This black and white birthday party theme is perfect for a little one’s first birthday party! See monochromatic food ideas, simple decorations, and budget-friendly ideas on how to throw the best party!
Planning a birthday party? This is such a fun idea for kids or adults. When we threw Mini Me’s first birthday party three years ago I knew we were setting precedent for future birthday parties, but I didn’t care. Thankfully I love planning parties so her birthday was a perfect excuse to plan a little celebration for Maggie.
The party turned out so cute and I couldn’t wait to show you all the details! You may have seen some pictures already on Instagram, but let me share a little bit more about the party and some tips on how you can throw a black and white birthday party too.
Black and White Party Food Ideas
Of course, we need to start with the food. Our party was in the afternoon since that works best with naptimes and bedtime.
We served these black and white mini parfaits with a chocolate covered almond on top. As I’ve mentioned before with party planning, you have to focus on your strengths and the pieces you enjoy doing.
For me that means focusing more attention on decor and pulling it all together with little details. Making fancy food and gourmet desserts from scratch is NOT my expertise nor do I really love it. So, to my mother’s dismay, we bought store-bought brownies for the parfaits. Totally worth it to save a little bit of time.
When you’re planning a party, look for those little things that can save a few minutes here and there so that you can still enjoy the party planning and the actual party itself.
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The smash cake was similar to Clara’s smash cake. A simple chocolate cake with a cream cheese frosting, and black gel piped on the edges.
The cake toppers were from Joann’s and just a few bucks.
I used glue dots to attach thick striped ribbon I found at the craft store.
Tip: Glue dots are a MUST-HAVE when party planning. Just make sure and get the removable ones.
We baked chocolate chip cupcakes in these black tulip cupcake wrappers and topped those with chocolate covered almonds as well. I love that these wrappers aren’t just your typical cupcake liners. They turned out so cute on the table!!
Every party needs cute straws that are on theme. They are pretty much a necessity. So, of course, we choose milk to serve.
Since half my family is lactose-intolerant, we had regular milk and coconut milk available served in jars that we have from buying fresh chocolate milk at the meat market.
I used one of our black stoneware mugs from the Hearth and Hand collection at Target to hold straws and also hold pretzel sticks. They fit the party theme perfectly!
We also served white and black dipped shortbread cookies and chocolate dipped large pretzel sticks.
These are the black and white cafe paper plates we used and these black napkins I bought are AMAZING! They are seriously such good quality and super smooth!
Black and White Party Decor
Since the food and smash cake is the main highlight of a first birthday party, that’s where the majority of our black and party decor was.
The black and white party fans were a nice geometric touch to add a little flair to the wall. I also cut out hexagons using my SIlhouette Cameo and the letters for happy birthday. I just used a glue stick to attach the letters to the hexagons and glue dots to adhere the words to the wall.
This black and white 12×108″ striped table runner was the perfect base to the table decor to bring it all together. I love the size of that thing and it fit perfectly on our industrial table.
I bought this giant #1 balloon from Amazon and then had an assortment of black, silver, and white balloons on the ceiling. You can get a similar black, white, and silver balloon set here.
I also used the same ribbon from the cake stand to line the high chair and I hot glued pom pom ribbon to the backside of the ribbon to make it a little more cute.
I love how the high chair turned out!
She’s a very serious baby so wasn’t super into the cake, but here’s a picture from her party.
Her little hat I found at a local party store called Fancy That and then I hot glued a pom to the top. I also had hats for the other kids to wear.
Her dress was this pleated tutu black dress I found on Amazon and then I took some blush pink HTV I had on hand and added “Birthday Girl” to the front of her dress.
You may have seen our modern advent calendar and this ladder I built. Well, we also used the ladder to hold all of Maggie’s monthly photos. I printed the photos, added a hole punch in the top, and tied them to the ladder rungs with black string.
I had black number stickers leftover from the advent calendar so added each month number to the back of the pictures in case they spun around.
Since I used my Heidi Swapp light box in her monthly photos, I thought it’d be fun to also include it in her party decor to tie it all together. If you don’t have a lightbox, they are so fun and they have so many cute sayings and embellishments you can add. Get a light box here.
Neon signs have long been a staple of birthday parties, adding an element of appeal and excitement to any venue. The overall experience can be enhanced by creating custom neon signs decorations specifically tailored to the birthday party atmosphere and theme. Custom neon signs have the power to make a lasting impression. Its bright colors and eye-catching design not only attract attention, but also create a sense of anticipation and energy that sets the stage for a memorable birthday party.
Black and White Party Favors
The party favors may be my favorite part of the whole party! I had some cellophane bags that I cut down to fit one Little Debbie Swiss Roll and then I stapled a bag topper to each bag.
The topper read, “Thanks for adding a little color to my party! Maggie”
You might consider black-and-white themed custom made pins for your party guests. Customizable with patterns and words to your pins, and guests can wear them on the chest when they’re partying, these pins are both thematic and quite unique.
I also made sure to include a few bags with some toys from the dollar store for the kids that have allergies.
We had so much fun at her party and it was a fun day celebrating surviving a year being a mother of two! This is the greatest job I’ve ever had, but also the most difficult.
Ready to start planning your black and white party now?
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