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The Fourth Formal Historical Holiday Costume Ball (The Gathering of the Clans.)
The Theme
Emily says... Tyler and I were rather saddened by the lack of costume or fancy dress at the DnNRB. Because most of our party guests also go to renaissance faires, we decided that a renaissance-themed party would make it easier for most people to come in costume.
The theme for the party comes from a ren-faire song sometimes called "The Ball of Ballinore." It tells the story of a very rowdy, bawdy party. On discovering that the actual party that the song describes took place, most likely, in the 1870s, we changed the name for the ball to an alternative title of the song, "The Gathering of the Clans."
The Gathering of the Clans would be a Celtic renaissance party. We saw it as a cross between the rowdy FHHCBII and the laid-back Gig Harbor Ren Faire itself.
Tyler says...Not only were we giving folks a break with the rather easy theme, we introduced at this point the concept of "Single-Shot" guests. These people would be theme appropriate, and thus up the percentage of people in costume, adding to the atmosphere by their very presence. This idea has recieved mixed reviews, but I'm still rather fond of it. At any rate, for the FHHCBIV, we invited persons who, while our friends, hadn't been invited to an FPA function before, simply as window-dressing, so to speak.
The Set-Up
This theme made the alcohol question a difficult one. In polling our party guests, we've found that most actually prefer dry parties, but the ambience is much more jovial when there is alcohol. Furthermore, as the date neared it became clear that the best venue would again be Hale's Pass, which makes the hosts nervous when there is alcohol. Due to these factors, we decided to be cowardly and again take no official stand on alcohol.
However, despite the no official stance on alchohol, we had a champagne fountain full of caramel apple alchoholic punch. Odd, that.
On arriving at Hale's Pass the night before the party, we realized that the venue is much smaller than we had remembered. We arranged the tables in a modified horseshoe, with the high table towards the back of the room and unattached tables along the sides. Tyler created a masterpiece of greenery: a seven foot tall thistle sculpture that would sit in the middle of the room during dinner. For other decorations, there were banners on the walls and from the ceiling and the wall opposite the windows was covered in walls of cedar. The tables had plaid runners and thistle bouquets as well as candelabras. Decore was overwhelmingly red, gold and black with greenery.
Directions for the decorations can be found under "Resources" or here. They're not at all difficult, and from the very first Fabulous Party, I've felt that nothing says The Holidays like mounds and mounds of cedar, fir, and holly. Beyond all of which, the rustic feel of the theme gives sway to simple decoration.
We had red, gold and clear goblets, an assortment of dishes, cheap flatware and rented ivory and gold bowls to serve stew.
Hale's Pass was really quite suitable for this theme, by the way. Exposed logs as the ceiling beams, and stone work all around really contribute to the rural early feel of the place. All we really had to do to transform it into a feast-hall was cover the black-boards and dangle banners. Which is a bit of luck, really, because for the first time ever, Gig Harbor Co-Operative Preschool had failed to clear out the preschool equipment from the room. Mats, Jungle Gyms, Toys, &c. were littered all over the magnificent chamber, and much set-up time was lost to removal of these many, massive, items.
The Food
We had Haggis (which was absolutely dreadful) and Goose (which was lovely) and an authenticly Scottish stew. I think that we were most successful at period-and-culturally-accurate food at this party. And, for the first time ever - perhaps due to the highest amount of guests in FPA history - we didn't have a crumb of food left. An acheivement all by itself.
Tyler got a beverage fountain as an early Christmas present. It was beautiful, and full of appley punch. There was also the standby fabulous party punch, egg nog, coffee, and an assortment of teas, as well as wine, mead and scotch provided by guests.
The Execution
Please, Please, Please: If you are ever our guest, DON'T COME EARLY. While we -of course- enjoy your company, pre-party we are incredibly stressed, have no time to chat or entertain you, are probably cooking the food or setting the table, and are surely not dressed for the evening yet. Coming early just ensures that we're running late, which means a less enchanting evening for everyone. Further, it ruins the illusion that throwing these things is effortless. Please, don't come early.
There were 46 people at this event, which is more than ever before! Some came early, some came late, and the arrangement of people already sitting down made it difficult for latecomers to find space to eat, though we did have enough placesettings. I wore my rather large hoop which made it very difficult to navigate during dinner, but afterwards tables were pushed to ths side for games.
We didn't play many games, but a surprising number of people took part in learning a renaissance dance, a game of Hot Cockles lasted a little while, and some people played with boffer weapons outside.
For the first time, Period Dance was a popular entertainment. It wasn't a struggle to find people to join in, which was surprising. In fact, after most of the guests had left, there was a second round of period dance, which was also incredibly entertaining. It was also - while not the only - the primary entertainment for the evening, besides mingling and drinking.
There were some wonderful new people, some regulars, and a few who came who rarely make appearances at our events. It was jolly and even though I was sick I had a blast.
The guests - though rather a grab-bag of Single-Shot guests, regulars, wonderful new folks, and people who haven't attended in years - were fairly well mixed. With one Notable Exception, I don't think that anyone lacked someone to talk to. It was wonderful. People broke down their social barriers! It was glittering, it was grand, it was glorious.
In the morning, it took forever to get things cleaned up. The preschool had not cleared out any of the chillun artifacts from the room when Tyler arrived, so they all had to go back. Alas, I had to leave around 4pm before we were finished. It was sad. Also sad was the fact that my just-back-from-the-repair-shop camera apparently picked up a new defect while being worked on, and my first three rolls of film came up blank except for the last two frames. Pictures are sparse, as the last roll (which developed fine, but halfway through the night the flash also stopped working so remaining pictures are dark and blurry) was half morning-after.
Conclusions
This was possibly the most fabulous party so far.
Recieving death glares from a single guest throughout the evening does not detract from 43 other people having a wonderful time.
The theme did encourage people to dress up. At least 2/3 of the attendees were wearing some sort of renaissancey garb.
If we continue to grow at the rate that we have been - and no doubt we will! - then Hale's Pass, regrettably, has become far too small for us.
We also need more plates!
We don't need to have planned activities for every minute of the ball for people to have fun and interact.
Maybe more stew next time!
Custom Decor Pieces are lots of fun to make.
You can see a few more pictures from this party at the photobucket album for the event.
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