Last weekend, we had an at home party to celebrate B’s first birthday with our friends and family. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, but definitely spent the week scrambling to grab last minute decor and finalizing details. I didn’t really have any theme in mind, but unintentionally, it all came together in a teal + aqua first birthday party.
Dohljanchi
Before I get into the details and a ton of pictures, I’ll share with you the same printout I had for our party guests. A “dohljanchi,” is the first birthday celebration that is a huge custom in Korean culture. The primary purpose is for family and friends to gather and bless the child with a prosperous future and a healthy life.
The highlight of the dohljanchi is called the “dohljabi.” It is a tradition where the child is placed in front of various items or objects (Usually 6 – 8 items). Then, the child is encouraged to grab one or two items from the set of objects where each choice represents a certain future of the child with respect to his or her career or a lifestyle.
I am Korean-American and it’s really important to me to celebrate cultural traditions. This is my third time throwing a dohl and I’m so glad that I did for each of the boys. It makes my heart swell to know that our boys are loved and supported by so many amazing friends and family both near and far.
Food
My mom and aunt cooked a few traditional Korean dishes for the party. And I’m seriously drooling over these pictures, the food was SO good. We also ordered chicken and potatoes from our local Chicken Shack and my MIL cooked some of her signature dishes, including her oven baked macaroni and cheese. NOM NOM.
My SIL ordered us a custom Candy-themed birthday cake from Christine’s Bakery and ‘1’ smash cake for B and I also ordered cupcakes from our local Kroger. In lieu of party favors, I set up a candy bar to go with our teal + aqua first birthday party theme. Needless to say, we had a plethora of food that was enjoyed by all of our guests.
Decor
I bought his chalkboard sign (digital file) on Etsy and made his dohljabi board and printed them both on poster board at Costco! I bought all of the bulk candy on Amazon:
All of the other decor is from Hobby Lobby and the white frames are from Joann Fabrics. I’ll eventually get around to adding those to our gallery wall.
Entertainment
For the kids, I bought this bounce house off Amazon (aff link). It was worth EVERY penny. The boys and all our little guests had a ball playing on it nearly half the day. It wasn’t much more than a rental fee and now I have it all summer long (and beyond) for the boys to bounce off their high energy levels.
Dohljabi
For B’s dohljabi we had a microphone, football, stethoscope, book, pencils and a one hundred dollar bill. We had our guests vote on what they thought he would pick. I voted the money and D voted that he’d pick the stethoscope. We let him crawl to the objects two separate times and both times he chose the pencils! The second time, he fiddled with the microphone for a bit (C picked this!), but eventually chose the pencils again. And here I thought they were the boring objects out of the bunch! LOL, hopefully he’ll be studious like me. I picked the pencils when I was a baby (so did A!) and to this day, I love to learn. I swear if college wasn’t so expensive, I’d go back and get a few more degrees under my belt.
Happy Birthday to Y O U
While B has had his share of snacks and a taste of whip cream, his birthday cake was the first time he tasted sugar! And I’m not sure he was a big fan. He ended with ‘smashed’ with a cake by daddy, but he wasn’t keen on the frosting. But, don’t worry his big brothers were more than happy to help him!
Teal + Aqua First Birthday Party (Dohl)
