Shiloh Is One

The best thing about event planning is helping people celebrate the important days in their lives in a unique and meaningful (and, of course, beautiful!) way, so, when Anna contacted me after seeing my French Ladurée themed baby shower to help plan her daughter’s first birthday party — I knew I had to help! Anna came to me knowing that she wanted an ethereal, whimsical party with a few glam touches sprinkled in for her daughter, Shiloh.

It was also important to Anna for us to organically incorporate the Korean tradition of dol or doljabi, which celebrates the first birthday of a baby, while also blessing the baby with a prosperous future. With these goals in mind, I set off to put together the most wonderful day for Anna and her precious baby girl.

The first step to achieving all of our goals for the event was to find the perfect location. Ultimately, we chose Saladang Song, a gorgeous Thai restaurant in South Pasadena. It provided us with not just an large, open space, but beautiful floor to ceiling windows that made it the best spot for a party that was aiming for a light and airy aesthetic. Next, I contacted my go-to vintage rental, Found Rentals, and secured their Boothbay cabinet to act as a display for the photos of Shiloh in shabby chic frames, some of her favorite knitted dolls, the custom heart-shaped ‘Shiloh is One’ cookies, and the traditional Korean rice cakes with heart-shaped details. The most important part of event planning is incorporating meaningful details and adding family photos, treasured mementoes, and items with cultural significance are an amazing way to do just that.

Another important personalization done especially for the birthday girl was the lovely backdrop handmade especially for Shiloh by Helen at Supermamasong. Shiloh’s name, lovingly and meticulously constructed out of paper flowers, and the larger, accompanying arrangements, served as the primary focal point for the party and created a beautiful setting for not just the photos of the family, but all of the delectable sweet treats made by my favorite baker in town, Sweet and Saucy Shop. Simple, yet elegant, a touch of gold glitter was dusted on the cakes and hand-painted macarons.

Each dessert had a floral detail, as well, which tied in with the shabby chic whimsy of the other decor. Finally, my friend Brooke Foley at MTF Studio created the most fantastic floral arrangements. Effortlessly chic and delicate, the flowers dotting the tables around the room in hand-painted bud vases were beautiful and perfectly in-theme. The addition of the garland vines on the photo shelf was an amazing and eye-popping addition and, along with the sequin chevron runner, gave the room a fun, festive look.

My favorite part of the day was the doljabi area, which was a display where guests could guess which item Shiloh would pick up in the doljabi game for a prize. Doljabi is a traditional Korean game played at a baby’s first birthday and is meant to foretell the birthday boy or girl’s future. It is always fun to see which items the baby reaches for first! Because Shiloh’s parents are a doctor and an attorney, her doljabi consisted of a stethoscope and a mallet, as well as the traditional pencil (symbolizing teacher or scholar), money (wealth), basketball (athlete), and microphone (entertainer or performer).

As you can see, Shiloh made a grab for three of the four! Afterwards, guests enjoyed entertainers from Bubble Mania and a photo booth as the extremely talented photographer, Erin Saldana, continued to snap the beautiful photos you see here.

Captured By: Erin Saldana

To see more images from this event check out our feature on SMP!