The brief
A first birthday at a bright white restaurant full of monstera and arched windows — which is to say, a room that was already beautiful. A first birthday is not really a children's party: the baby will not remember it, half the guests are adults, and what the family is actually buying is one afternoon of photographs and a lunch they get to sit down for.
What we built
Nothing heavy. Clouds of white balloons floating under the ceiling, pale blue and cream through the room, and a standing <i>1</i>. The restaurant's own light and greenery did the rest — at this age, over-decorating only fights the room and dates the photographs.
How the day went
Mickey Mouse walked in through the front door in a bow tie and waved at everyone from the pavement first, which is exactly the right pace for a one-year-old. Then the bubble show: bubbles down the whole length of the room, foam pressed into small hands, and finally a giant bubble drawn up and closed over his mother while she held him — the shot the family came away with. There was a chocolate fountain with fruit skewers and marshmallows for the older cousins, and the adults ate a proper lunch at a laid table while it all happened around them.
What the parents got
Photographs that look like a family portrait session rather than a party, and an afternoon in which the parents were in the pictures instead of running the room.
