Currently Planning: Brody's Jungle Party at the Phoenix Zoo
This year is the big 3 for Brody! I am still in disbelief that he is already turning 3. I always thought moms that had 3 year olds had such old kids and here I am with a soon-to-be 3 year old. Please, don’t tell me this means I am getting old!
We went back and forth on whether of not we were going to have a birthday party for Brody this year. We were leaning towards a Disney trip instead of a birthday celebration, but with our big move coming up, we decided we wanted to take advantage of every chance we have to hang out with our wonderful friends before we have to say good-bye. And let’s be real, I love planning birthday parties and Brody loves going to birthday parties.
The Location
We celebrated Brody’s first birthday with a picnic at the park, his second birthday was an ice cream social at a local gym, and this year we are celebrating with a jungle party at the Phoenix Zoo!
If you have not had the privilege to visit the Phoenix Zoo, it is incredible. It has beautiful walking paths, a splash pad in the Summer, a petting Zoo, playgrounds, carousal rides and basically everything a little kid could dream of.
One of my favorite things about having a party at the Zoo is that the zoo teams helps you plan it and host it---this has been so helpful with how crazy busy our life is at the moment. They have party hosts that will help you day of and their party packages have everything from lemonade to crafts to birthday cake included. But probably the coolest part about Phoenix Zoo parties is that the party guests receive admission to the zoo for the entire day. After celebrating Brody’s 3rd birthday hopefully we will bump into our friends wandering around and checking out all of the cool animals.
We visited the zoo a few weeks ago to pick out the ramada for the celebration. Since we are doing a jungle theme, we fell in love with the vibe of the Siamang Pavillion. The ramada has festive yellow picnic tables that I cannot wait to decorate and it looks out to a little island where two Siamang gibbons live. Brody was enthralled watching the gibbons hang from the tree branches.
The Decorations:
We are going with a modern jungle theme for the decorations and Belena, the owner of the Geese & Ganders (the freaking cutest party shop around) has been helping bring my vision to life. Since the picnic tables are bright yellow, I wanted to do a black, white, green and yellow color scheme.
After a few emails back and fourth with Belena, she sent me the flatlay above that left me completely drooling. Pattern mixing, a touch of tropical, all of the colors I was hoping for—it’s perfection.
To add a pop of fun to the kid’s tables, we are going to layer black and white striped plates, the green tropical plates and fun yellow cake plates. We’re mixing and matching colors and patterns on the napkins as well.
To add a little texture to the decorations, I ordered woven Pith hats for all of the kids. I am trying to figure out a way to display them hanging up somehow—if you have any ideas, let me know! We will also have little binoculars for all of our jungle guests—let’s be real there is not much cooler than a pair of binoculars when you are 3.
The Food
I love throwing parties between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner because it makes planning the food logistics a lot easier. Both breakfast and lunch usually require a lot of prep and figuring out ways to keep things warm or cold. Since we are having Brody’s party between lunch and dinner we are going to plan on making a fancy dessert/snack table filled with black and white foods. Oreos, cupcakes, covered pretzels---you get the idea.
Since the weather in March can often be fairly warm in Arizona, we are planning on doing snow cones (one of Brody’s favorite foods). Instead of the cups that the snow cone shop gives you to use, we’re going to use these fun yellow cups!
The Fun
Since the party is at the zoo, the whole location is fun. Hopefully our guests will have plenty of time to check out the animals around the zoo before and after the celebration. The zoo will also be providing carousal rides as part of the party and a fun craft activity. I ordered some of these scratch off animal masks since they go with the décor and look like they would be fun for 3-year olds!
Here is the inspiration board for the party. We are so excited to celebrate our sweet, Brody! I can’t wait to share all of the photos and details after the celebration.
Get the Look:
Black & White Striped Plates | Yellow Plates | Let's Go Wild Cake Topper | Zebra | Tropical Napkins | Tropical Plates | Black Scalloped Napkins | Woven Hats | Yellow Cups | binoculars | Lollipops | Green Cups | Number Cake Topper (great price!) | Safari Outfit (so excited for Brody to wear this!) | Beach Balls (no balloons allowed at zoo, so using these instead!) | Tropical Leaves | Scratch off Masks | Rain Boots (Brody's bday gift from us) | Wooden Cutlery | Polka Dot Straws
