You make me happy, when skies are Gray: Everly's First Birthday!

Photography by Celine Richardson

And just like that, Everly Gray is ONE! There was no better theme than drawing from the song, “You are my sunshine”. The lyrics, “You make me happy, when skies are Gray” perfectly describes the light Everly has brought into our lives in 2020 and it was also a fun play with her middle name!

Although we have kept a strict, no gatherings inside our home, I was still able to put my creative hat on in preparation for our little' one’s first birthday. With only a theme in mind, I discovered on some amazing event photos from Melissa Andre Events’s Instagram account. Using those shots as a starting point, I was able to think of some fun ways to to create beautiful some moments around our home. I called Yasmin of The Happy Hera to help me bring my vision to come to life with some one-of-a-kind installations. Hana by Celsia as well as Blossom & Vine were my florists of choice to play on the pinks, purples, and blue-tinged theme. Michelle of Blossom & Vine created the most beautiful porch install for us to greet friends from afar. See below for more details!

Dress: Luna Luna. | Mat: Gathre. |. Clouds, candles & acrylic stands: The Happy Hera

For Everly’s cake smash, I was able to work with Vanessa of The Goods by V to create a two-tiered, baby-friendly banana cake for the littlest miss to eat to her heart’s content (which she did). The setting was pulled together with ascending faux candles topped with cotton clouds and we used Everly’s everyday splash mat by Gathre to ensure we had an easy cleanup!

Cake: The Goods by V. | Cake stand: Homesense | Cake topper: Etsy

Balloons & Backdrop: The Happy Hera. | Marble table: Rove Concepts

It was a pandemic birthday like no other. We took many measures to ensure that we could have a safe birthday porch drive by so Everly can wave to close family and friends. I used chalk on the sidewalk to draw distancing markers in our front yard and each household bubbled sanitized their hands at our front gate before approaching our porch.

Continuing the "You make me happy when skies are Gray” theme, we gave out small goodie bags with a jar of cotton candy clouds by Petit Puf as a thank you for making the trip to celebrate our little one. Everyone was respectful of our safety measures and kept exchanges short and very sweet. Even though we only restricted each bubble to chat briefly and one at a time, it was an overall success and went more smoothly than expected!