Elijah’s Red Balloon Birthday Party |

I was so lucky to be able to celebrate my nephew Elijah’s first birthday with him this past weekend in his new Beijing home. My sister is a major francophile – she lived there for a year, fell in love with her husband there, and just returned there for the first time this past spring with Elijah! How appropriate it is that the inspiration for Elijah’s first birthday party came from the classic French film, The Red Balloon.

The Red Balloon is a charming film about a little boy in Paris who befriends a red balloon. Together, he and the balloon wander through the neighborhoods of Paris, making new friends and getting into trouble.

The concept for the party began with the invitations, which features a red balloon and string floating around Paris, outlining the city as it floats across. I thought it would be so fun to run with this string idea and turn it into a 2D/3D effect by “drawing” on the walls with black tape to create our own little Paris in Beijing. I added a little cafe, complete with table, chairs, and a lamppost. :)

Can’t have a French party without berets!

My sister handled most of the food preparations and cooked up some scrumptious French foods for our birthday brunch, including quiche lorraine, croque monsieurs, French toast, and an onion tart. Read more about the food details and recipes here.

Our drink bar featured Vietnamese coffee and a DIY mimosa station.

Since we didn’t have a red egg party for Elijah when he turned one month, we thought it would be meaningful to have them for his one year birthday.

Sour cream chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting. Elijah approves!

C’est magnifique!

Nice to meet you!

A teddy bears’ picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Say cheese!

And I’ll leave you with this awesome pic of Elijah. I can just hear him saying, “Oui, oui, oui, hon, hon, hon.” What a ham!

15 thoughts on “Elijah’s Red Balloon Birthday Party”

Perfect theme! Everything looks wonderful! And did you hand write the labels, or does that happen to be a font?

i think this just might be the cutest thing in the world. what a special, loved little boy!

Oh my gosh!!! So adorable!!! I love the photos and the decor! He’s grown so much!!!

what a lovely party! love the invites too :)

Oh my goodness… just came across your blog for the first time – what a beautiful birthday party and what a gorgeous little boy! You are so creative! My fiance’s name is Pascal… he introduced me to the story of Pascal and the Red Balloon – I have to show this to him and his family, they are going to adore this. Loving your blog, have bookmarked it :-)

I second Grace!

Hello! I simply LOVE this birthday party theme – I would like to do this party theme at some point – it is so fun and whimsical, yet sophisticated!
I am going to add this post to my Flash Friday post tomorrow, and I am following you in my reader! Love you bog!

{Flash Friday 4} | The Little Red Horse

Thanks for the lovely comments, everybody! He certainly is a very special, loved little boy. :)

Talida – It’s a font! The script is UCU Charles Script and the other is Skinny Regular.

Maya – How wonderful that you have your very own Pascal! Thanks for bookmarking and hope Pascal and his family enjoy the pictures.

Lindsey – Thanks for the post and for following!

So sweet. I especially love your treat bags and the red eggs!

Oh my goodness… this is the cutest birthday party ever! we love the red balloon and watched it for movie night on my daughter’s birthday, what a great idea for a party!