This was certainly an interesting year for Marina’s birthday celebrations. I had been planning her party for months and as it turned out the date I chose was situated just at the beginning of the pandemic craziness. Gratefully, the shelter in place recommendations had not been set in place yet and we had only invited a small group of our closest family and friends. Even so, I took a lot of extra precautions at the party, especially around the way I served the food and drinks. It was, as I said, interesting… but more importantly it was a beautiful day full of love and celebrating my beautiful little deer.

A funny story about the party theme. My children, like me, love to plan their birthday parties. Over the years you’ve seen Marina’s party themes, ranging from princess to unicorn to mermaid. Sometime last year, not long after her 4th birthday celebration, she randomly approached me and said, “Mama, this year I want to have a reindeer birthday!” I was so puzzled! To this day, I have no idea how she got that in her head, but it stuck because as the months went by, anytime he birthday came up, she reminded me that it was going to be a reindeer theme. It ended up being a little bit more woodland fawn/deer than reindeer, but she loved it all the same.

As usual, party planning started early for me. Typically I start planning parties 3 months in advance. That gives me plenty of time to plan and find everything that I’ll want without feeling rushed. This time around, my first step was making my Deer Party Pinterest board to gather ideas and inspiration. From there, I budgeted and planned which elements to include and purchased the necessary supplies. This year, almost all of the party supplies, food and decor came from small, local businesses which made my heart really happy.

As for the menu, I kept things simple by ordering a tray of sandwiches for the adults and a tray of chicken and mozzarella sticks for the kids. For dessert, we had gorgeous sugar cookies made by a friend of mine and a lovely deer cake made by a local bakery. Individually wrapped cookies also served as sweet take-home favors for our guests.

Scroll down to see more details from her special day.

The Cake!

The Cookies!

Here are a few links to some of the party details:
Plates
Straws
Cake Topper
Letter Board
Marina’s Shoes
Marina’s Body Suit

It was a truly beautiful day of celebrating for my special girl. I am so very grateful that we were able to have this party before our entire world got turned upsidedown by COVID-19. We are just now moving into our third week of social distancing and the party spirit feels like its a world away right now. These memories a bittersweet reminder of just how much we took for granted in our “normal” lives. I will always be forever grateful for this precious day and I hope that Marina’s memories of her deer party will be as sweet as she is.

Marina Grace’s 5th Birthday Party – An Oh Deer! Celebration