothing to be done after the cake is made and delivered. The customer service has been top-notch, so I can’t complain… besides, the cake was still beautiful, delicious, and fit perfectly with the party’s theme.

I ordered a mini porcelain tea set from Cath Kidston and it was perfect to display along the bottom of the cake.

For the sweets table, I spent the night before the party creating the marshmallow pops, rice cereal treat pops, and oreo pops. All three are much simpler to make than cake pops, but still a labor of love! I also borrowed candy jars from a friend and filled them with pink and blue salt water taffy.

I ordered decorated sugar cookies and petit fours from the bakery that made the cake. I also picked up some powdered donuts to feature inside decorated cupcake liners.

I created bean and candy dol towers for Wagon Jr.’s dol, and I was able to reuse them for LMW’s. For the one with her Korean name and her Chinese zodiac creature (dragon), I simply peeled off the beans from WJ’s towers, taped the new template over the old, and re-glued the beans.

My parents picked up the traditional rainbow dduk cake (sweet rice cake) from a Korean bakery in New Jersey.

For drinks, we filled containers with pink lemonade, iced tea, and water. Of course I had to have paper straws to match the party decor!

My mom planned and (with the help of my dad and mother-in-law) made all the food. It was an unbelievable feast of Asian-inspired foods. It was such a huge amount of work that the food didn’t arrive until well into the party, which left our guests picking at a sad little cheese and cracker plate until lunch arrived… but I’m pretty sure the food was worth the wait! It was definitely a labor of love from the grandparents, and there’s no way I could ever repay them for all the love, care, blood sweat and tears they put into the food!

The menu included: shrimp summer rolls with two sauces (lime-jalapeno and hoisin), unagi sushi, inari sushi filled with spicy crabmeat salad, honey soy chicken wings, soba noodle salad, fried dumplings, and smoked salmon roll-ups with Asian pear, radish, and sprouts. The items we picked up to add to the feast to make it a little more kid-friendly were: turkey roller sandwiches, egg rolls, and cocktail shrimp. My good friend made california rolls as well.

At her doljabi, we presented LMW with three traditional items to choose from: pencil (scholar), money (wealth), and string (long life). She chose the pencil! Just like her brother 2.5 years ago. And of course it went straight into her mouth… just like her brother 2.5 years ago.

We ordered LMW’s hanbok from a seller in Korea on ebay. It took over 2 weeks to arrive, but it ended up being cheaper than renting! I ordered her hat from Little Seouls, and my parents picked up the shoes, socks, slip, and headband at a local store near Philadelphia.

We knew we would have the pool table and other items in the room to keep the kids entertained, but I also ordered a “decorate your own straw cup” activity. Since I knew kids would want to hang out on the balcony, I also picked up some bubbles (who doesn’t love bubbles?) and decorated them with washi tape.

The birthday girl did amazingly at her party! Not a single tear, totally enjoyed herself, and even posed for a few portraits at the very end even though it was way past her naptime.

Things we forgot: singing “happy birthday to you,” a custom painted sign by the lovely Waiting with Grace (aka Mrs. Cowgirl), and chocolate covered pretzels I made for the sweets table.

Things we skipped: a birthday hat for the baby, a happy birthday banner, a number 1 candle (and blowing out the candle), a smash cake, doljabi raffle, party favors (although we had the sweets table).

We had a smash cake, sang happy birthday and WJ blew out her candle on her actual birthday 4 days later.

Vendors:

Invitations: Tableau Party (etsy)
Fabric streamer banner: DIY
Flowers: FiveFork Farms
Mason Jars: Paula’s This and That (etsy)
Cake, petit fours and sugar cookies: Montilio’s
Tablecloth, tea set, napkins: Cath Kidston
Treat sticks, paper straws, washi tape: Sucre + Confetti
Treat stands: Oriental Trading Company
Dol towers: DIY
Paper fan decorations: Oriental Trading Company
Decorate your own straw cup activity: Oriental Trading Company
Hanbok: ebay seller
Hanbok hat: Little Seouls
Party dress and hairpin: Janie and Jack
Party shoes: See Kai Run
Photography: Brian Choi