Connors journey into the arms of his mom Jennie and dad is precious. If you'd like to read mom Jennie's story, click HERE to read how becoming pregnant was more than easy. The end of her pregnancy story leads us here. Jennie's first son Connor has turned one and he's a happy and healthy bouncing boy. You're welcome to Connors at home birthday party with a fabulous rainbow candy theme. How sweet it is!
Happy Birthday Connor! Thank you for sharing your special day with us!
Korean American Mommy Grace has shared her first son Nathan's birthday celebration with us. She has tons of great ideas that made his First Birthday "Doljanchi" very special. There's Nathan on his Dol Sang (Birthday table) in his traditional Korean Hanbok. What a cutie!
Also, take a close look at the decorative towers. One is made of cereal and maybe you can guess the others. I personally like how the Dduk (rice cakes) are individually wrapped to keep them moist and yummy. Its a favorite after party snack for sure! Below, is a table for the doljabi game has been prepared by Grace with a fabulous twig tree holding photo ornaments of Nathan's photo shoot.
Party favors are a great keepsake and decoration for a Doljanchi (Korean First Birthday). Here Grace used small hand towels to look like ice cream in a paper cone. Anything wrapped in cellophane, especially holding yummy cookies are another fabulous flare for the party!
The party banner was all mommy Grace's idea (colors, cow image and ice cream cones). Heesook of Dohl Posters & More gave it a final designers touch and the banner was printed with KOKO Printing Co. adding the perfect final touch to the whole celebration.
Thank you Grace and Nathan for sharing your special First Birthday with us!
Words by: Kathy Choi-Lee
Eleni's First birthday party was amazing event. Like many of us
believe to be like a mini wedding, it is totally like it. A perfect
reason to get together with far away family and friends to celebrate.
My mother-in law drove in that morning from Vegas just to be part of
Eleni's special day. What mattered most was that our close family and
friends were all under one roof to be part of this happy day.
Decorations
I've gotten my inspirations from everything. I used few key pieces
from the movie "alice in wonderland." I piled up coffee cups and added
yellow and pink ribbons then topping with fresh hydrangea flowers.
Used rabbits throughout the decoration tables. Not to mention Eleni
favorite stuff animal is a bunny. Cookies were labeled as "eat me" and
potion drinks as " drink me.
All photography taken by the wonderful mnm photography. She is awesome, has been there to capture every beautiful moment from the start.
The
party planning was all in all an experience. There were times where i
would be stressed out, but luckily to my wonderful friends that helped
me from point A to Z, I was able to pull through and make the event as
special as possible. Thank you!!!!
It’s a colorful “Dol” (traditional Korean first birthday celebration) that Angie Bae {from Meli & Angie Cookies} created for her adorable daughter Lila.
There are so many meaningful & handcrafted details in this party… from the creative cookie invitations and fabulous paper globe centerpieces (representative of family members) to handmade candy pillars (see below), a shimmery cake inspired by Lila’s hanbok, and more!
Read on for lots more images and all the party details, as told by Angela…
*****
“For Lila’s dol/Korean first birthday party, the inspiration came easily when I first saw her hanbok (traditional Korean dress.) I loved the combination of pinks, white and lime green. They reminded me of Lila’s bubbly and happy personality, so we incorporated them into all the party details.
Invitations/Cookies
Along with invitations from Tiny Prints, we included a set of “button” sugar cookies in pink and green from Meli & Angi. Guests either received a set that read lila/1 or chook/dol (1st birthday) in Korean characters.
Cookies were placed in a plastic case and filled with white tissue shred for cushioning.
Elevator Photo Greeting
Since the party was on the 4th floor, we printed out photos of Lila and taped them in the elevators to greet guests. It reads “Oh! You made it. I’m on the 4th floor!” I love Lila’s “oooh!” expression in this photo:
Photo Wall
When you enter the space, there is a blank wall so we filled it with large sized photos of Lila. They were from different months in her first year, and displayed like a gallery setting. We used 3M temporary hooks so we wouldn’t damage the walls/paint.
What Will Lila Pick? Board
The “doljabee”
is a traditional element of the Dol. Items are laid out in front of the
baby for her to choose from. The item that she picks will foretell her
path in life. Money = wealth. Pencil = scholar. Thread = long life. Rice = never go hungry. We also added in a Mic = musical and an Abacus = intelligence.
Guests wrote their names on ballots and put them in the pocket they thought Lila would choose. From the selected item, we randomly chose guests to win prizes. Lila picked the abacus first, followed by the rice.
Centerpieces & Banner
These paper globes were made by following Heather Bailey’s template. Each centerpiece includes globes of varying height to represent our family of 3.
The “planter” is a white bakery box with green scrapbooking paper and pink ribbon arranged to look like 3 stripes of varying widths. The “stems” were trimmed down wooden dowels (purchased at Home Depot) and bbq skewers wrapped in green tissue paper. We stood them in floral foam and topped each planter with green crinkle cut paper shred (from Michaels).
The globes themselves were made from various scrapbooking papers found on Amazon. For Lila’s birthday banner, we used the same scrapbooking paper to have consistent colors.
Birthday Cake
Lila’s “hanbok” cake was made by Ruth Shin of Brooklyn Cake.
It was strawberry shortcake with buttercream filling, and so delicious!
We love that she was able to translate Lila’s hanbok into a cake…
especially the ribbon detail.
Go-Ims
The birthday table traditionally has go ims (pillars) on display. To personalize them, I used red beans and Korean rice puffs to make: 1) a mouse because Lila was born in the year of the mouse, 2) “Sora”, her Korean name and 3) “chook dol” in Korean characters.
I also made 2 more using white, green and pink Mentos in stripes and flower designs.
In front, we have plates of fruit and dduk (Korean rice cakes) which later get packaged for guests to take home.
Dduk To Go
To package the dduk for guests, we used plain white take out boxes and printed out thank you labels with pink stripes from Avery.
Lollipop Garden
Guests were also welcome to take lollipops from this “garden“.
All the materials used to make it were found at Michaels – a wooden CD
crate, floral foam, green crinkle cut paper shred, individual letters
that spell out her first and middle/Korean name, paint and craft glue.
We are so glad that Mary Jane Photography and some of our very talented friends (Albert, Sandy, Susan and Sam) were able to help us remember Lila’s dol through photos. I still can’t believe Lila’s 1st year has come and gone. It really did fly by, but I remember every moment like it just happened.
I love you Lila!”
*****
Originally posted on Hostessblog.com
< Baby SW's 1st birthday - Fleming's, Edgewater, NJ>
In the past two years, I've set up more Dol parties than I would have ever imagined in my entire life. And every time I get approached by a mom facing 1st Dol of their little precious, it is my duty to guide them in staying within the budget, setting up a nice decor, and most of all, making sure that the birthday child and the family become the main star of the day.
1st birthday is an occasion to show off how well you have taken care of your child through the very 1st year of their life and how healthy & well they have grown. It definitely is an occasion when all moms deserve to be recognized for their efforts.
< Small silver stand with crystals>
These days, it seems to be a trend to add much of traditional elements to the Dol table setting. But, dilemma with this is that most of the modern table is not suitable for traditional set up and may or may not be perfect match with the intended look. For moms seeking to incorporate traditional elements into general Dol setting, I recommend that there be a simple traditional set up for photo taking & Dol jabi purpose.
<On the side... A Simple Traditional 'Low-Rise' Setting>
You can easily set up the 'low-rise traditional table' by displaying any item you'd like. This table can be displayed by putting baby's "go moo shin" which is worn with Han-bok, Bok ju mu nee, or even a traditional fan... decorate it to your taste.
<Simple & low key guest centerpiece>
Depending on where the Dol party is held, guest centerpiece should be set up accordingly. Another factor which determines the type of guest centerpiece to set up may be the hour of day.
<Dol Jabi Event Set Up & flower decor>
If you use fresh flowers on the Dol table, it's always a great idea to 'share some' for either the photo table or dol jabi table. Even if it just a small amount, this becomes the finishing touch for the Dol set up
For inquiries on Balloon or Dol package, e-mail : [email protected]
Hello! Moms~!
I'm Soo from Mom's Balloon, the founder & owner. Thanks to KoKoLiving I was offered an exciting opportunity to share with mom's all over about planning that special 1st birthday. I've been specializing in Korean 1st birthday & events for little over 2 years, truly appreciating and enjoying every moment of it.
In the beginning, when friends first heard that I was working on setting up Mom's Balloon, some thought that it was actually my mother's operation and some thought that it was not a chic name. Had my share of 'advises' from many different people to say the least. But at last Mom's Balloon came about and surprisingly enough, still in business and doing well, keeping busy every weekend of the year!
It's a great pleasure to be a part of such exciting & significant moments to say the least. As I start to blog / post pictures and share ideas & items you can apply to Dol parties, please feel free to do so. It is my goal to walk with moms on the path to successful 1st Dol party through pictures and ideas, so hang on and enjoy the blog~!
Wouldn't it be nice to have some customized items for your little Korean baby's 1st Dol or Baek-il (100th Day) party? The package starts from $20 and includes ceiling balloons and a customized banner with your baby's name or even with his/her photo. If you wish, you may add on more printed balloons with Korean wordings like "Happy 1st Dol".
BUY NOW | TheKoreanBaby.com | $20
