LILY'S PRINCESS PARTY

Lily had been planning her 5th birthday party almost since the moment that her 4th birthday party ended.  She loves party planning, which I think she comes by honestly.  She had said she wanted a "Pony" party, but since she just had a Horse party, I was hoping that would change.  So, when she off-handedly mentioned that she might like a Princess Party,  I decided to run with that.

That means that in the last 3 months, I had done two of the most cliche birthday themes ever - Hello Kitty and Princess.  But, as John often reminds me, the parties are for the kids, and so I really want to do what they want.  Their party often ends up being the biggest present we give them - in fact, we didn't get Lily any traditional gifts other than the party.

And, it turned out to be a magical day.  Truly.  I am breaking it up into two posts, because there are so many fun pictures.  So this post will be the party and people there.  Tomorrow's post will have party details, just in case you find yourself planning a similar party for your princess.

I stayed to a smaller invite list and only invited girls close to Lily's age.  That kept things simpler.  Here are the princesses - this picture was taken towards the end of the party, and it was pretty hard to wrangle them, but they were a super cute bunch.

We created a castle atmosphere with a "Sparkle Station" right as the girls entered so they could get necklaces, bracelets and tiaras.

The table was all ready for a royal luncheon, which was served to the princesses in style, with a bit of chaos thrown in.

The big fun thing for this party was that we had a horse and carriage come to our house and give rides throughout the party.  Lily rode it almost every time it went out and was thrilled by every moment.  It is so wonderful when something turns out to be just as fun and special as you hope it will be.  The weather turned out perfectly, and considering the week we had had, that was something to be thankful for.

My sister and her son True came down, as well as my Mom and Wes.  Ellen (my sis) dressed as Belle for the party, which was a special treat!

Everyone sang Happy Birthday, and after several tries, Lily was able to blow out the candles with a little of mom's help.  

Lily opened presents, and the other princesses crowded around to see the gifts.  Lily enjoys her personal space and asked the other girls to step back no less than 3 times, which made me laugh a lot.  We are working on social graces.



Having family and friends there to celebrate Lily (and to be my army of helpers) was such a sweet blessing.

Lily and I both had our princess party wishes fulfilled, and I am so thankful for such a wonderful day.