For a long time, I've been wanting to throw a Gatsby inspired party. I've always thought I grew up in the wrong era, and I'm fascinated with all things vintage, especially the 1920s. Granted, there were a lot of negatives during that decade including prohibition, stock market crashing, and no air conditioning. No thank you. But, the style and hair and glamour are fantastic.
Cue up to about 2 months ago when I brought this up to my friend Rachel. She suggested that I do it for my birthday. So, for my birthday this year, we threw a Gatsby party. Granted, I don't have the budget to throw a full fledged Gatsby party, however, I think we did pretty well considering.
So here's some of decorations, ideas, etc that we used for it.
Firstly, appropriate dress was a must. Everyone who entered (with the exception of a few friends who didn't stay long) had to be in 20's style outfits. And let me tell you, it was fantastic. It was also a blast getting ready with my girls. Dresses, pearls, headbands. Plus Rachel is a pro at makeup. The guys were pretty legit too.
Every person in attendance also had to bring a bottle of champagne. I didn't want to go broke buying liquor for everyone. I did however provide ingredients for Mary Pickford's. Those were delicious. Check out a recipe here.
I made the menu as era appropriate as I could as well.
pancetta wrapped asparagus
lemon (and chocolate)cupcakes
fruit cups
deviled eggs
cheese and crackers
ceasar salad*
(*which I forgot to put out!! ahhh)
See the champagne glass tower there?! Haha. later on in the night we tested it out.
As for decorations...
I got peacock feathers from Amazon, pearls and such from Goodwill and other thrift stores. Rachel's had big bulb lights, wine/champagne bottles and lanterns left over from her wedding, so we recycled! Gold, black and clear balloons, gold and black plates, cups and utensils from Party City. And then some black and white striped paper straws from Etsy. I also made some signs, easy enough, and put them on black and/or gold glittery paper. And we made art.. .our little triangles with glitter, modge podge and cardboard. They turned out alright. haha.
The best part about the night was the photo booth. I bought some tinsel curtains from Amazon, and we used those as a backdrop. I have a nice DSLR camera, so I purchased a tripod and a remote shutter release, also from Amazon, so that we could take our own pictures. We had props to use. I bought some here, but I also printed out free ones from here.
And here's some awesome pictures from the photo booth!!
Lastly, we had 20's music playing throughout. That was really the finishing touch, and really made us feel like we had traveled back in time. Amazing how music can do that.
So there ya have it! I still have a Pinterest board dedicated to the party, so if you need more ideas check that out.
Oh, and Jake and Rachel painted an awesome poster. They're amazing.
Overall, it was a great night. I had tons of fun with my closest friends. Next year will be the golden birthday, and you know we'll go even bigger for that!
Until next time,
XOXO
