a sweet, simple, second birthday party in the park
I was knee-deep in birthday party planning for Luna’s third birthday and Zoey’s first (!!) when I realized I never shared what we did for Luna’s second birthday party!
I did most of the planning for this family party before I gave birth and I’m so glad I did—I couldn’t imagine trying to plan a party while caring for a newborn and my postpartum self. It turned out beautifully and I was really happy we got to celebrate our Luna, who insisted on wearing her rainboots even though it was a warm October day. The girl knows what she wants and I love that about her.
decor
I was inspired by color more than by a theme for Luna’s birthday party, so I ran with that. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, which still meant stuffing my van full of our coffee table, a side table, and one of our dining benches to use as buffets. 😅 I used blankets from home that matched the pink, yellow, sage green, and bronzey gold color scheme as table coverings.
I tied four of our Sarah’s Silks playsilks together and to the fence to create a banner/backdrop. It ended up floating beautifully in the breeze and added a nice bit of whimsy to the party!
We may not have had a bunch of kids at this party but we still had a piñata for Luna since it’s tradition! We let them take a few sings and then used the pull string to release m&m packets and fruit snacks.
Since we were having a simple family birthday party at a park with lots and lots of open space, I didn’t feel the need to reserve a specific picnic area from the city. We posted up close to the playground near a fence and a few trees and set up our picnic. I laid out our Gathre mats and a few picnic blankets, plus some of our family brought chairs, there was plenty of seating for everyone.
food + drink
I ordered catering platters through Nugget which cut down on a lot of the food prep and mental gymnastics of deciding what kind of food to serve. The platters come prepared on really pretty wooden trays which I like, and the sandwiches themselves were tasty! All I had to do was put the chips in a bowl!
We also commissioned a gallon of cold brew from Calaca Coffee, co-founded by my sister’s boyfriend! They’re based in the Bay Area which means we don’t get to enjoy it nearly as much as we’d like to, so it was extra special to be able to have that caffeine pick-me-up for our family. If you’re Latin, you know we don’t play about our post-meal cafecito. We were even spoiled with homemade simple syrup!
cake
I love a made-with-love cake mix cake so I made a strawberry cake and frosted it with rainbow chip frosting. That combo screams childhood to me and it was a hit with our family!
