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

A Baby Tilda Barn Dance

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

Baby Tilda Barn Dance

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