Halloween Masquerade Ball

The invitations:

The invitations were in felt-lined boxes along with masks for each guest.

The invitations had a transparent overlap on top of them; with an insert explaining the costumes and masks



 

Though they look simple, the invitations took forever, but my friend Melissa was a great help folding and lining the boxes, cutting and gluing and assembling all the separate pieces of paper, lining the envelopes, installing the brads, melting the sealing wax, and on and on...

Our decorations were much simpler this year than they have been in the past, but I think they still created a nice effect. We set up one long banquet table along the length of the yard, as well as several smaller tables, a bar (we hired a bartender this year, as well as caterers and servers), and little seating areas surrounding statues.

The table colors were black, silver, and green, with more than 50 silver and crystal candlesticks, ferns, black and green butterflies, peacock feathers, and other decorations.

Setting up during the day, before the guests arrived:

During the party:

The one big thing we built was the bar inside the mausoleum.

We started with a free shed we got from my friend Hollye, and which Dev heroically got home. (It weighed more than 750 lbs.) Our friends James, Jascha, and James helped us move it (three times, actually).

My friends Zoe and Jo helped me cover the shed in ram board, and my parents helped me follow that with dozens of plastic bones.

 

Group field trip to the hardware store

 

 

 

 

I covered the inside in black plastic, then added some decorations (including the hand torches) and filled it with the dozens of bottles we used for our bar.

 

 

Almost 100 people showed up in eveningwear to enjoy drinks and dinner. It was too dark to get that many good photos, but I did capture a few. (Dev looked very handsome in a tuxedo with tails, though I didn't get any photos, and I wore a lovely green gown I first wore as a bridesmaid in Hannah's wedding).

 

Lilli

Sam

Peter and Roe

Seth and Sophie

 

Julie, looking very pretty and a little blurry

Zach and Lauren

James and Melissa

Marlene and Kevin

Samantha

Aaron and Jo

 

 

Party favors - my mom helped me fold 100 little black boxes; fill them all with moss, truffles, and paper slips reading "De quelque coté que tu te tournes la mort est aux aguets;*" and then tie them up with silver ribbons. 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

* A quote found in the catacombs in Paris: "Wherever you turn, Death is lurking."



Halloween Costumes 2015

This year Beatrice chose to be the Sphinx for Halloween. Her composite costume (part lion, part pharaoh, with black wings) was a little confusing to everyone else, but she loved it - and asked people the Sphinx's riddle all night. (Other things Beatrice considered included a harpy, a siren, and Typhon, "The Father of Monsters.")

Arthur chose to be Princess Leia, or as he fondly calls her, "a space princess."

 

William is still too little to choose his own costume, but his favorite book right now is Where the Wild Things Are, so I dressed him up as Max, the little boy that tames monsters

In Which Dev Saves Boo

 

Yes, unbelievably, Arthur managed to accidentally flush his beloved Boo down the toilet.

 

Luckily Dev was there to leap into action and save him by uncovering two cleanouts under the house and catching Boo as he floated by on his way to the main sewer line.

 

Boo, past and present