Hailey is my goddaughter. She turned one at the beginning of the summer and my sister decided on a Hawaiian themed birthday party. So we went to work prepping her smash cake session as her birthday present. Smash cakes are my favorite! It’s the perfect age and who doesn’t love a baby covered in icing? For her outfit we put a little twist on the traditional tulle skirt. Instead of just tulle I added some dark green canvas strips and some ribbon that had a grass skirt look. This was my first time making a tulle skirt. I have always just purchased them. But because of a mixup in my custom Etsy order, I was persuaded to learn how to make them…. They are VERY easy to make. However a bit time consuming. I think in the future I would be happy to make my own for our smash cake sessions instead of ordering them every time. Here are some of the steps that went into making Hailey’s Hawaiian skirt.
Hailey’s smash cake was made by B and T cakes (My cousin Becca is B. and I am T.) this is a side hobby we sort of fell into, and due to already having too many jobs between us… we have decided to keep our cake making activities just a hobby. We often make cakes as gifts for the many nieces and nephews in our lives. Hailey’s cake was the first time we used molding chocolate. Becca created a cute hula girl and the icing on the cake was in the form of a grass skirt.
Hailey enjoyed her first cake and we successfully captured her excitement. Hailey’s smash cake session was done on a solid white backdrop, banners and balloons are fun, but I love to keep the focus on the baby and the cake. Plus the babies are often distracted by the balloons, and sometimes they choose playing with balloons over their cake.
Now, my nephew (Hailey’s older brother) turned 12 a couple weeks before her first birthday. And because smash cakes weren’t popular when he was one… He had mentioned that he felt left out of never having a smash cake as a baby. So we surprised him with a quick baseball themed photo session and I think he really enjoyed it. Proving that smash cake sessions do not have to be reserved just for one year olds. Themed smash cake photos are great at any age especially milestone birthdays.
After Hailey’s invites went out it was time to plan the party! The Luau was a pool, bbq, party and it was the perfect party to kick start the summer. Everyone got a Lei and a cocktail and the kids had a ball in the pool.
My cousin who is an amazing cook, helped out by preparing some delicious caribian dishes. It was different from your regular BBQ spread which made the party very unique. If you are planning a Hawaiian themed party you might consider putting some of these dishes on your menu. My absolute favorite was the Hawaiian Pizza dip! All the kids and adults loved it. Scroll through the pictures and then search google for some recipes. If you have a great chief, like we did, your food will be amazing!
One cute decoration many people do for first birthday parties is display 12 pictures of their one year old. One picture for each month. I loved my sisiter’s photo display. She tacked up Hailey’s pictures on a cute net. It’s perfect for any Hawaiian, fishing, or summer themed party.
The party was fun, with great food and everything looked adorable! It was the perfect summer party. I hope if your planning a similar Luau, you can grab some great ideas from this post.
Happy Birthday Hailey!!!
A Beautiful Friendship 