Bethany's Dol / First Birthday

*warning - the beginning of this post is about the planning and preparation details of the dol. you can skip ahead to pictures if that stuff bores you* :)

A little over a week ago, we celebrated Bethany's very first birthday and it was intense. I promised myself I wouldn't let things get too crazy but with little over a month to plan, craziness was inevitable. Not only were we in the midst of newly adjusting to life as a family of four, but I also felt the pressure of planning a celebration which is basically a HUGE milestone in the Korean culture. Known as the "dol", its significance comes from Korea's past when the child mortality rate was extremely high and most died before their first birthdays. As a result, first birthdays became a cause for huge celebration by the entire community. Nowadays the dol has become more a time to honor our Korean heritage and a chance to celebrate with family and friends.

Planning
Before Bethany's arrival I scoured the internet for ideas but I mostly daydreamed. It seemed strange for me to make concrete plans when I didn't even know when we would have our daughter home, so I waited. And then "THE" call came and in the midst of diaper changes, feedings and lack of sleep, party planning was one of the last things on my mind.

The reality of the dol hit me two to three weeks after Bethany came home. That's when panic set in and dol planning moved to the forefront of my mind. I was surprised to find so many products, videos, pictures, blog posts, etc.... on the dol. It was good to know I wasn't the only crazy mom out there planning a huge celebration for a one year old who wouldn't remember a thing. Some of the dols I saw online were truly amazing. Parents hired event planners, caterers, florists and every little detail was accounted for. They were elaborate, beautiful and very modern. In the end, I realized that wasn't what I wanted for Bethany's dol. It was important for me to have a traditional dol and I figured I could always get all Martha Stewarty or Amy Atlasy for her many birthdays to come. This was my one and only chance to throw Bethany a traditional dol like her big brother had had and like the one I had had when I was little.

Preparation
Venue:
After calling several different locations (Korean restaurants, Chinese restaurants, Country Clubs, Banquet halls), we decided on the most affordable option and went with a Chinese restaurant that I had frequented as a child.

Invitation:
Months prior to Bethany's arrival I had already found invitations I wanted to use on Etsy.

Cake:
We called around, did some cake sampling and finally decided to go with one of our favorite bakeries. As usual, Sam and I had different opinions on which flavors we liked best, so we chose both. Sam chose the top two tiers (cuban cake) and I chose the bottom layer (chocolate cake of course!). I still say hands down, the chocolate cake tasted way better!
As for the design of the cake, I wanted it very simple and very cute. I had an idea of what I wanted, but it took several trips to the bakery before I finally just had to let go and hope for the best.

Dol Table:
We requested a traditional backdrop from the restaurant, ordered duk and bought and arranged fruit. Several of my closest friends volunteered to make the dol towers and fruit animals and they did a fantastic job. I loved each one!

Centerpieces:
Typically centerpieces at a Chinese restaurant don't last very long because once the food is served, space is of vital importance. I mean come on, who wants a big centerpiece taking up space that could be occupied by sweet and sour shrimp? Not me!
I toyed with several ideas and then finally went with something functional and practical. I bought cute pails from the dollar section at Target and filled them with items that our guests would need - raffle tickets for the doljabi, game cards and colored pencils. The pails were small enough to be of little consequence and it wouldn't be a big deal if they ended up being put to the side once the meal was served.

Games:
We had the traditional doljabi game along with a question and answer game of how well people knew our little Bethany.

Party Favors:
Along with the cake, party favors were a big deal to me. I really wanted it to be something special that I could  make for our guests, so I decided to make and decorate cookies.

Slideshow:
Sam and I wanted to put together a slideshow of our adoption journey to not only share with our guests, but more importantly to share with Bethany one day. It meant a lot to me to have it perfect for her, but due to time constraints we weren't able to fix some of the kinks in it. I was still very happy with it, but I'd like to fine tune it a little more before I show it to Bethany.

Entertainment:
With about 160 guests and kids making up a good portion of that figure, we thought it would be helpful to have something to keep them occupied.  A few days before the dol, Sam and I made a last minute decision to hire a tattoo artist. We had seen her at a dol a few weeks before and the kids loved it.

Decorations:
Decorations weren't really a big concern for me. I figured the dol table itself would serve as the main decor and the restaurant provided simple pink and white balloons that I was more than happy to use. I also brought a few items from Bethany's room and we ordered a cute doljabi board along with personalized stickers for duk boxes from Little Seouls. We also ordered two 20x30 collage prints from Costco which came out looking better than we had expected. We received a lot of compliments for something that cost less than $10 and only took an hour to process.

Finally, after all the prepping and planning, just six weeks and three days after we welcomed Bethany home, the big day arrived! A little over 160 guests gathered together to celebrate her first birthday as well as her homecoming. It was a very busy and exhausting day but it was also a great day. Sam and I were deeply encouraged by the enormous love and support we received from our family and friends. It felt wonderful to know that our little girl was loved by so many.

Customizable invitations that I found on Etsy. (i love etsy!)

 Two hundred monogrammed sugar cookies coming right up.

My friend Joanne made these perfect looking towers. The first one is her Korean name, "So-mang" (which means hope). The second one says "chook dol" which I'm not sure exactly how to translate into English.

Eunice made both cookie towers with her steady hands. They looked fantastic and the kids loved taking them apart and eating them at the end of the party. See the jelly bean tower in the back? I don't have a close up of it but my friend Nancy made it and it was perfect.

Nancy also made these adorable animals out of fruit. She made a horse, ox, tiger and dog to match the Chinese horoscopes of each person in our family. Aren't they the cutest?

 (front)

(back)

And lastly, my friend Stella surprised us all with the most colorful and cutest dol tower I've ever seen. She made one especially for the Year of the Ox and it was awesome. I plan to ebay it and make lots of money! Only kidding. :)

Our cake from Porto's. I was very happy with it but it was missing a little something...

All it needed was the topper I purchased on Etsy and it was exactly the cake I had wanted. :)

Greeters

Doljabi board and collages.

 Duk boxes

Centerpieces with game cards and doljabi raffle tickets

Party favors with toppers that matched her invitations

Birthday girl.
Bethany did really well that day with no crying or fussing at all.

 It is customary to receive a gold ring for a first birthday, but this one is extra special. This particular gold ring and bracelet were given to me on my first birthday thirty five years ago. :)

 

 

I especially love this picture because it's when Bethany kept giving me kisses instead of looking at the camera.

The tattoo artist was a big hit with the kids.

"Happy birthday to you..."

 For the doljabi, Bethany grabbed the pencil.
Check out my mom's reaction. :)

 Then she went for the pretty pink microphone as well.

Our future scholar (and super star?).

Thank you for celebrating this special day with us!