Having been a luxury wedding and event planner for over a decade my love for weddings runs deep in my bones. It’s the type A personality in me that loves creating timelines, the dreamer and visionary in me that loves designing one of a kind events and the servants heart in me that loves giving all I have to each of my couples.

It only seemed fitting for me to begin celebrating my sweet little girls marriage day on her first birthday. So when I stumbled across this precious cake knife tradition I just knew that I had to have it be a part of Charlotte’s birthday celebration.

Let’s break the tradition down.

It’s unclear where the tradition came. Although cutting a birthday cake dates back to Germany in 15th century A.D. it wasn’t until Victorian times when the Brides Cake entered a wedding celebration. As far as gifting a cake knife on a first birthday the history is unclear, but when I stumbled across it I knew it was the key to the perfect first birthday gift.

What:
A special cake knife is gifted to a little girl on her first birthday.
Note: I did receive messages that it can also be custom to gift a little boy a cake knife as well.

Why:
The special cake knife can then be used for special occasions leading up to ones marriage day. Birthdays, communion, graduation, etc.

Julia Childs did say that any event without cake it just a meeting. We all know that cake is generally key to a proper celebration so why not have the perfect cake knife for each special occasion.

How:
For Charlotte I will admit that I didn’t have a formal cake knife for my wedding, or I would have passed our wedding set to her. Instead we got her a set from Tiffany’s as her very first blue box.

A few of the options we looked at were:
Tiffany and Co.
Kate Spade , with blue
Kate Spade, with rose
Vera Wang for Wedgewood
Sterling Silver Set
Waterford Diamond Set

Leave it to me to be indecisive about what I want to engrave on Charlotte’s set. For her birthday it was blank, but I think I have decided to simply put her formal name on the cake knife and for her wedding we can then add the name of her groom to the cake server for her set to be complete.

I have also heard of a simple message on the back of the cake server to be a great option. Something like:
Here’s to the first of many celebrations honoring you.
Happy First Birthday! May this cake knife bring you joy each time you celebrate.

In hindsight I may have given Barrett his own birthday cake knife, but will reserve that for his someday bride. Maybe she will have been gifted her very own cake knife.

Our precious cake knife sign came from Honey Bear Pages to match all of our stationery for the party. She has an adorable Etsy shop and is the sweetest! I would highly recommend reaching out to her for a cake knife sign or any stationery needs.

What do you think of the tradition? Did you receive a birthday cake knife, or have you gifted a special cake knife to someone? I would love to hear below!

xo Christina

Have I told y’all that I have the sweetest of friends? The most creative and thoughtful people in my life that not only support me, but love and shower my sweet family. If you have ever met someone with a true heart of gold you know exactly how my sweet friend Brittany is. I am lucky that we get to work together, but to raise babies and celebrate milestones outside of the event industry together is such a treat.

When Britt approached me about a tiny shower for our second little one I was honored and knew it would be perfect in every way. Her joy for celebrating and pulling together the perfect afternoon is a gift that I was lucky to receive.

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How sweet is this perfect afternoon icing class hosted at Buttercup Bakery? Kristina not only had our pre-made cake rounds and icing to teach us how to stack, crumb coat and ice the perfect cakes, but she had the most amazing treats for everyone to nibble on while our crumb coats were setting! Can we talk about this blackberry focaccia bread? To-die-for!

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The fun florals from Bramble and Bee were the perfect topper and Courtney Leigh Photography not only captured the afternoon, but shared her precious girls with us! I can’t wait for little missy to arrive and be surrounded by not only these amazing women, but their families as well.

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Thank you to all of the ladies who took time our of their afternoon to celebrate our sweet babe, and to the friend-ors who helped Britt with such a sweet day! I adore each of you and can’t wait for you to meet our little girl so soon!

xo Christina

If there’s one story that so many know from childhood it has to be If You Give a Mouse a Cookie! Due to my love for blueberry pancakes when I was pregnant a sweet friend gifted me If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and it’s been a favorite in our home since day one. If you ask my little guy which book is his favorite he replies “all of them” so I knew exactly what had to be done!

I knew for this third birthday I wanted cute paper, great food, a fun day and an adorable cake. Step one was setting the theme and starting with the paper. I found Honey Bear Pages I knew I struck gold! Abby was AMAZING to work with and I was so excited when we honed in on the pancake, muffin, donut and cookie as our “theme.” She had the cutest illustrations and we paired the primary colors from the books with the food to complete the look! Seriously, how cute are these!
I love this template thank you for little ones. While my guy can’t quite write his name, he did describe his gifts to me and draw each friend a picture. This is a great way to start teaching littles how to be grateful at an early age.

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Next on board was Alicia of The Sugar Cookie Studio. If you follow me personally on Instagram it is possible you know my love for these cookies. Not only is she insanely talented (take a look at this reel) the cookies taste good! I grew up on homemade sugar cookies and while I know you can’t have professional cookies that soft, these are the closest I have found, but have the amazing structure and designs that I love!

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To continue with the theme I grabbed these adorable little guys from Amazon and paired them with the food. Can we talk about the food!

Kristina from Buttercup is a God-send. We have worked together numerous times (fun fact she and my husband went to grade school together!) and when I found out she was opening her precious storefront just in time for our food themed party I knew I had to try to get on her calendar as soon as I could. The menu did not disappoint. I will let the pictures (from my iPhone) speak for themselves, because I truly don’t think I could put descriptive words together to adequately describe how amazing brunch was!

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I can’t forget the cake! Cristina with Dulce Designs was the mastermind behind the cake again this year! It’s hard to find inspiration for a cake that is children’s book themed, but she pulled it off flawlessly! Honestly, we don’t have a lot of sweets in our home on a daily basis, so when my three year old constantly went for the cookies I knew he was his daddy’s little guy for sure! The cookies were the perfect addition to this super fun cake!

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I had the cutest ideas for favors… but pregnant brain got the best of me, however I still think they turned out really cute! I pulled inspiration from Pig and her bubble bath, grabbed goggles for the pool and of course had to add cookies for everyone to take home as part of their favor. Personally, favors that add clutter aren’t necessary, but I love that all of these have a use or can be consumed! Double win!

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Most of all I can’t believe my little guy is three. With his little sister arriving any day I knew I wanted his birthday to be full of his favorite things; brunch, cookies and swimming! It was a special treat to be joined by our friends and family to celebrate! Cheers to your best year yet little man! Mommy and Daddy love you!

All of the items from Amazon can be found on my Amazon Storefront HERE. The cute figurines and box book set might be my favorite on the list!

Before I share all of the goodness below, I have to say how truly blessed I am to have amazing women in my life to shower sweet baby Frederick. I mean look at these ladies, each of which I am eternally grateful for.

These ladies pulled out all of the stops, starting with these adorable invitations and paper goods from Nine Zero Nine Creative. Ryann is truly talented and I was so grateful for her to pull my love for only blueberry pancakes into a shower theme!

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In addition to the perfect paper details can we talk about the food! If I craved anything (truly, I really didn’t eat much other than a daily protein shake with baby F) it was blueberry crunch pancakes from First Watch. Needless to say I wanted one of everything from Buttercup at my shower. She took my love for brunch and satisfied it, ten fold!

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I couldn’t have had a sweeter shower (pun intended) if I had planned it myself. Thank you to the sweet friends, family and loved ones for celebrating our little one.

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I know baby Frederick will be so loved by his Gigi, Cici and all of his Aunts!

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The boys were golfing while we were brunching, but it was such a treat for my Mr. to swing by after all of the festivities to share the gender of our little one with our family! We will share with you all soon, but in the mean time here is my handsome husband instead.

Thank you to the amazing creatives, that I am lucky to call friends who contributed to such a special day!
Floral – Bramble and Bee
Catering – Buttercup
Stationery – NineZeroNine Creative
Images – Butter