My lovely angel daughter
Always in my heart
How I long for you as your birthday comes
This year
For the first time ever
We will be at home for your birthday
On the day itself we will
Of course
Go to the sea
I am so sorry we are not at Coombe Mill this year
We will miss it so much
Your special birthday traditions and routines
This year
For one year only
We are at home
Waiting for your baby sister to arrive
And so it seems the perfect time
To hold a party in your honour
Just as we always planned to do
For your first birthday
This year we will do it
For your fifth
I would like to tell you about our plans
What we are doing and why
What I would like to do
If I could do
If money were no object
Which sadly this one year
It is not
Thankfully some very lovely people
Have agreed to help us
Make this party in your honour
As special as it can be
As we remember all you were
And all you now should be
We love you and we miss you Matilda Mae
And this my baby girl
Is all for you
Our Baby Tilda Barn Dance
The party will be held for family
And friends
At our house
We are hoping that the day will be dry
So that we can throw open the doors
And spend most of the afternoon outside
The party will begin at 12.00
We will ask people to enter
As we always do through your memory garden
Which is bursting with colour
Pink and purple hues
Guests will come round the side of the house
Past the mud kitchen
To the patio
There will be drinks for people to help themselves
Snacks on tables too
Music will be playing
And the garden will be set up for people
To explore and adventure and play
If the weather is kind
There will be dancing outside
A barn dance
Called by the loveliest man
Who called at our wedding
When you were just a bump
And who called at our original
In support of The Lullaby Trust
There will be two one hour sets of dancing
1.30 – 2.30
And 4.30 til half past five
Between the two
There will be food
A BBQ cooked by Grandpa
Salads and bread
And savoury snacks from Nanny, Aunty Julie and Uncle Hugh
Desserts provided by Granny
And a special cake from Aunty Clare
Everyone is coming together
For your special day
All just wishing that our guest of honour
Could actually be here
Between the savoury and the sweet
There will be a treasure hunt for the children
With riddles to solve and treats to find
Throughout the day there will be giant bubbles from Dr Zigs
And giant garden games from Big Game Hunters and What 2 Buy 4 Kids
We are having a fantastic arts and crafts table sponsored by Baker Ross
And the children will get to keep all of the things that they make
Esther and William asked for the theme to be Superheroes and Fairies
So that is what we have
Instead of party favours
I have bought a range of books from The Book People
So each child can choose one to take home
What better gift, than the gift of reading?
No matter what your age
These are the things we have in place baby girl
To make your party special
And with just one week to go
These are the things I am still trying very hard to arrange
Hay Bales
To set the scene in the garden
I would love some hay bales
To use as seats and tables
To create a photo booth
To add atmosphere
And context to the party
We had hay bales at our wedding
And it was wonderful
Photo Booth
I want to create a barn dance themed photo booth
With props and captions
For people to take their own pictures
Photos together with family and friends
Just a fun way for our guests
To remember their special Matilda Mae day
Party Decorations and Table Ware
I would like to decorate the patio area
With bunting and decorations
I would like to have pretty party ware for the tables
I have set my heart on the Toot Sweet by Meri Meri
But cannot really afford it
I have a week to find an alternative
Or the money to make this work
I love the vintage theme
I adore the colours
I love that the range is child centred
I love the nod to rainbows
And the circus that my living children adore
Balloons
I love these confetti balloons
Would love to have them randomly placed around the garden
With one balloon ride basket like this one
For photo opportunities
In memory of Matilda Mae
I think it is such a lovely idea
And would make perfect picture memories
For our friends and family to keep
I do not want people to be sad at your party
Matilda Mae
In your memory I want to make people smile
I want to help people escape the real world
For just a little while
Bubbles for all
In memory of Matilda Mae
And to enable everyone to send bubble kisses to the sky
I would love to have buckets of bubble wands around the garden
So that people can just choose their wand
And blow as many bubbles as they please
Bubbles have become such an important part of how we remember and honour our baby girl
How we honour and remember you Matilda Mae
With one week to go
Plans and preparations are under way
To make this the perfect party for our angel
To be enjoyed by our friends and family
In Baby Tilda’s name
We love you Matilda Mae
And we will never ever forget your special days x
Bless you and your lovely family. Sending lots of love your way xx
Your post made me cry. What a lovely thing to do for all of you. I hope the weather is lovely and that you have your special day x
I hope you have a wonderful party and the weather is amazing for you! Good luck! x
I hope you have a lovely day and the sun shines for Matilda Mae
I hope the sun shines on Matilda Mae’s special day and rest assure I will set some pink and purple petals down the river from Coombe Mill xxx
Ah thank you x I was going to ask you to do just that for us x Thank you x
What a lovely way to celebrate her day, wishing you well as her birthday approaches. I hope it’s a lovely day, although obviously bittersweet xx
I hope the party went well, what a lovely thing to do in Matilda Mae’s memory. Thinking of you all at the most difficult of times.
Nat.x