Sofitel Seoul Jamsil first birthday party review: Fait Maison B Room, Ailins dol table, hair, makeup, and dress
It’s already been well over a month since our baby’s first birthday party, and I kept putting this off because, honestly, I was too lazy to write it.
But now that I’m officially on the other side of it, here’s my real post-party mom review.
We held the celebration at Fait Maison, inside Sofitel Ambassador Seoul in Jamsil, in the private B Room,
and I’m finally sitting down to look back on our April party.
Why I Chose Sofitel Seoul First Birthday Party at Fait Maison
I’m basically an Accor loyalist at this point thanks to my Accor Diamond status and Accor Plus membership, so I didn’t spend much time debating venues. I pretty much knew we’d do the party at Sofitel.
Another reason Fait Maison worked so well for us: it didn’t come with that exhausting process of waiting for reservations to open months in advance and making dozens of phone calls just to secure a slot. We hate that kind of thing, so this felt like the perfect low-stress option.
I called about three to four months ahead, and B Room, also called the long room, was available on the date we wanted, so that made the decision easy. We didn’t really get to compare room options, but B Room turned out to be a good one with nice natural light.
One of the biggest perks of hosting a Sofitel Seoul first birthday party at Fait Maison is that you can get a pretty significant discount on the meal cost with Accor Plus, which makes it feel relatively reasonable for a hotel restaurant.
The discount rate depends on the number of guests, and for up to 10 people, the discount is 30%. It used to be 20%, so that was a nice surprise.
The meal is 165,000 KRW per person, or about $120, and children under 48 months eat free, which is honestly a great deal. Since B Room can hold a maximum of 10 people including the baby, even at full capacity the math was pretty manageable: one birthday baby for free plus nine adults came out to around 1.04 million KRW, or roughly $760.
That said, I had eaten at Fait Maison a few times before the party, and I wouldn’t say the food is absolutely outstanding. It’s a French buffet, and while the dessert section is excellent, the savory dishes aren’t especially memorable. Still, it is a five-star hotel, so the ingredients are fresh and the food is by no means bad.
Ailins Dol Table
At Fait Maison, Ailins is the exclusive vendor for the dol table, and if you bring in an outside company, there’s an extra 500,000 KRW fee, or about $365. That made the choice pretty easy, so I just went with Ailins without overthinking it.
Ailins dol table packages started at 660,000 KRW and went up to 990,000 KRW. The more expensive options were definitely fuller and prettier, but I didn’t want to go all out for the party, so I chose the basic package. We were also the kind of couple who kept wedding planning pretty simple because we couldn’t be bothered, so honestly, this already felt like a lot of effort for us.
I picked the “Lynn No.3” setup, which has a soft pink flower garden vibe. For our baby’s 100-day celebration, we had gone with a more traditional table, but this time I wanted something brighter and more floral, and overall I think it was a solid choice. Of course, when you look at reviews from people who chose the pricier options, theirs do look much more lush and dramatic.
The package included three kinds of real tteok, Korean rice cakes, not fake display pieces, plus one hanbok rental, doljabi items for the traditional future-picking ceremony, and a simple MC for the doljabi portion. Considering the rice cakes are included too, it didn’t feel outrageously expensive. After the party, they even packed up the rice cakes nicely for guests to take home.
Because the dol table was filled with pale pink flowers, I chose a similar light pink hanbok from their rental options, and my baby basically disappeared into the flowers. So if you’re doing this, I highly recommend choosing a brighter, more vivid hanbok. Also, pink tones didn’t really flatter my daughter, so her complexion looked a little washed out.
Still, I’m not the type to get too upset over details like that, so I didn’t dwell on it. At that point, just successfully finishing the party felt meaningful enough.
Balloons were not included with the dol table, so I prepared those separately.
Baby First Birthday Dress: Hamimi Dress
For my baby’s first birthday dress, I rented from a dress shop in Seongsu, Seoul called Hamimi Dress, and I was really happy with it. It was exactly our style.
The pricing was reasonable compared to other shops, the dress condition was excellent, and they also let us borrow a really wide variety of headpieces.
Mom’s First Birthday Party Dress: FLOWOOM
A lot of moms go all out for a baby’s first birthday party because people always say the mom is the real main character of the day. But since my in-laws were coming too, I felt a little awkward doing the full princess look, and I also didn’t want to spend a ton of money, so I kept things polished and simple.
I considered renting a dress, but in the end I decided to buy a one-piece dress that I could wear again later to weddings or other events.
I chose a FLOWOOM dress, which a lot of people also wear for the second part of weddings. FLOWOOM has so many pretty dresses, but I personally prefer a long length that fully covers the calves, and since April was already fairly warm, I wanted something that looked light and breathable. I ended up choosing the FLOWOOM Heritage Square Dress.
You can browse a variety of FLOWOOM dresses here
For moms looking for a first birthday party dress, FLOWOOM has a showroom in Jangchung-dong, Seoul where you can try things on in person, but unfortunately it’s temporarily closed through June 30.
I just ordered mine from W Concept and tried it on at home, and thankfully it fit me perfectly, so I didn’t have to agonize over it. My plan was to visit the showroom and try other options if it looked bad in person, but luckily that wasn’t necessary.
That said, if you read showroom reviews, a lot of people say they went in planning to buy one specific dress and ended up leaving with something completely different because it suited them better. So if you’re torn, it’s probably worth trying things on in person.
For reference, I’m about 170 cm tall, and after giving birth I hadn’t fully lost the baby weight, so I was roughly a Korean size 66 with a broader frame. The medium fit me perfectly.
The only thing to note is that the neckline is cut wide across the shoulders, so if you move around a lot, it can expose more of the chest area than you might want. I secured it with fashion tape, and it held much better than I expected. It stayed in place just fine for the few hours of the party.
I just searched for fashion tape and bought a random one, but it worked well enough that I’d actually recommend it.
Even though the neckline is wide, it isn’t cut especially low, so it didn’t feel too revealing or uncomfortable. I did get professional hair and makeup done, but I skipped any elaborate hair accessories and just wore the simple everyday earrings and necklace I normally use.
The dress also came with a ribbon belt at the waist, and that ended up being a really pretty detail.
For shoes, I wore the black stilettos I had bought years ago for our wedding photoshoot, and my husband wore the same suit he had worn to our wedding too.
At the moment, the Heritage Square Dress is temporarily sold out on W Concept, but it does seem to come back in stock if you wait.
Hair and Makeup House Call: Brush & Tail Comb
When I searched for first birthday party hair and makeup services, the two names that came up most often were Brush & Tail Comb and The Hedy. The Hedy was a little cheaper, so I originally wanted to book them, but they were already fully booked for the date and time I needed, so I ended up going with Brush & Tail Comb.
From what I saw, The Hedy was around 170,000 to 180,000 KRW, while Brush & Tail Comb was more like 200,000 to 210,000 KRW, or roughly $145 to $155.
Hair and makeup took about an hour and a half. I had only booked one female client, so I assumed one artist would handle everything, but on the day of the event, two people showed up. The only issue was that the hairstylist arrived pretty late. Still, thankfully, the hairstyle I wanted was a simple, classic ponytail, so they finished on time before I had to leave.
My makeup was done by someone named Jeong Eunji, not sure of her title, and my hair was done by Associate Director Jimin. Both were solid and perfectly fine overall.
I don’t show my face on the blog, so I can’t share the makeup results, but here are a few hair photos. The ends of the ponytail weren’t my absolute favorite, to be honest, but the shape around the crown and head looked really pretty, so I was satisfied overall.
This post got way too long, so I’ll continue in part two with the party photographer, lettering cake, lettering balloons, guest favors, and the total first birthday party cost.