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Auden's First Birthday-Pumpkins and Pearls

It's only been 6 months now, but better late than never, right?

Auden turned one on November 11th and we celebrated at our home with close family and friends.  The theme of the party was pumpkins and pearls.  Pun'kin is one of the nicknames I called her when she was little and pearls bring a girly flair and tied into our reveal party when we found out we were having a girl so it seemed perfect.

I had so much fun creating her invitation and all of the party printables.  And for a little extra adornment, the invites were tied with jute twine and placed in scalloped envelope. Invites available for purchase here.

Here's the sweet birthday girl in her homemade hat.  I love how the bow on top turned out :)  Her birthday stats poster is now available here.

The smash cake table with our go-to milk jars (Starbuck frappuccino glasses) with paper straws.  The tree slab plate they are sitting on was also used at our wedding.  The smash cake was a $10 cake from Public and Auden LOVED it!  So did my nephew (you can see his finger print from his pre-party taste testing ;)  I made the pendants with scrap paper, bakers twine and wooden skewers. I ordered the flower and pumpkin toppers (which I also added to the big cake) from an Etsy store called JennyBakesALot.  I loved the way they turned out and really loved saving money on a "designed" cake.

The oversized pearl balloon is from Balloonsfast.com and the gold one from Amazon.  I made the tassels with lace ribbon and fabric from some silk shirts I got at the thrift store.  The high chair banner was also homemade with felt and strung pearls from an old costume bracelet.

We kept the menu simple with typical party foods and of course a pumpkin shaped cheese balls covered in Cheez-its and topped with a pretzel stick handle.  I gathered all the heirloom pumpkins from various nurseries and farmer's markets around town.  Aside from the big cake, they were the biggest party expense.  

The runner was burlap with copper dots from JoAnn Fabrics.

The cake was from a bakery in my hometown.  My sweet mom drove it down and paid for it (it was the largest investment for the party).  The top layer was vanilla cake with buttercream and the bottom was chocolate.  I ordered it with the gray polka dots and added the fondant flowers and pumpkins.

The gold and blush balloons are also from Balloonsfast.com, and I got them filled at Publix (much cheaper than Party City for those wondering).  The hanging bunting was created with ribbon and the same felt used on the highchair banner and sewn together by my mom.  

The drink table was the backdrop for The Year of Auden--a photo display of instagram shots from her first year hung with gold washi tape.  The mason jar glasses had miniature tags tied on with baker's twine so guests wouldn't get their drinks mixed up.


In lieu of the typical month-by-month photo display, I opted for a quarterly display of professional ones we'd had done throughout the year--starting with her newbon shots.  Each photo was labeled with burlap covered wooden leaf tags I got on clearance from JoAnn Fabrics.

Sticking with the fall theme, I decided on s'more party favors and created the sign and labels myself.
The sign read "Thank you for the Love!  I'm so glad you came to celebrate with me. Please take a favor to enjoy later.  -Auden"  Favor tags sold here.

The A was made from a cardboard letter also from JoAnn's and covered in moss sheets and felt flowers with pearl centers.  I first cut out the center to place floral foam inside so that I could use push pins to hold the moss and flowers on.  The photos are by Jordan Burch Photography and some of my very favorite from the first days (and minutes) of her life.


 As far as Auden's first take of sweets went...here's the photo rundown.
1.  She got scared when everyone first gathered around and started singing and staring at her and even let out a little bit of a cry.
2.  Then she saw the cake come in and was completely fascinated by the pendants (which were quickly removed).
3.  But as soon as she got a taste of that icing, she was in it...as you can see, she didn't even bother using her hands at the end.  Face first it was!

The photo cracks me up.  Here's mommy and daddy documenting away (tongue out and all).  We were so lucky to have friends and family to hand our "big camera" off to who got some shots of our girl and us in action.


We had such a great time celebrating our little Bug and are beyond thankful to have now had a year and a half with her.

I started making a photo book of her first year but life and work got in the way, and I fell behind and never finished it before the party.  So I made a video in iMovie instead and surprised everyone at the party with it (including Jon).  It moves me to tears every time I watch it and made some of the guests tear up as well.  What a year it was!

Happy birthday, Auden Emory Reutter!  We love you bunches and bunches!

Stay tuned for some more exciting news I'll be posting this week!

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Comments

  1. Oh wow, your baby shower looks outstanding. I am just in love with the arrangements. It seems like a royal party. Thanks for these brilliant photos. We are also planning to throw surprise baby shower for a friend but we would go for a rental outdoor LA venue for that.

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