If you love French culture and heritage and your baby is turning one, take advantage and choose a Paris birthday party theme. While you still have full say over your child's birthday theme, choose the theme that you like best.
Choose the invitation you like best that channels Paris to your guests. Of course, since this is a first birthday party, it would be great to find one that has a picture of a French baby in front! If you can't find one, consider downloading an image that is of public domain and printing that for your invitation. Jot down the details of the birthday party and you're done.
Why not decorate your little girl's birthday party in pastels and silver to emulate Spring in Paris? Simply gather together balloons in various pastel colors and replace their strings with ribbon. Bunch them up together to decorate the room. Instead of streamers, use tissue pompoms on the ceiling. If you group them together instead of hanging them singly, they make a very impressive display. You can find a pinata that's in a blossom shape and hang that in the middle of the room. Hang lengths of ribbon from the ceiling above the poms and let them dangle through the grouping. Hang posters of Paris on the walls to create a sense of place.
Set the kids table completely in pastels; throw a lime cloth over the table and have toppers in pink, blue, and yellow over it. Set three acrylic fishbowls in the center and fill with pastel colored artificial flowers or real ones, if you like. Set each place setting in white as a counterpoint to all the colors. However, cinch each napkin with a ribbon in a pastel color.
The cake table is also covered with a lime cloth, but perhaps a yellow or pink topper would be best here. Have the cake on an elevated stand. Surround the cake with miniature cupcakes with creamy white frosting all topped with a single, perfect sugar flower.
For the food, simple is best too, when it comes to young children. A cheese tray with sliced apples, pears, and grapes is both sophisticated and familiar to a child. Baguettes topped with honeyed cream cheese and cinnamon and toast rounds with Nutella are terrific open sandwiches. A fruit tray with a simple dip of yogurt and brown sugar will probably prove to be quite popular.
The cake may be a showstopper if you so choose. A croquembouche will satisfy the grownups while the cupcakes will likely be perfect servings for the children. Provide a small, perfect cake for your little one to blow out. A small pound cake covered with lime colored fondant and topped with a spray of Spring flowers done in sugar is very pretty and the right size for your child to blow out her first candle.
As for favors, give out something that is chic! There are small
“silk” bags available. They can be filled with assorted
candy, a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer, and your thank-you note.