Vintage Schoolhouse First Birthday Party

Leave it to a teaching mama to have a vintage schoolhouse first birthday party for her little one! And one that incorporated plenty of brain games, brown paper bag lunches, and chalkboard signs. Did we mention she’s also an event planner? Mom and leading lady at Plume Events, Amy, mastered the class when it came to her boy’s first birthday. But really, this theme couldn’t be cuter! It may be a little early for the one-year-old to go back to school but when he does, he’s sure to love it!

Amy says, I was so excited about my son’s first birthday party that I started planning it before he was even born!  Since I am a former high school English teacher and Graham was due in early September, it seemed only right to make his party school-themed. And because of my love of vintage, we gave the décor a vintage twist.

We planned the festivities around “Snack Time” and “Centers,” with a slideshow presentation of Graham’s first year in between. Throughout my pregnancy and his first year, I collected relics that would serve as authentic details to pull the theme together with the décor. Some of my favorites were the sweet box of real excuse notes from the 1950s that we used as response cards with the invitations, the metal lunchboxes that held the fall-colored and masculine floral arrangements, the roll of lined paper we used as placemats on the head table, and the vintage crayons and workbook pages we used at the “Writing Center.” I even came across a pair of children’s tortoise shell glasses frames in my son’s size and had to get them!

The former English teacher in me was also excited about the party favors. They were gently-used children’s books with bookplates in the front cover to remind guests of the occasion for years to come. After months of searching, we discovered the perfect venue–the Old Murphey Schoolhouse. It is a renovated one-room schoolhouse with beautiful hardwood floors, large windows that provid amazing natural light, and a school bell in the front yard.

We were so fortunate to work with amazing vendors who helped us bring our vision to life. Sugar Euphoria created three mini cakes, each with a different black and white plaid pattern. AB Chalk + Designs hand lettered the “class schedule” on a large schoolhouse chalkboard. If It’s Paper created custom invitations, which included a 50s-style cartoon drawing of the birthday boy. They also designed four report cards that featured milestones Graham reached in each “quarter” of his first year. And finally, Radian Photography beautifully captured all the details and special moments in their light and airy style.