Words by: Judy Hulse | Photography by: Viet Nguyen
My son's name is Grant Thomas Hulse. He was born on December 10, 2010 at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA. Grant has always been a very happy, easy-going baby. He loves to smile and laugh and loves music.
We would always refer to Grant as our little "bear", hence the panda bear theme. I've always had an affinity for panda bears so we decided that would be our theme.
Matt (my husband) and I both lost our mothers to cancer and most recently Matt lost his father 6 months before we got married so we don't have a lot of relatives. Therefore, we decided against having Grant's party at a big banquet hall, where these parties are most commonly held. Instead we just held his birthday party at our home and decorated it to the best of our abilities. It took long hours over a span of 2 months, but it was all worth it. Grant was a long time waiting (2.5 years and several fertility treatments) so I wanted to make this an extra special birthday.
We also wanted to instill some Korean culture in him and hope to continue with that path. I would say our favorite part of the party (as well as Grant's favorite) was the music concert held by Teacher Carl from Grant's music class. The babies and toddlers absolutely loved it and enjoyed every part of it.
As for what Grant chose, he went after the book (his options were: a stethoscope, ball of yarn, money, gavel, book, and golf ball).
His cake was made by Stephanie over at Cake Creations in San Mateo, CA. She tried to mimic Grant's hanbok, which I think she did a stellar job. It was a 2 tier cake so the top one was chocolate with mocha filling and the bottom was vanilla with a chocolate filling.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT! ~ KOKO Living
Some of the vendors were:
Cake Creations in San Mateo. I made most of the poms poms myself (including the pom poms trees on the fireplace mantel). I got the small birthday banner in the middle of our living room from
Etsy.com along with the party favor tags. I got the cupcake toppings from
www.cakesugar.com (they were edible and blended into the frosting). The flower centerpieces, including the crystal tree with flowers, were from Edmund's flower shop in downtown San Mateo. With Special Thanks to our photographer and future sister-in-law Viet Nguyen.