The following is a different twist on traveling, but some things deserve to be posted about, and I standby my decision that this is an appropriate choice because technically we travelled back in time to recreate an era of style and beauty and just amazing mixed drinks. With the added argument that this is my blog and why not?
Most people who are not curmudgeons love a good party, only slightly less adore a chance to dress up for the evening, and everyone should celebrate their birthday in style if that is what they want to do. All of this led to one of my favorite friend's recent birthday celebration.
Throwing a 1920s to 30s party is relatively easy and tons of fun because there are so many amazing things you can do with it: costumes, props, drinks, the list goes on. So some lovely ladies and I set out to make this a night for one of favorite gals to remember...
Start with the your invite be it paper, Evite, or the ever popular Facebook event, let the lingo work for you. We used
www.paperdragon.com/1939/slang.html . The unfortunate consequence of using all of the slang you want (and trust me you might even consider using these sites as your main source of vernacular from that point forward because "bumping gums" and discussing all the bearcats, baby vamps and gigolos as well as being able to exclaim "Applesauce!" and "Horsefeathers!" as the most expressive expletive is just the bee's knees.) is that people have NO IDEA what your invite said. Unfortunate yet true story.
The flapper gear is readily available online and affordable. Accessories are fun and also easy to procure: boas, beads, fake or real pearls depending on how you roll. And of course headgear which can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Men and women in the 20s wore amazing stuff on their heads: feathers, flowers, jewels, netting. Let your imagination take you wherever you want to be.
After the invite and the appropriate attire come decorations. We kept it simple with 2 signature centerpieces, beads, pearls, boas, and balloons. The inspiration for the centerpieces were the party's signature colors (red, black and white) and of course feathers. Everyone loves a favor to remember the fabulous event and we made a CD with music from the era, used some fabulous paper to print a picture of the birthday girl as the CD cover. We spread them on the center table we had another fun party touch and the kind that you don't want to miss out on.
Most all women if you can catch them at a truly honest moment look for a valid excuse to wear fishnet stockings (admittedly we are needing less and less of one. You no longer have to be a Hot Topic shopper or someone who is disgruntled with life in general and chooses to express it with dark dye jobs and leg apparel with holes in them). Plus they make you legs look fabulous.
Other fun props can be easily found online such as: guns that shoot out banners that say bang, cigarette holders, feather boas.
Drinks are important (understatement) and the 20s had a bunch of wonderful ones: the Moscow Mule, French 75, Bee's Knees, Kir Royale to name a few. Present your drinks with an ornate frame and interesting type font. One great recipe:
1 ounce honey syrup (mix one part boiling water with two parts honey)
Pour gin, syrup and juice into a glass with ice cubes and shake.
Strain into a glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
We chose signature drinks, but also decided to feature the birthday girl's favorite drink in the form of a cupcake. These days if you can dream it, it can be cupcaked (yes, I just turned cupcake into a verb, and I truly believe that it was an appropriate thing to do.).
There are several recipes out there and we decided on one and then augmented it to make it all the more tasty. Our particular concoction came from a delicious raspberry cupcake recipe and then we added champagne icing. We also infused about 5ml of champagne into each cupcake after baking and cooling for a fun kick!
For the ladies (and even the gents) it is always great to decorate with color themed flowers, and Meriel added extra spice with large feather accents.
Party favors are always a hit and with inspiration from my friend Gianni (a spectacular party planner herself), she created a time appropriate mix that all of the flappers and beaus could have to take a piece of the 20s permanently with them. iTunes and Amazon (and Spotify) have made this quite a simple thing to do. Use some fab paper and a picture of the birthday girl and boy (already in costume if you have the option). Set them out on the table draped with pearls and boas and it makes for an excellent display in addition to a fun take home gift!
Finish the evening with a birthday candle/cupcake celebration!
It definitely makes for fabulous photo opportunity. Who doesn't want to look classic and beautiful?
And who can beat a party where the memories come instantly and are just as fun as the party itself?
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