Aadam’s Wild One

What has definitely not felt like a year has passed and Aadam has turned one! To celebrate, we were in between having something chilled out in the park and doing a big shebang. We decided to settle in the middle and with 5 days left until the big day, started to plan!

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As I watched Aadam empty the contents of the plant pot onto the floor, I swiftly thought of the theme “wild one” – it seemed fitting.  This jungle themed birthday would be perfect for the little guy and so it was time to send out the evites. 

I liked how minimal the invitation was and used this same minimalist theme throughout the event. You can find the exact invitation template here. 

Jungle Invitation | Etsy

Unfortunately, many people were unable to make it due to such short notice, but we finally landed on a list of 50 adults, 20 children, and 6 babies! 

Time to get cracking on the venue and the rest of the party essentials too. 

The venue was the most difficult part of the party. We were back and forth between suburbs or central London, indoors or outdoors, hotel or hall. I still wanted to keep the party lowkey and more of a chill, as opposed to a super formal event. 

Luckily, we came across Rainbow Wave showroom – a large and bright fashion showroom looking over Regent’s canal. We managed to secure it just three days before the event!

I used this website to help find a venue. 

As the venue was large, open, and fairly plain, I had to make sure I nailed the decor to really set the jungle theme. I spent hours browsing Pinterest, Etsy, and Amazon to get inspiration and finally pulled together a mood board of exactly what I wanted to achieve. 

DESSERT TABLE

I planned the dessert table to be the star of the party and I’m happy with the results!

I made sure to stick to the theme using different shades of greens and golds of balloons in the arch (this was incredibly easy to assemble and not time consuming at all), and finishing it off with palm leaves scattered throughout. 

Backboard | The Word Is Love 

Aadam Wooden Sign | Etsy

Balloon Arch | Balloons – Balloon Arch Tape – Balloon Pump – Zipties 

1 Balloon | Amazon

Table | Amazon

Vine leaves | Etsy

Palm leaves | Amazon

ONE SIGN

I initially planned to place the ONE sign as part of the dessert table setting but realised it was absolutely humongous! We placed it directly opposite the entrance and jazzed it up with a few balloons and inflatable animals. It was perfect to enter the venue to and made a great picture backdrop too! 

ONE sign | The Word is Love

 Confetti and Normal Big Balloons | Etsy

 Balloons | Amazon

Inflatable Animals | Amazon

BABIES CORNER

We had a few babies coming along so I wanted there to be a little area just for them. This teepee would have been perfect, had I not forgotten the cushions to scatter around as the floor was quite hard! Nevertheless, it made a great piece of decor and a cute hideaway for the toddlers!

Teepee | Etsy 

Vine Leaves | Etsy

Fairy Lights | Etsy

CHILDREN’S TABLE

Tables | Bubble and Bounce

Tropical Table Cloth  | Etsy

Plates | Etsy

Cups |Etsy

Straws |Etsy

Animal Masks |Etsy

13″ Palm Leaves | Amazon

FOOD

Because I am HGAT, I did feel a little pressure to make sure I nailed the food for the guests. Unfortunately, my dreams of a pizza vendor dishing out fresh margaritas from the wood fire oven were crushed as all of them were unavailable at such short notice. So we made sure to order pizzas for the little ones and opted for grills for the adults.

The adult’s menu consisted of lamb chops, chicken tikka, seekh kebabs, tandoori chicken wings, naans, and poppadoms; all sourced from Original Lahore Kebab House and Raavis Kebab. The salads were bought from Costco the day before and just tossed 5 minutes before the guests arrived!

A tip for anyone planning to order food in, just be sure to arrange for food warmers as no one enjoys cold food! 

I was a little hesitant when it came to dessert as I didn’t want there to be lots of leftovers. But how could we not have dessert? It’s the best part of any party! 

The cake was designed by Bake of Art and can I just say, she did a great job reflecting the invitation and theme of the party! I opted for a two tier cake with vanilla sponge and cookies and cream on the bottom, and chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing as the top tier. We sliced it up and packed them as favours to take home. 

Cake and Cakesicles | Bake of Art

Gold Animal Toppers | Etsy

These super cute personalised safari biscuits were made by Beau’s Little Bakery in the shortest possible deadline, and were incredibly popular with the kids! I kept it light with the other desserts, opting for macarons, pavlova with berries, and a big platter of chopped fruit. 

Personalised Jungle Biscuits | Beau’s Little Bakery

Oh, and because I’m OTT, I also decided to hire a vintage cart serving out freshly churned ice cream from the lovely guys at Scrumptious Events. I know, I know, I didn’t want to waste but I count it as entertainment for adults too! You have a choice of up to 6 flavours and so I opted for vanilla, chocolate, mango sorbet, strawberries in clotted cream, coffee mocha, and cookies and cream. Safe flavours to please everyone! 

Ice Cream Cart | Scrumptious Events

Speaking of entertainment, keeping the kids occupied and amused, I was manic trying to find something. Thankfully, I came across Bubble and Bounce who provided this softplay; an absolute godsend in keeping the kids occupied so that the adults could relax and chat. It was easily assembled 10 minutes before the guests arrived and taken down just after 5pm. They also provided the children’s table and chairs too. 

Other ideas for children’s entertainment:

• Mobile petting farm – I really wanted this but all of them were unavailable! 
• Face painter 
• Children’s entertainer 
• Magician 

PARTY BOXES

Finally, the part allllll the kids look forward to, the party bags! I opted for these super cute personalised boxes from Etsy instead of the generic bags and they arrived within two days of ordering. 

Party Boxes | Etsy

I split the party boxes into three categories: boys, girls, and babies. For the babies, I kept it simple with a little teether or two plus a personalised chocolate for their parents. For the older kids, I was initially going to put a DIY kit (either baking or grow your own plant), but I did not have enough time so opted for the below:

• Suncatcher
• Personalised chocolates 
• Colouring books
• Unicorn stickers (Girls)
• Tattoos (Boys)
• Bubbles 
• Jungle Masks 

I’m still recovering from all the running around as I write this but I can proudly say, I managed to pull this party out of the bag in 5 days! From what started as a chill session in the park with friends, this party became a full on partay.

Did I go overboard? Maybe – you should have seen my wedding! Do I regret it? Definitely not. He’s only going to be one once, plus his next birthday party is when he’s 18 years old (watch this space, who knows what next year will bring!). 

I’ve left the suppliers and vendor information below – I hope it helps you when it comes to planning your party!

Venue | Rainbow Wave Showroom, 146 Royal College Street, NW1 0AT 

Food | Original Lahore on Gateforth Street and Raavis Kebab House on Drummond Street for the adults. Domino’s Pizza for the kids. 

Ice Cream Vendor | Scrumptious Events

Cake | Vanilla sponge with cookies and cream icing for the bottom layer and chocolate sponge with chocolate fudge icing for the top tier from Bake of Art. Gold animal cake toppers from Etsy. AADAM Cakesicles from Bake of Art.

Backboard | Green foilage from TWOL. “Aadam” wooden sign from Etsy. Balloon arch made by us. ONE letters from TWOL 

Soft Play | Bubble and Bounce