Happy Monday!!
About a month ago (already?!) we celebrated our sweet little man’s first birthday with family. My grandma took the bus from Duluth, parents, brother-in-law + girlfriend drove up from the Twin Cities, brother-in-law + girlfriend flew in from Brooklyn, NY, and the rest of the crew came from northern Minnesota. 
So many miles in all spent traveling to our home with family! It meant the world to us to have everyone closest to us and the kids here celebrating all weekend. It was such a fun week of relaxing and just enjoying time with the kids! While we worked, they were well-loved on and tuckered out from so much play! 
We decided to celebrate on Friday morning and do an easygoing brunch. We had 3 different quiches, an array of fruit, gluten-free muffins, and cupcakes from Nichole’s Bakery in downtown Fargo. They were delicious! There were so many different options, but knowing we were doing it in the morning I landed on two I thought were light enough for the mid-morning, yet still a little indulgent and would go well with coffee. So- Carrot Cake + Cream Cheese Frosting and a Chocolate Cake + Salted Caramel Frosting it was for our cupcakes, and they were amazing! I went for the carrot cake first, and I was not disappointed! 
I loved getting the cupcakes from a smaller, local business in the area. Nichole’s has been around the Fargo area for over 15 years, so I felt confident that they would be able to create a smash cake that resembled a little stump to go along with our “man cub” theme (they did!! It was beyond what I had imagined it being!), and deliver on cupcakes for the rest of us! They also can make gluten-free cakes in a few sizes as an option if you need that! They also have a full café in their bakery, so online you can find their lunch menu. They also do a ton of wedding events and have a full wedding + events menu online to look over too- not just cakes either! Quiches, sandwiches for a crowd, breakfast pastry trays… there is a ton of options! 
Like I shared earlier, I did a “man cub” theme for our little T! I connected with Audrey who owns her Etsy Shop- Prints For Events. I loved all of her items in her man cub theme, but some of my favorite items were these customizable signs, printable bear food labels , and these printable thank you cards! There are a ton of other cute printable items in her shop, but I was printing my own to save a little bit on cost, so I only printed off some of her items!
I saved the favorite items from the party for last! The girls at White House Co., another local, small business out of Fargo, were a super fun partnership for his party! I had seen many of their amazing furniture pieces from wedding venues in the area and loved how they made for the most simple yet sweet spots for a photo op! I initially went in to their warehouse for a single love seat, but when Sam was walking me around their warehouse of hundreds and hundreds of rentable decor pieces (big and small!), she gave me so many ideas for so many different things I could rent and use for his special day. I ended up going with a blue velvet-looking love seat that was so perfect for the color palette I was going for with his birthday theme, and a super fun banner used for a backdrop that you could hang anywhere that was a few shades of blue with some silver mixed in. I used these items out on the porch for a few photo op spots for our little chap and guests!
My favorite thing we added to the love seat to make it come alive was the balloon arch! I have worked with Anagram balloons a handful of times, and they sent some of the coolest balloons that made the balloon arch what it was. I was a little unsure with some of the shapes how it would turn out, but with help from my BIL’S girlfriend, we were able to get this epic arch done! I actually love making these since doing one on my own (much smaller!) for C’s 3rd birthday back in June. I used fishing wire and a needle to thread the balloons onto the line and used that to drape the balloons wherever we wanted it to be! We stuck the love seat right underneath the arch, and it was the perfect little spot for pictures with our birthday boy!
I was asked a ton about how we did it, and I would say the most helpful things were
1. Using an air compressor to quickly and easily blow up the balloons (Dakota’s brother was on that duty for us!)
2. Organize the balloons by color laid out on the floor so you can easily see and grab balloons as you go (another duty Dakota’s brother thought of for us!)
3. As you start to fish the line through the bottom of the balloons make sure to stop and bunch them up from time to time so you can see how it’s starting to take shape!
4. Having someone helping you makes the process go faster and is more fun! As Dakota’s brother’s girlfriend fished the line through the balloons I held the bunched balloons in place.
5. Leave some smaller latex balloons out of your arch, so you can fill them in for any bare spots that naturally come up after you hang or drape your arch!
We also rented a few other items for the morning from White House Co. – Gold silverware (yes, real silverware!), these amazing white and gold-rimmed plates, green and blue glasses for our faux-mosa’s (an assortment of sparkling water flavors + juice flavors) :), and these wooden platform trays to set different things on! I loved the woodsy element these added without overdoing it. I set the cake platter on one, the utensils on another, and found a few other places to spread them out throughout the kitchen! 
I loved how simple the process was to rent out items for the day. There were SO many different things to rent- from signage, to chairs, to love seats, to full-size couches, to dinnerware, to candles, peg walls for donuts, amazing tables for serving… and so much more. Whether you are engaged and planning your wedding, hosting a large or small event like a birthday party, or I even thought for a women’s night event through your church… these girls have everything you need! I will for sure be using their rental services in the future and recommending them! I think my most favorite part was being able to load everything back up and seeing my home and closet space instantly come back, and I loved getting to play around with the items while they were in my home as I was getting party-prepped! 
We are so thankful to God for a home to host family in and celebrate the lives of our children or other milestones within the walls of this place. These are all gracious gifts we don’t deserve, but we are so thankful for God’s blessings in our lives, our children and each year of life we get to celebrate with them, and for the work God is doing in their little hearts as we shepherd them in the way they should go. We truly loved getting to celebrate this special day for our little man with our family, and I enjoyed connecting with old and new brands to make his little man cub birthday party come together!
with love,
from courtney
withlovefromcourtney.com 