Team Minnevangelist’s miniest member, Julian, turned 1 last week and we celebrated by throwing him an under-the-sea-themed birthday party. (Baby boy loves all things aquatic.) We sniffed out some fun decorations from Litin’s Party Value, our go-to party supply store in Minneapolis, but also wanted to shout out three terrific specialty vendors we hired:

🦀 The kooky crab balloon centerpiece pictured above was hand-twisted by balloon artist extraordinaire Scott Nichols of Amazing Balloons MN. If you can dream it, he can make it come alive with latex: costumed characters, arches that look like sea dragons, entire swamps complete with palm trees, waterfalls, and alligators, and so much more. FYI: He’s also available for live party balloon twisting (recommended age: 3+).

🍣 To feed the adults at our under-the-sea party, we ordered deluxe sushi and sashimi platters from Ama Sushi in Edina. Everything was super fresh and beautifully plated.

🐙 Julian loves octopuses, so we also commissioned a six-inch, pulpo-themed buttercream cake with coconut lime filling from Amy’s Cupcake Shoppe in Hopkins. (If you’ll remember, Amy’s was also behind the brilliant unicorn cake we ordered to celebrate Andy’s 40th birthday.) It was ridiculously cute with its purple cartoon octopus wearing a jaunty sailor’s cap. The matching smash cake, which Julian devoured with gusto, had blue frosting, white “bubbles,” and a Funfetti filling. Amy Brace and her all-star team even made us a side of matchy-match, Dreamsicle-flavored vegan cupcakes for our veg friend.

Who are some of your favorite local party vendors? Drop us a line and let us know — it’s never too early to start planning birthday No. 2!