Well... this was a fun one! When it was time to start the party planning process I had to think about what my soon to be two-year-old was most into. Not being able to talk much yet I was limited on what information I could get from him. I did know that his favorite thing to say and eat was BANANA and he really loved those MINIONS! I mean, listening to him say Minion is the cutest thing ever. Those little yellow guys can sure put a smile on his face. I just didn't have it in my heart to do a typical Minion party with the blue denim and I knew we had to come up with a way to spin the theme in a more unique direction. Then.... the first 1.31 minutes of the movie gave me my theme! Here is the inspiration:

While searching for their "boss" those little minions ventured through the jungle, discovered the banana and ended up bushing the "big boss" dionsaur off a cliff with a boulder. There it is. The whole theme summed up in 1.31 minutes of a movie.

Here are a few of my favorite things:

THE INVITES! The invites were a mix of green leaves and yellow bananas. I wanted the Minion theme to be discreet so the only Minion on the invitation was the loose bananas and a single Minion that fell out after opening. I love the vibrancy of the green and yellow together
TRASHIN' THE CAMP! This was the designated kid's area of the party. We decided to forgo our usual kid table set up this time and do something a little more earthy. This was inspired by the Tarzan movie where the gorillas all come in and play in the explorer's camp. There were crates, suitcases and fruit containers tossed about. The kid's could find their favor bags, their customized drink cups, snacks, drinks, dino chicken, grass skirts and blankets for a picnic lunch.
BANANA BAR! The guests were able to dip their own bananas in a variety of toppings which included chocolate, peanuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, fruity pebbles and more! We also had an abundance of those adorable yellow banana candies!
GAMES! We love to find or create games that fall in line with our theme. For this party we did Dino bowling very similar to the boulder rolling the little Minions did to their boss Dinosaur in the movie. We did a banana hoop toss where the kids tossed bananas through a hoop while wearing silly minion goggles. We did a "find the minion" sticker game. There seem to been an endless number of Minions in the movie so we hid stickers all over the party and the kids collected these on paper leaves. Side note, my mom has been doing this game for our parties since we were kids and we originally did it at our Fun to BEE One party but it just never gets old! Finally, we had a dino dig where the kids could go digging for Dinosaurs.
THE CAKE! This cake was so cute I didn't even want to cut into it! Rebecca at Singer Sisters Sweets never disappoints us! She created this two tier cake with hand created Minions, bananas and leaves galore. It was the centerpiece of the party and it tasted just as good as it looked!

Party Coordination: Down Emery Lane

Cake: Singer Sisters Sweets

Cookies: Singer Sisters Sweets

Birthday Boy's Outfit: H&M

Photos: Nicole Priest Photography

Catering: Daphne's

Leaf Plates: Paper Eskimo

Huge thank you to the Down Emery Lane team for this collective effort. Thank you for trusting my vision and helping to bring it to life! Thank you Rebecca for always delivering amazing cakes that bring the entire party together. Thank you to Nicole for being an extended family member and sharing life's important moments with us. Finally, thank you to my husband for gifting me with such an amazing little boy that deserves so much celebration! Love to all of you!