CELEBRATIONS: Ice-Cream Themed Joint 1st and 3rd Birthday Party

When it came to choosing a party theme for Isabella and Poppy's joint birthday party I knew it had to be Ice-Cream. It's Isabella's favourite treat and such a fun theme for getting in the mood for summer. We did originally plan to have the party nearer to the end of May, so it would be more in the middle of their birthdays but to ensure most of Isabella's little friends could come we had to bring it forward. This did make it harder to find ice-cream themed items in the shops and online, as a lot of retailers hadn't brought out their summer ranges yet. If we'd gone for a Bunny theme again, like we did last year, then it would have been a dream with all of the Easter ranges available! That's one of my biggest tips when it comes to party planning - think about your theme in relation to the time of year and party ranges that are easily available.

I actually did most of the decoration/tableware sourcing online this time because party shopping with two children in tow is no fun for anyone. Party Pieces and Hobbycraft were the two main website the party decorations/tableware came from and I'd highly recommend them. Party Pieces is the website to head to if you want everything from one place, all ready to go and following a certain theme. Hobbycraft is the place to go if you want to add a DIY twist to your party preparations and let your creativity run wild. I love mixing the two together to make things easier, but also add my own twist.

All of the parties I plan seem to have some kind of floral pattern weaved into the theme because I simply can't resist. The new Ditsy Floral party range from Ginger Ray on Party Pieces jumped out at me as being the perfect one for the girl's party. I really liked the touches of rose gold, beautiful floral pattern and scalloped edging. The rose gold touches made it easy to pair with other decorations available in rose gold, such as balloon and napkins.

Entertainment at a children's party is key, so we decided to book Messy Senses to come and do a variety of fun ice-cream themed activities. There will be another blog post coming soon all about the activities, along with lots of photos and information so keep an eye out on my Twitter for that. As for the rest of the party I think the best way to show you is through the following photos, next to which I've included details about where the items were from just incase you're planning a party too.

Main Cake Tables

We struggled to find a suitable cake in the supermarkets that wasn't covered in chocolate (both girls don't have chocolate), so I had to get a bit DIY and 'pimp up' a shop bought plain cake. I will have a blog post coming on how I did it, but I'm so happy with the result and Isabella loved it too. We then picked up the Jazzies Rainbow Sprinkles cake from ASDA as Poppy's birthday cake, as we knew she wouldn't be having any of it (it contains white chocolate buttercream). Also on the cake tables were planters filled with blitzed custard cream biscuits to look like sand, with homemade iced ice-cream vanilla biscuits standing up in it. The party bags were displayed either side and in the middle was a donut wall because who wouldn't want that at their party?

Left Cake Stand - Hobbycraft / Happy Birthday Banner - Party Pieces / Rose Gold Floral Bunting - Party Pieces / White Party Bags - Hobbycraft / 3 & 1 Rose Gold Balloons - Party Pieces / Helium Cannister - Party Pieces / Donut Wall - Hobbycraft / Light Blue Planters - B&M / Ice-Cream Balloon - eBay /Confetti Balloons - Poundland / Pink Ombre Table Cloth - Party Pieces / Left Birthday Cake - Morrisons and Waitrose / Right Sprinkles Birthday Cake - ASDA / Meri Meri Glitter Alphabet Stickers - ASOS / Marble Pink and Purple Balloons - Party Pieces

Children's Table

When it came to planning the food for both children and adults we decided to go down the 'afternoon tea' route, as it seemed the easiest and most inline with the ice-cream theme. My husband was due to be away the day before the party, so all preparations feel to me and I needed to be prepared. On the week or so running up to the party I made endless plain and cheese scones (both full and mini size), sausage rolls, cheese and onion rolls, biscuits and ice-cream sauces, most of which were then frozen straight away. This meant that the main things left to make on the day of the party were the sandwiches, which made life a lot easier and helped to keep the run up as stress-free as possible.

Ice-Cream Vans - Party Pieces / Rose Gold Party Hat - Party Pieces / Ditsy Floral Paper Plates - Party Pieces / Ditsy Floral Paper Cups - Party Pieces / Ditsy Floral Paper Straws - Party Pieces / Mint, Lavender & Pale Pink Disposable Cutlery - Party Pieces / Pale Pink Disposable Table covers - ASDA / Ice-Cream Hair Clip - Cath Kidston / Ditsy Floral Napkins - Party Pieces / Ice-Cream Pistachio Night Light - Rex London / Wilton Cone Baking Rack - Hobbycraft / Ditsy Floral Garland - Party Pieces

Adult's Food Table

Again, for the adult's food we went for an 'afternoon tea' with warm scones (hence why they're not in some of these photos, they were waiting on disposable foil trays in the oven), fresh sandwiches, quiches, pork pie, homemade sausage rolls and crudité. 

Floral Suitcases - Sass & Belle / Placecards - Hobbycraft / Pastel Sharpie Pens - Hobbycraft / Rose Gold Polka Dot Napkins - Party Pieces 

Ice-Cream Table

The star of the party! It wouldn't be an ice-cream party without ice-cream, so to keep it simple we bought a few tubs of ice-cream and then had fun with lots of toppings, sauces and wafers. I made a dark chocolate & ginger sauce and peanut butter sauce, as well as buying the classic strawberry and toffee Askey sauces. Toppings included popping candy, sprinkles, pearlescent turquoise sprinkles, chocolate chips, marshmallows, rainbow drops, fresh berries, chocolate strands and honeycomb. Then when it came to wafers we had the traditional fans, café curls and ice-cream sweets for an added hit of sugar! I also dotted around the room flat bottom coned filled with a stone for weight and a few fresh flowers to bring that touch of spring. 

Ice-Cream Scoops - Poundland / Ice-Cream Ornaments - Home Bargains / Rose Gold Mini Mason Jars - Hobbycraft / Polka Dot Table Cover - Sainsburys / Ice-Cream Spoons - Rex London / Pom Pom Garland - Homemade / Disposable Bowls - HEMA / Ice-Cream Sweets - ASDA / Pearlescent Turquoise Sprinkles - Hobbycraft 

It took months to plan and was the perfect distraction from the quickly approaching end of my maternity leave - I just can't believe it's all over for another year. I'm also slightly panicking about the years when Isabell and Poppy will want two separate parties; I'm not sure I have the ability to plan two of these within a few months! 

What's your favourite party theme?

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)

Helen x

*Thank you very much to Party Pieces, Hobbycraft and Rex London for working with me to put together this party. This post contains PR samples. As always, all opinions are my own and 100% honest. 

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