Actors Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes played hosts to friends and family over the weekend as their daughter, Esmeralda, celebrated her first birthday on Sept. 12. However, the celebration was hardly a Hollywood spectacle as the couple only had a small group of guests in their house.
"It was a quiet and casual party, not the typical celebrity 1st birthday blowout with vendors and other celebrity guests," a source revealed to US Weekly. "It looked like it was just their simple style and more about family and close friends coming together to celebrate Esmeralda."
"There was no music or any sign of other babies or older kids," another source told Entertainment Tonight. Only 20 people were in attendance and it was a "low key" but intimate gathering. Instead of fancy decorations and treats from high priced vendors, the party was set up by Eva's sister and mom, according to She Knows. Gosling's side of the family also had their own contribution as the birthday cake was baked by Ryan's sister.
The couple appreciates that their families are very involved with raising Esmeralda.
"When my mom and sisters visit, they take over the house. They take my baby! They start cleaning everything! They sound like a bunch of hyenas, yelling in Spanish, English, Spanglish," Eva revealed to Glam Belleza Latina magazine. "I'm so happy that my little girl gets to grow up with this," she added.
But like any other birthday celebration, their baby girl did receive gifts from the guests despite the toned down party. "Some people brought wrapped gifts, including clothes and toys," the source further revealed to US. "One guest arrived carrying a rocking horse, and another had colorful plastic balls to fill a ball pit."
Eva and Ryan named Esmeralda after their favorite character. "Ryan and I both love the Esmeralda character from the Victor Hugo novel, 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' and we just think it's a beautiful name," said the actress according to Entertainment Tonight.
Though notorious for keeping their relationship private, the two started dating in 2011 on the set of "The Place Beyond the Pines". There seems to be no plans for the couple to get married though. The actress once said in an old interview with US Weekly, "I'm not like anti-marriage or the institution, like for other people. And I love the idea of a union—that's all very beautiful. But I think, you know, it's a very old fashioned, archaic kind of thing. We did it for land originally. How unromantic is that?"
