First birthday parties are so much fun! And this theme is one of my favorites. We did a rookie of the year baseball themed birthday party for my son Miles, and this basketball birthday party had a similar theme, just a different sport! This sweet birthday boy was born during March Madness too, so it was even more timely and lots of local stores and vendors had basketball items to pick from which makes decorating easier!
For this theme, I was inspired to try out making a basketball smash cake, and we tied in the family's favorite team colors to the decor. The whole family wore jerseys, and the birthday boy even wore a pair of his dad's shoes from when he was a kiddo! How sweet was that?
More Birthday Party Ideas
- One Ring Circus Themed Birthday Party
- Race Car Themed Third Birthday Party
- Construction Themed Birthday Party for a Toddler
Basketball Themed Food
What's better than watching a basketball game and eating pizza? Not much, except you can easily serve pizza at a birthday party and everyone will be happy! The menu for this party was pretty simple with pizza, salad and some basic snacks. Perfect for a first birthday. I think once kids are older it's fun to go all out- (I mean... did you see the balloon barn we made?) but for a first birthday it's nice to keep it simple and as a celebration of the family. For drinks there was a cooler sitting out with beverages for both kiddos and adults. A theme like this is perfect because you can set it up like a concession stand and keep it pretty basic. Plus everyone loves that type of food!
Cake and Desserts
For the party cake I loved making a basketball cake! Making your own cake can be daunting, but this was pretty simple. The cake was smaller so they also served these delicious nothing bundt cake bundtinis with cute basketball toppers. Little customizations are my favorite because they're simple and quick!
Basketball Birthday Party Decorations
The decor for this party was the sweetest! I am completely obsessed with the high top napkins and basketball plates. We made the balloon arch using a kit from Lushra- they're our go to when making them on our own! (Cozy10 for 10% off your garland purchase.) Check out this tutorial if you've never built a garland, and this one if you're looking for tips and tricks to hang one! If you're going to make your own balloon garland I highly recommend picking up one of these balloon pumps.
We used a vintage high chair, it's the same one we used at this sweet bee-day themed birthday party. This wooden garland tied under it dressed it up a bit too. I love this high chair it just looks and feels more special. It was a super windy day, so we ended up using these balloons inside but hung them to be a backdrop to the food table. It looked so cute!
Here's the mood board we were working from when planning the party and the links!
- cake stand
- plates
- balloon arch
- one banner
- napkins
- balloon bundle
- tablecloth and runner (if it hadn't been so windy out we were going to draw a basketball court on the table runner with white acrylic paint pens!)
- Snack cups
- Favor bags
Tips for Throwing a Basketball Birthday Party
- Simple is perfect! Pick a few things you really want to include and focus on those.
- I have a stash of these 50 cent plates from Target in blue and pink. It's easy to pull them out for any party/event and nice because you can wash and reuse them. I've collected nicer plates from thrift stores in white that we use for more formal events.
- Borrow what you can! I had the high chair and cake stand too- people are happy to contribute and let you borrow things so you don't have to buy everything new!
Let us know of any questions in the comments!
Leave a Reply