Party Time!

A beautiful blush and gold party for a one-year-old princess

ANOUK’S FIRST BIRTHDAY BASH

was a beautiful event on the family farm, Trentham, between Reitz and Bethlehem in the eastern Free State.

Mom Melissa Bredenkamp says that ever since she found out that she was expecting a girl she styled everything in two of her favourite colours: blush pink and gold. These are also the colour scheme of Anouk’s bedroom, the clothes in her cupboard, and in the end, it was also the inspiration for her first birthday party.

Melissa says she created her own cake stands because she couldn’t find exactly what she was looking for in

stores. Her husband, Brendon, spray painted candle sticks gold and Melissa stuck a carton cake base (available from most cake stores) on top with putty and glue.

The special cakes were baked by Mmm Macarons.

Anouk’s changing table, a second-hand find upcycled with a lick of paint, served as a beautiful display table for the cakes.

Melissa says she wanted to create a picnic feel for the party since it’s something that all children really love.

She painted a wooden pallet pink and gold and used this as a low table. Old cushions were recovered in cheap fabric for little guests to sit on. For older children you could easily stack more pallets on top of each other to create a higher table.

The beautiful flower installation made a big impact and was really easy so make, says Melissa. She created it with the help of her sister-in-law, Lana van der Westhuizen. They used a wooden grid, the kind that’s usually used as a supporting structure for creepers. The grid was suspended from the pergola. Then eucalyptus branches were tied to it with fishing line. They covered the whole grid with this greenery and lastly Melissa added gladioli flowers for a little colour. YB