"No Flowers Without Rain" My Daughter's 1st Birthday Party

Oh my it's been so long since I've dusted off the blog! I love my blog because it's a way to keep me honest and keep me connected to why I started flowering. And let's be honest: my flower business that allowed me to quit my full-time job all started with just trying and sharing my work here.

In my IG stories (@kellymarkflorals), the majority requested I share tips to elevate your events through DIY, and small business/vendor recommendations. I am MORE than happy to do both! All neatly integrated into this post about my daughter's 1st birthday party hopefully!

I themed it "No Flowers Without Rain" because her name is Lorraine. heh. One day I'll succumb to cartoon parties and coco melon, but for now.. garden party!!

1. The single, most important aspect of an event to me is the VENUE. This is the foundation of your event. It provides the most impact in terms of ambience and "theme" if you will. It also lends to your budget because you will save on the amount of decor and other rentals needed. You won't need expensive details since the macro environment is already so enhanced.

For this, I highly recommend Peer Space. It's a site known as the "Airbnb of venues". On it you can easily search and book a space that fits your desired criteria. You can find anything from empty warehouses, to gardens, backyards with pools, etc. Things I love about Peer Space include the search features, transparency in pricing, how quickly the hosts respond, AND that I get to support and meet local business owners. Very tiny tiny plug for our Peer Space "Sweet Suburban Backyard" here. ;-)

The venue we rented had this gorgeous back cottage; images shot by Stuart Mar

Invites: I usually do my own when I'm trying to save money. Canva is the EASIEST tool to use if you're tech-illiterate like me. For Rain's, I spliced images of Belle Epoque tulips, monarch butterflies, and bees to go to theme. A great tip my brother (a professional graphic designer) gave me is to stick to 3 fonts or less! Less is more! When in doubt, more negative space is better for a classier look.

If you really don't have the time and capacity to make your own invites, my girl Megan Mark at markedbym designs amazing, artful invitations. I used her for my wedding, multiple showers, and Christmas cards. She always delivers!

I handwrote the addresses which is easier than you think! Get a paint pen, do cursive and connect the first and last lines to the edge of the envelope and bam! It looks fancy.

Signage. Also plug for Canva! Simplify your life and use the same templates you did for your invitations. I made this Welcome Sign and printed it at Fedex for $16.50. The frame I got from Michael's and plan to use it in rain's room.

Food: One of the most important components of your event, and the one that can either break or make your budget. I usually do a combination of hiring and DIY.

For rain's party, I got fruit and croissant/danish platters from Whole Foods (they have an easy catering online-order system that shows you exactly what you get, and it's surprisingly affordable). I also had a station with champagne and 2 juice mixers.

For the "main meal", I hired our friend Ruben (@big_rubens_tacos on IG) who normally caters tacos and asked if he could do Brunch! He agreed and made a killer spread of giant pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and pico de gallo! All fresh onsite, which is important to me for events where people come and go. Ask your favorite taco guy if he does this or something similar, because chances are - he's a great chef and experiments with more than just tacos!

Dessert: We hired Stick Station to make custom Gelato bars. Brandon, the artisan behind the company, made Gelato bars for our wedding and they disappeared so quickly even though we accounted for each guest eating 1.5! So for rain's party, he crafted Raspberry Cookies n' Cream, Strawberry Lemonade (dairy free since Lorraine is allergic), and Ferrero Rocher (hazelnut). Brandon trained in Italy and makes my favorite Gelato ever ever. Please visit him in Commerce, or look for his bars in stores under his brand "Vegano".

A cutie gobbling Raspberry Cookies n' Cream. The Raspberries looked like kiss marks in the bars. They were stunning.

For the cake, I am both parts proud and slightly embarrassed. I wanted a simple white cake because the centerpiece of the event would be this floral garden with the cake sitting inside.

I was so preoccupied with planning the flowers that by the time I went to hire my usual cake guy, he was booked. In a frenzy I ran to Ralph's and lo and behold.. they make classic white cakes. This one was vanilla with raspberry filling and to my utter shock.. my dessert connoisseur Mother-in-Law told me it was "actually pretty good". It cost me $24. Yep. For a 2-tier, clean white cake that more-than got the job done. Don't ask me how that even covers labor.. just tip the nice lady handsomely.

Playground/Entertainment: Okay. This one is about to get more controversial because I will be the FIRST to admit how 1st Birthday Parties can get out-of-hand, and "why is this becoming a mini wedding??". For rain's party I hired My Wittle Playground because they had a white, blush, and lavender ball pit that fit the color scheme perfectly, and they're woman-run!

I also hired Sophia from Curious Pen Calligraphy to do custom watercolor and calligraphed names for the guests to take home. It was sublime. I fatefully found her at Tiffany's in The Americana the WEEK before the party. Upon experiencing her artful strokes, I was in love. It was so peaceful and mesmerizing, I just wanted everyone to experience it and appreciate artists. Appreciate artists damnit!! I stalked her the next day - 5 DMs, 2 emails, and 1 text message later (don't ask me how I found her number), she responded "Yes! I'm free next weekend and would love to paint at your party!". She is truly the sweetest human, so please support her work if you get a chance.

Sophia had an option for faceless portraits which most guests chose! I had her paint one of my entire family, including my late sister. Needless to say it brought my mom and my older sister to tears.

Calligraphed name and watercolor flowers, her other option!

Flowers: Must talk about this of course! I am a firm believer in allocating your budget towards a "wow factor" instead of spreading it thin amongst the whole venue! Yes! Even I budget for my own flowers (they're expensive!).

To accomplish this, I built the "cake in a garden" table as the main eye candy, and re-potted garden flowers into striped vases for the centerpieces. The vases fit the euro-garden theme because the umbrellas at the venue were also striped black and white.

I used a wet foam garland (found here) and covered the base with myrtle greens and hydrangea. Then bloomed it out with "faith" roses, double tulips, ranunculus, larkspur, majolica spray roses, and lisianthus.

The potted flowers I got from San Gabriel Nursery, and I think they were $3 each. Seriously, I love the nursery.. it makes me feel rich. That, combined with $7 vases from downtown and monarch butterflies that I wired from Amazon made for really sweet and simple centerpieces (that costed ~$12 each).

For 1 of the tables (the one I assumed my mom would sit at...), I made a more show-stopping centerpiece on a pedestal. I made this one using a foam cube and sat it on top of a small rustic column I found at Michael's. The trick to good arrangements is having a clear focal point (the rose in the center), and angling everything off this point so it has clear lines for your eye to follow.

This look can easily be accomplished by starting at your center point flower and creating "4 corners". Stick "line" flowers like larkspur in each corner to beam outward and make the arrangement look like it's exploding with blooms.

Thank You's : The best way to elevate your event no matter how big or small, is to thank every single person that came, and every vendor that you hired.

I make it a point to text every person after even though I'm super tired.. I want them to know how much I appreciate that they [flew from out of state!! or drove through traffic!!] supported me through said milestone. Especially for this one, where keeping a child alive for the first sleepless 365 days is no joke!

I made sure to send pictures and/or cards of rain with her gift from the individual, and a sentiment as to why they were invited and had a huge impact on our parenting journey. The fan-fare of parties can easily lose their original intention if you don't spell it out.

I made these cards on Canva for some family members and they loved them.

If you don't have time for formal Thank You cards, texts and iPhone pictures accomplish the same sentiment! And for your vendors, please tip them if you think they did an excellent job. Or tip them by leaving a good review on their website, yelp, etc. It really does help and you're supporting that person's means of living.

More photos and details from the party!

Venue: Monique Francis's Home and Garden on Peer Space

Food: Ruben from @big_rubens_tacos

Starters: Whole Foods

Floral/Planning: Kelly Mark Florals

Photography: Stuart Mar

Playground: My Wittle Playground

Calligraphy & Watercolor: Curious Pen Calligraphy

Rain's Outfit: Janie and Jack

My Dress: Karina Grimaldi rented through Fashion Pass!

Hair & Makeup: Tina Tom Makeup