It's an Elebration!

Nope not a typo - we're having an Elebration!!  Our very dear friends got Carolina a sweet little elephant lovey as a gift and now it's her lovely that she goes to sleep with every night.  Santa brought her Ollie the Elephant from Scentsy for Christmas and he's already been to Michigan and back with us!  Another family got her a Dumbo elephant for Christmas.  She's totally in love with her little elephants.

While we were at my mother in law's house over Christmas, we were talking about the baby's first birthday and what theme to go with for the party.  Hubby suggested princesses.  I love this but really wanted to hold off until she's a little bit older since I'm sure she'll want to do this once she can pick her own themes.  My mother in law suggested Minnie Mouse.  We have a giant Minnie that Sis does love but I was hoping we'd do maybe next year when she could really get into it.

On her save the date cards I just used a generic cupcake and thought I would just use that as her theme.  Once we started talking about it, I didn't want to do just cupcakes.  Out of the blue, elephants popped into my head and we all agreed that it was a good idea.  So now I'm on a mission to plan an Elebration for Easter weekend.

I found a really cute stamp from Stampin' Up on eBay that should be arriving this week.  I'm also lucky enough to have Dan's aunt as a Stampin' Up consultant.  I found a cute (but tiny) elephant stamp that's also been ordered and is on it's way to me.  The newest Stampin' Up catalog has a cute ticket rolling stamp and ticket shaped punch that will also be making their way to my house to help prep for this Elebration.

Pinterest didn't have much to offer in the way of an elephant birthday party.  There were some circus party ideas but I don't want to go the bright color, all out circus party direction.  I'm going to include some circus-y things but don't want it to be a traditional, over the (big) top circus party.

Luckily I've got a neighbor who makes cakes so she's going to take care of that for me.  Another neighbor is a florist so she's going to help me work on some decorations.  A couple of other friends have offered to help make decorations for the party.  I don't think they knew what they were volunteering for....

I was looking for somewhere to have the party.  Currently the guest list is at 166 people - adults and kiddos - and there's no stinking way I would have room for half those people at our house.  I know not everyone invited will come but hopefully most will be able to attend and celebrate Sis' special day.  Being a holiday weekend, finding somewhere reasonably priced is just about impossible.  Our community has a pool house to rent but I'm nervous about the little ones wandering into the pool having it there.  So it looks like the party will be at our house.  Hopefully I'll be able to borrow tables and chairs from friends to accommodate everyone and not have to spend too much on renting stuff.  My thought was that having it at our house will help the out of town guests from getting lost trying to find another location since it can be a little overwhelming.

There's a lot of self - imposed pressure for this party.  It's the last first birthday party I'm planning until grand babies come along so I want it to be perfect.  Knowing how crazy I get about other parties and events, it will be a small miracle if I make it through without having a break down.

Several family members are planning to come in from out of town and hopefully more will be able to attend.  That's why I'm trying to get plans together already.  Our own of town guests need to make travel plans and save up for the trip.

I can't wait until things start coming together!  Staying busy for the next couple of months is probably best for me or my annual birthday meltdown will hit full force.

What are your party tips/tricks??