Our daughter is TWO! It’s so crazy how time is such a thief and goes by so quickly. Johnny and I originally only planned to do a big first birthday party. However, earlier this year my Dad was hospitalized for more than a month and we truly thought we were going to have to grieve him. When he made a miraculous recovery, we wanted to do a smaller party to celebrate our daughter turning two so he could be there and so we could see everyone. Everything in this life is so impermanent, we aren’t guaranteed anything. We knew we wanted to do a bow birthday party because her favorite word is bow in Vietnamese! We did a mix of DIY and using some of our favorite vendors. To save money we did a lot of things ourselves this year, so here’s how everything came together.

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We love hosting at our home and after the addition and this new covered patio, it’s been a dream! We open up this gate and that’s how guests arrive. It’s a beautiful setup and really allows for indoor and outdoor living. For bigger parties, more than 15 people, we allow shoes in our home. We remove interior rugs and make plans to vacuum and mop immediately once the party is over. Johnny and I DIYed this welcome box sign last year and we brought it out this year for her party!

Backdrop & Balloons

For the backdrop, we wanted pink, a big bow and balloons coming through. We worked with Balloonish on both the backdrop and balloons and they did a great job! I love the pink bow and the different colored balloons coming through the arch. It was the perfect backdrop for a bow birthday party, even though it was smaller than the year before. It made the perfect picture spot and they even made a little ledge for Em to sit and stand on for pictures and singing Happy Birthday!

Kids Tables & Play Area

We loved our setup from the first birthday party so much, we did the same thing! We used Lucky Seven Creations for the rentals. I mean, how adorable are these chairs with the bows on the back for a bow birthday party? One thing we switched up were we swapped the plate colors. The darker pink on the bottom and lighter pink scallop on top. Since our daughter is older and so are most of the kids who would attend the party, I switched up the “favor” to include these adorable tiny books by one of my favorite authors. The entire library comes with 10 books. I bought two so Em could keep the extras and they were such a hit! I love how they are perfect for little hands and the watercolor illustrations are realistic.

For our activity, we bought this massive bounce house obstacle course. After paying $500 to rent a bounce house and soft play area last year, I wanted to make a more sustainable and economical choice. This was a total HIT! Everyone loved it from the 2-year-olds to 12-year-olds!

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THE FOOD & EATING AREA

We catered Vietnamese food this year and couldn’t be happier! We had fried wontons and cha gio (Vietnamese Imperial rolls) for the appetizers. For the mains, we served vegetarian fried rice, stir-fried beef flat noodles, stir-fried water spinach, crispy fried pork, crispy fried seafood and sticky rice. Everything was a hit! We kept food warm and ready to go in these new chafing dishes we purchased. I was a little apprehensive, but these looked so much better in person, the food didn’t stick to it and they worked well! We now have them all stored away back in their box for the next gathering. Since we had so much food we also broke out our casserole dishes as well!

For the outdoor seating area, we made use of our folding tables and zhushed things up with these tablecloths that go to the floor. I love how they completely cover the folding table so you’d never know. We also scored a huge win with these folding outdoor chairs! Let me tell you, they look million times better in person than the stock photo, which isn’t representative of them at all! The frame is a beautiful faux walnut look and the seat itself has a fun French bistro pattern. They are comfortable and look so much more expensive than they are.

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THE CAKE

Johnny’s cousin, Dennis Van, did a phenomenal job with this cake! To follow with the bow birthday party theme he did a vintage style cake with girlie bows in different shades of pink. I love the pearl touches, too! We went with a strawberry flavor and what I love the most is not how it’s beautiful, but it’s not super sweet! We perched it on this ruffle cake stand and it was the perfect touch. I got Em a Happy Birthday cake topper with her name on it we plan on using every year for as long as she’ll let us! It’s a great way to personalize and bring tradition to a birthday.