I am so excited to finally share Olivia’s first birthday boba par-tea! Born during a global pandemic, Olivia only got to meet a handful of people since she was born. As things got better, we wanted to go all out for her one year birthday party because it’ll be her first time meeting many of our friends and family. Being obsessed with boba, I’ve always dreamed of having a boba party theme. We never gave Olivia a sip of course, but every time I had a boba drink in my hand (and that’s at least 2x a week), she would literally yank it from me and put the bottom of the cup in her mouth and pretend to drink it. It was quite funny to watch and that’s when I instantly knew that her first birthday had to be a boba party theme. So much time and effort went into planning and DIYing this party and it was all worth it for our little cu-tea! Keep reading to get all the sweet and delicious details!
Boba Party Theme Decor
- Boba bar: The main decor feature of the party is our beautiful boba bar! I had this vision drawn up in my head and it was so rewarding to see it come to life and it’s even better than I imagined! I borrowed my cousin’s DIY lemonade stand from her farmer’s market party to display the milk tea drink dispensers and boba cookies. We brought out my gold bar cart to style the boba smash cake and cupcakes. My brother also made the white backdrop using these boards and brackets. I created the Olivia, boba bar, and drink dispenser signs using my Cricut Maker 3 and this vinyl in white and melon. Finally, Popfetti installed the incredible balloon garland that really added the wow factor! Her designs are stunning!
- Welcome sign and one year board: For the entrance, I made both of these using this project board in the 2×4′ and cut it to make the welcome sign and one year board. Then I cut Cricut vinyl so that the welcome board says “Life is sweeter with our bobae! Welcome to the first birthday party of Olivia.” For the one year board, I got 4×4 photos printed and glued them on – super easy and cute!
- First birthday high chair: The IKEA high chair is the best $25 that I’ve ever spent. I leveled it up with these products that instantly make any IKEA high chair more stylish. Popfetti made a balloon garland for Olivia’s high chair and I just love how everything turned out!
- Rented tables and chairs: Since we had lots of guests, we rented tables, chairs, and linens from Cort Party Rental. I had no idea our backyard could look like this and fit this many guests!
Food, Boba, Desserts
- Homemade boba: Is it even a boba party theme if there’s no boba? My brother’s girlfriend brewed the tea and made all of the milk teas herself. We had black milk tea and green milk tea. For the passion fruit tea, you can buy syrup like this and follow the instructions to make it. We also got tapioca balls and these boba straws. Everything was delicious and tasted like they were straight from a boba shop! We displayed them in these clear drink dispensers that are only $10 each and are so sleek and stylish!
- Boba smash cake: Trophy customized our boba cake and how adorable is it on this cake stand? Trophy didn’t realize it was going to be used as a smash cake so the black frosting did leave some stains on the clothes. But the black frosting also made Olivia look like a goth baby and it was all worth it cause she looked so cute and it was hilarious lol.
- Boba cupcakes macarons: Trophy made coordinating boba shaped cupcakes as well as pretty pink ones. The flavors were chocolate, sea salt, vanilla. All very decadent and yummy! I styled them on this two-tier marble server. Did you know Trophy makes macarons too? These were strawberry cheesecake flavor and I put them on a macaron tower and compote glasses.
- Boba cookies: I’m pretty sure I squealed when I saw these boba sugar cookies made by Hello Rachie. She is a mom and bakes in her spare time – she is so talented!
- Catering: No one was going to leave our party hungry. We catered a Vietnamese feast from Green Leaf which is where we catered from for our wedding too! Everyone went home with boxes leftovers!
First Birthday Party Entertainment
- Face painting and balloon twisting: When I first reached out to Hoopla for a quote, she was worried that a one year old wouldn’t like face painting and sit still. I assured her that Olivia has gotten this done once before. I was right, Olivia absolutely loved it again and Hoopla was so impressed with how well behaved Olivia was! The face painting and balloon twisting were enjoyed by kids and adults alike. My dad got a Seahawks face painting across his forehead and the jet pack balloons were so awesome!
- Bounce house: I’ve always wanted an Instagrammable white bounce house. Check out my girl Linda Tran if you need rentals – she has a good selection of white bounce houses and ball pits in the Seattle greater area!
- Choosing your future career: Choosing an object that represents your future career is a big and important tradition in both Vietnamese and Korean cultures. We had a golf ball that represented athlete, stethoscope for doctor, mouse for software engineering, money for entrepreneur, and phone for influencer. She picked the golf ball for athlete – daddy is happy about that one!
All in all, Olivia’s first boba par-tea was one to remember! We all had a blast, and after Olivia went to bed, our friends and family partied hard all night lol. If you love boba as much as Olivia and me, or if you want to do a unique theme, I can’t recommend a boba party theme enough! I hope you enjoyed reliving this party as much as I did. Let me know what your favorite detail is!
Vendors
I couldn’t have put this party together without the help of these amazing women-owned businesses! They were all professional and exceeded my expectations. Hire them for your next party and let them know I sent you!
- Balloons: Popfetti
- White bounce house: Linda Tran
- Rentals (tables, chairs, linens): Cort Party Rental
- Catering: Green Leaf / Go Catering
- Boba smash cake, cupcakes, macarons: Trophy
- Boba cookies: Hello Rachie
- Face painting and balloon twisting: Hoopla
SHOP THE BOBA PARTY THEME DECOR
The bday party looks super cute! Can you or Mina share the DIY for the lemonade stand, it’s so well made!
Aw thank you but Mina doesn’t have all of the photos to do a tutorial!
Hi!!
What stand are the drink dispensers on?
They’re on small cake stands that I found from Homegoods!
Could you share the recipe that was used to make the milk tea?