Two watercolour cherries hang from a single green stem at the centre of this first birthday invitation, painted with enough wash and shine to look freshly picked. Behind them a large pale numeral sits like a soft shadow, and cherry blossom sprays open in every corner in pale pink with small sage leaves. The ground is a warm blush paper with a matte grain rather than a flat fill, so the whole card reads as something printed and kept. The little one’s name runs beneath in a flowing red brush script, and the occasion line follows in a light typewriter face. It is made for a first birthday, and it carries just as well to a naming day, a christening lunch, a half-birthday, or a small spring celebration for a toddler. The palette stays soft enough for grandparents and modern enough for a parent who dislikes cartoon balloons, so it suits an afternoon at home as easily as a hired room. Sending it as a digital first birthday invitation brings the practical side with it: guests reply yes, no or maybe from their phones and you watch the responses arrive in real time, with plus-ones and meal choices tracked for you and reminders going out on their own. A shared photo album collects everyone’s pictures from the day, and a matching thank-you note is ready once the cake is gone. One practical note for a first birthday: put the nap window in your own head before you pick the hour on the invitation. An early afternoon start after a morning sleep gives you a cheerful birthday child for photographs, and guests take their cue from the time you print far more than from anything you say later.