Lane’s 4th birthday bash: ‘Brave’ theme!

Brave is such a fantastic animated film, and so under appreciated amongst the toddler set.  Lane, however, is not your average princess.  She connected right away to the movie’s heroine, Merida, and totally fell for her fearlessness, courage, and sense of independence.  

While I was not surprised when Lane decided to dress up like Merida for Halloween, I was pretty surprised that the love lasted all the way til February, when she announced that her birthday party should have a Brave theme.  At almost 4, Lane, like Merida, was extremely confident and opinionated, and she was very vocal with those opinions when it came to putting together her birthday party.  She declared that it had to feel like we were in a medieval castle and there had to be a doll cake.  I had my work cut out for me.  

Here are some of my favorite photos from the party.  Don’t forget to pin and share if you’re inspired to plan a Brave themed party of your own!

This was my first ever attempt at a doll cake.  Not perfect, but I was pretty happy with it.  So was Lane, and that’s what mattered most.  

Here’s the birthday girl herself, totally in character!  We did a fun little photo shoot prior to her party, and I used the pictures to decorate.  The look of determination on her face still cracks me up a year later!

One of my favorite things to obsess over when planning parties is the food.  I love creating food and dessert tables that are not only delicious, but on-theme!  So, with a little imagination and some inspiration from Pinterest, Lane and I came up with lots of fun stuff to eat, including blue cotton candy “wisps,” fruit arrows, “bear claws” (these were paw-shaped brownies with white chocolate chip ‘claws’), target cupcakes, and spell cake.  Mason jars filled with chocolate teddy grahams were also a cute touch.

I can’t find the pictures of the lunch food items, but we had grilled chicken drum sticks in honor of King Fergus, and of course, no kids party would be complete without (Merida’s) mac & cheese.  A veggie tray was dubbed “Angus Snacks,” after Merida’s horse. 

Favorite quotes from the movie were framed and placed on tables and on the walls.

Isn’t this scene setter awesome?!

Decorations ended up being super important for this party, because two days before, the venue where we had planned to have the party had a huge water leak and became unavailable.  I was in panic mode, and we ended up having this party in a church hall, which was not in the best shape.  The castle wall scene setters looked amazing and were the perfect way to distract from the condition of the space.  

Despite my efforts, all the decorations and food in the world could not outshine a visit from Merida herself!  This was a surprise for Lane, and as you can see from the photos, she was absolutely delighted!  The expression on her face when Merida walked in was absolutely priceless.

Now, we are days away from Lane’s 5th and we’ve got a lot to live up to!  I will be sure to post all the details from her Avaloran fiesta once we all recover! 

xo Mama