Why BABYMANIA? Well to put it simply, because every one in our lives seems to be CRAZY about these babies! You know, like every one was once CRAZY about the Beatles. Well some still are. Namely these babies parents. I mean, Liam was almost named Lennon after all. So take your love for the Beatles and combine it with your love for your babies and what do you get? BABYMANIA!
*WARNING* this post is going to be very lengthy because this was such a special event in our lives. So much thought, time, effort, and love went into planning it and I want to remember it all from start to finish 58 years from now. So if you are just interested in the photos and want to skip over the details and behind the scene stories of how it all did COME TOGETHER, scroll waaaaay down to the end of this short novela.
Now, before I dig into all the details, I want to make mention of a few things. I indeed recognize that this Beatles bash was a bit over the top. I do not intend to celebrate in this manner each and every year because I do not want my children to expect this full on spectacle of a celebration all the time or even think this is the norm. Because it’s not. Plus I think birthdays wouldn't be as special for them if all of their parties were these meticulously styled events.
Also, I was well aware of the fact that they wouldn’t remember not one moment of their party. But let’s be real here, 1st birthdays aren’t really for the baby, or babies in this instance. They are really for the parents, family members and friends to celebrate in the joy that the baby has brought into the world. It’s a party held in their honor, but that’s about where it starts, and ends.
But for a girl who loves to plan parties, well that was enough for me. Hosting a party in their honor was reason enough to celebrate and celebrate big! I have dreamed of celebrating my children's birthdays long before I became a mother. I will still say that all the thought, planning, crafting, and endless hours of working on it for months on end (I started back in May) was worth it. It was a joyful type of day and one that gave me a happiness headache. It was one of the sweetest memories of my life.
Alright, with that out of the way, it is now time for the highlight reel...
The birth of the party actually began soon after I gave birth to my babies. As in they were only 2 weeks old. Thanks to 11 weeks of bed rest prior to them arriving, I hadn’t been to a single store in literally 3 months. I needed a Target fix and needed one bad. So my sister and I met up at one nearby and boy did we have fun!
While literally making her go up and down every aisle with me, I stumbled upon some adorable gift toppers tucked way down on the bottom shelf. But these weren't just any gift toppers, there were bright, colorful, cheery gift toppers that I almost didn't get. I remember saying to my sister, “I LOVE THESE!! I can see me incorporating them somehow into the babies' 1st birthday party!”
She was equally as excited about them as I was. But then my voice of reason convinced me I was totally crazy to be thinking about their 1st birthday party since they were only days old. So I placed them back on the shelf and she threw them back in my cart and told me I'd regret it if I didn’t buy them. She was right and I’m so glad she was. How they were used will come later.
So very early on in my pregnancy, I thought I had a brilliant idea for a 1st birthday party theme (there's that infamous voice of reason that kicked in again, this time before my children were even born!). I thought it would be simply adorable to have a “LIAM AND ELLE IN ONE-DERLAND” themed party. Cute right?! Well at that point I didn't even know there was going to be an Alice In Wonderland movie remake nor did I know that because of the movie, Alice themed parties would become one of the hottest and biggest party theme trends of 2010.
So back to the drawing board I went. But not until AFTER the babies were born this time. :)
It was spring time and I started the whole brainstorming process all over. Again. I wanted a party theme as unique and special as our babies are. Finally it hit me! With us both being huge fans of music, me loving The Beatles, Jeff REALLY loving The Beatles...The Beatles themed bash was born. It was kind of perfect too because when I was first pregnant, for months I was constantly listening to Beatles music, so our theme took me back to a very special time in our life. {AND, still to this day, often times we sing Beatles songs as good night lullabys to the babies.}
When I shared my idea for a theme with Jeff, he was instantly on board which made me all the more excited. So with it set in my mind, the planning and searching for fun props and items could begin.
It wasn't soon after that when I found my very first Beatles item. What was it you ask? A plate. But not just any plate, an Abbey Road plate. Only at Ross can you find an Abbey Road plate. And figurines of gnomes perched on mushrooms too. I had no clue what this plate would be used for, but I knew it had to go home with me.
From there, month after month I just kept finding cool items (our downstairs may or may not have looked like a Magical Mystery Tour mess!), coming up with one crazy concept after another (questioning my insanity all along the way), and went to bed dreaming about a Beatles bash for who knows how long.
WHEEEEW! Now that my disclaimers and how BABYMANIA came to be, I will finally start posting some photos. I LOVE how they turned out. Once again, the forever talented
Jeanna Hayes, who took these photos just days before having her baby, did an incredible job of capturing it all. THANK YOU JEANNS!!!!!!
First detail to share is the color scheme that was first introduced on the invitation. Remember those Target gift toppers mentioned above? Well they were the inspiration to the color scheme I used: teal blue (for Liam), hot pink (for Elle), lime green, orange sherbet, red and I also pulled in yellow...think YELLOW SUBMARINE as well as a gender neutral color.
Another part to mention about the invitations is the clever wording. I wanted the wording to have several Beatles songs woven throughout the ensemble (I think we came up with 14!). So the the lyrical genius that is my husband made that happen. Having the entire Beatles collection on iTunes helped us out during the creative process here. We listened to Beatles songs the entire time we worked on the wording. That in itself took an entire night! Anyhow, all the Beatles song references on the invitation are in COLOR!
Here is the front side of the invitation and mailing label:
And the back of the label
And the enclosure card
Upon entering the party, guests stopped by a table full of props for them to select and use at our "photo booth." I thought this would be a great way to always remember each person in attendance.
Specifically, for the guys I had "Beatles mustaches" on sticks (circa Sgt. Pepper era)...
And "John Lennon glasses" for them to wear also (there's that plate from Ross with the glasses on them!)
For the girls, I made 5 different signs to choose from for them to hold up. Each sign had a girl's name in the song title...
And even though I had "boy props" and "girl props," I think it was more fun to see them all intermixed! Here are a few more shots of some of our wonderful guests...
Also on that same entry table were some very vintage items...MY FISHER PRICE RECORD PLAYER from when I was a little girl (were talking almost 30 years old) AND A REAL BEATLES RECORD that was given to Jeff as a gift years ago (thanks Grammar G!). I must say, both mementos were rather special touches to us.
We also had framed photos of the babies taken from their 1 year session with Jeanna along with a Beatles notebook, one for Elle and one for Liam, for guests to share special notes, wishes or memories of them. It was so touching and sweet to read them afterward and I'm excited for the twins to enjoy them later in life!
After a stop at the photo booth, each guest received a pin of their choice to wear. I had 2 custom buttons made for them to pick from. I think the top one was the fan favorite! :)
Instead of gifts, and since the party was 2 weeks before Christmas, we thought it would be a nice idea to have "Liam And Elle's Giving Tree" where guests could bring an unwrapped toy to be donated in their honor to children in need that holiday season. Several people not only open their hearts, but opened their wallets and clipped monetary donations to the tree as well. It was really awesome being able to give so many great items away to children who needed a little something extra to lift their spirits during Christmas time. THANK YOU to all who contributed so generously!
And THANK YOU to those that brought gifts for children in need AND gifts for the twins! We sure do associate with giving and thoughtful people, don't we!? :)
As for what food was served, well like the invitation, I wanted it all to be thematic, of course. I also knew I wanted just classic birthday party food. Here's what was on the menu:
There were 2 passed appetizers...
And this was portion of the meal was served
We also had a big salad bar called the "Octopus's Garden". Let me just say that Jeff was all over making Mr. Octopus. I think he turned out so cute and my favorite part were his little suction cups made out of cupcake liners!! Isn't he clever?!
And since it was an "Octopus's Garden" I thought it would be appropriate to completely cover the top of the table with leaves of lettuce! It took over 7 heads to cover an 8 foot table. That was a lot of lettuce!
And because every garden needs cute little flowers sprinkled around, my friend Regina cut several of them out from bell peppers. I adored how these mini flowers turned out!
We also had Beatles themed drinks...
And the infamous custom water bottle wrap that I have been doing for like a decade now!
As for the table decor, and aside from the centerpieces, I wanted each guest to have a their own place setting. I skipped the place cards this time since it wasn't a formal affair, but each person had a menu, a "charger plate" that was a record, and the napkin rings were tickets, inspired by "Ticket To Ride." My sister and I managed to track down over 50 records from various thrift stores around town and then I added my own label over top of the Barry Manilow, Barbara Streisand, and Perry Como Christmas Classic ones. I loved how they turned out.
And for the centerpieces, and because the twins obviously share a birthday, the "Birthday" song, especially the first line of the song, was simply my inspiration. Wrapped gifts were placed on top of these super cool Beatles folders I found back in the summer. My mom and I made the oversized cupcake centerpieces made from fresh flowers. I love carnations when bundled tightly like this. The vase, or "cupcake liner," as well as the "Happy Birthday" wrapping paper traveled all the way home with us from our trip to Chicago to see Oprah, so they were special little touches that definitely traveled the distance and thankfully didn't get ruined along the way!
For other decor, I just added balloons in varying heights and colors to the back of everyone's chairs. This was actually a total last minute idea that I came up with the night before once I saw it all set up. I love last minute surprise additions that work out like this!
I also found these cool Beatles drinking glasses (each glass had a different Beatle member on it) and placed colorful, fresh flowers in them.
And of course I had the pleasure of making these special little chair banners for the guests of honor...
As far as the entertainment portion of the afternoon, we watched a video that Jeff put together of the babies' 1st year. Indeed the photos were all set to Beatles music ("In My Life," "Here Comes The Sun," and "All You Need Is Love"). It was really touching and sweet. And made me cry.
We also had a few special guests - the first being a magician because you can't go on a MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR without having any MAGIC! So we hired a magician to come and perform tricks for the kids and keep them entertained for a short while. Okay, and maybe some the adults were kind of entertained as well. It was a lot of fun for everyone.
The second special guest was the very best one of all - John Lennon himself. Yes, I for sure made my husband wear a Sgt. Pepper costume and talk with an English accent while in character.
It was a stitch! He also presented the babies with their birthday cakes and led us all in song two times over. Where did your mustache go in this photo Jeff?
And speaking of the birthday cakes, I LOVED how they turned out. My dearest friend Ruth made them and they turned out perfect. She even made the inside of the cake "tie dyed." So 70's right?! And let me not forget to point out those infamous Target gift toppers turned cake toppers and the adorable Beatles bibs that my friend Gina found especially for the occasion. What a perfect touch! I had to make birthday hats for them to match. :)
Too bad the cake thing didn't go over so well! Well not for one baby anyway. I knew it would be a gamble with it being the very first time they'd be tasting sugar, so I wasn't sure if they'd really enjoy it. I can definitely say that our daughter did NOT enjoy it what so ever. She wanted nothing to do with her cake. I'm glad she redeemed herself though on her actual birthday when we gave them cake again. This time it was an ice cream cake and she LOVED it and gobbled it right down. Thanks goodness because she can't be my child and not love sweets!
Liam, Mr. Easy Going, was much more cooperative. He tasted...
He touched...
And he got messy! Just like we wanted him to!
And the look on his face here just kills me. I crack up each time I see his stoic expression. This should not be the look on a kid's face who just got to eat a handful of high fructose corn syrupy yumminess!
We served cupcakes and ice cream to everyone after that. Thank you to Jessica at pen 'n paperflowers for the frosting tips! And please notice these nifty little pom pom topped flags (and take note to not even attempt them) because even though they looked darn cute, they were seriously so time consuming and a pain in the neck! I will NEVER make them again. Ever.
The most challenging and project driven parts of the party were the themed tables: "Octopus's Garden" and now the "All You Need Is Love And Sweets" table. Amy Atlas makes them look so effortless, but from the few that I've done, man, they mentally exhaust me!
The inspiration here was just all things Beatles such as...
"Marmalade Skies Jam" - (lyric from "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" for the non Beatles fans reading)
"Yellow Submarine" Twinkie treats (that vision came to me at 3 am one night a few weeks prior to the party!)
"Strawberry Fields Forever" sugar cookies by Truly Scrumptious
Guitar Cake Pops by Sugar Mama (who is my super talented cousin who recently started her own venture!)
She also made the "Marshmallow Pies" - another "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" reference - hence the extremely ginormous marshmallows (brought all the way from Arizona) placed into mini pie tins
Custom wrapped Hershey bars
Rock Star Candy
Mini doughnuts because they are my fave
And glasses of milk to help wash them down
Now probably my favorite detail of the sweets station was actually the very first design concept I came up with for the table. For those of you who don't know this little tidbit, The Beatles were on the Apple Records label...so I took the concept quite literally and made, well, APPLE RECORDS! I found different sized candle sticks, spray painted them white, and glued records on top for a "pedestal stand" look. Then Ruth, the same talent behind the babies' birthday cakes, made these to die for candy apples. And there you have it, APPLE RECORDS!!!
I also did the same thing with the "Yellow Submarine" Twinkie Treats, minus the records of course. I love taking items and re-purposing them for different uses! And speaking of which, I found individual beaded necklaces, cut them apart and then strung them together because I wanted a "hippie bead" effect swagged across the front of my table.
And last but not least, we're to the party favors. I had ones for the kids and different ones for the adults. Each child took home an"Ultimate Beatles Fan Bag" and here were the contents:
And now for a peek at the contents inside...
The moms told me that the mustaches and the roll of pennies were the favorite hits with the kids! My personal favorite was the "I Want To Hold Your Hand" clappers that also lit up (and when I was transporting them all the night before, they were the last thing piled on top of a slew of stuff in my Beatlemobile, and they kept going off and making me think a cop was after me! I'm wondering what the drivers behind me were thinking...)
And for the adult favors, we put together a CD of #1 hits (very comparable to the official one released a few years ago) and tied in wording on the cover to fit with the babies turning 1!
And now the inside (I loved incorporating images of the actual Beatles autographs on the CD cover!)
And there you have it, just about all the details and back stories behind BABYMANIA. In case you were wondering what the babies were up to and how they did with all this crazy commotion going on, they were actually quite delightful. Aside from Elle's cake melt down, they allowed different people to hold them, they performed their best "tricks," and had fun with the other kids! Not bad for it being 2 hours past their nap times!
Oh! And you can't really get the full effect of the babies' Beatles inspired attire, but I had Grandma Bunny sew Elle's "Yellow Submarine" inspired tutu skirt for her (since my version of sewing is whipping out a hot glue gun!), and Liam wore his spiffy "Yellow Submarine" onesie underneath his shirt. Quite cute!
Now for a few shots of the babies...
Elle's then favorite trick of "how old are you?"
Liam's then favorite trick of "where's your mouth?"
Elle loved Brynlee!
And Liam loved Brooklynn!
I guess it's safe to say that these babies are simply adored and we're all just CRAZY about them!
And last but not least, here is the thank you note we sent out inspired by the beloved Polaroid, you know since Polaroid pics were huge back in the 70's.
And while on the topic of thank you,
I'm sending ALL MY LOVING thanks to those of you (you all know who you are!) who gave so freely of your time, your talents, and your love. A DAY IN THE LIFE of Liam and Elle would not have been possible without you. BABYMANIA will forever hold a special spot in our hearts. WE LOVE YOU YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!!!
