Remember the amazing toy soldier christening we showed you last year? We’ve been wondering for a while now what mum Li-Ann did when her twin boys turned one. Well, we recently checked in with her and wow, aren’t we glad we did!

Come take a peek at Hamish and Luca’s yum cha birthday! That’s right, a yum cha themed party! How completely and utterly gorgeous, not to mention completely and utterly original.

Li-Ann chose the theme for two very good reasons – she wanted to celebrate her sons’ Eurasian heritage, and the family really, really love yum cha. That’s good enough for us!

 

Graphic artist Li-Ann designed the invitations herself to suit the theme of the day, with the boyish bamboo-esque background and plump steamed dumplings setting the perfect tone. Her considerable talents – she runs her own stationery design business Ham and Pea – were also put to good use to make the custom bunting, the chopstick sleeves and the adorable party hats.

 

Red and white paper lanterns in all shapes and size festooned the boys’ Melbourne home for the day, while the table was also dollied up with a collection of miniature Chinese tea cups, tea tins and tea pots as vases.

My mouth still waters when I recall Li-Ann’s christening feast for her boys – and here it goes again! Guests supped on an authentic yum cha menu, with an assortment of dumplings, san choy bao, spring rolls and noodle dishes. When it came to sweet treats, Li-Ann eschewed more usual cupcakes and cookies for egg tarts, lotus bean cakes, fortune cookies and jackfruit with lychee cocktails.

Of course, it’s the little touches that make Li-Ann’s parties sing and here she’s turned her talents to creating tiny origami fortune cookies, with personalised messages inside for each guest. She even hand-made tiny little oriental thank-you scrolls for guests to take home with their paper bags of gold chocolate coins.

Now here’s my favourite bit of all – the birthday cakes. Made with much creativity by The Cake Collective, they’re in the shape of dumpling-topped bamboo steamer baskets.

For those of you who couldn’t stop cooing over Hamish and Luca at their christening, here are the two of them taking delivery of those impressive cakes with mum Li-Ann and dad Charles.

Want to share your child’s wow-worthy party with us? Then just fill in the form below. While we can’t reply to every email, we’ll certainly let you know if your party is chosen to be showcased on Babyology. We can’t wait to hear from you and look forward to seeing your amazing parties!