Old Hollywood! What a wonderful period in history to
celebrate with independent living residents in a CCRC retirement community. I
just held this theme party this week, and I must say that it was a smash hit!
It really was not hard at all to create, and the overwhelming results were
terrific. Here is what I did.
I went to my storage closet and started digging around. I ended up in one of
my New Year's Eve boxes that I had marked "black and gold." I pulled
out all the black
stars that I could find, some black material, tooling that had gold stars
on it, a few black sequenced hats, and some other stuff that I did not end up
using. In another box that I had used for a movie night, I found paper items
including a gold Oscar cut-out, some theater lights
cut-outs, a mural of the red carpet, and other theater
related items. Online, I found some cool piñatas of a clap-board and an old
movie projector. And lastly, I always like to keep silk flowers on-hand to use,
so I brought down some white peonies. Oh, yes, the best item was something that
I did not buy, but was made by a resident - a large black star with the words Hollywood
Night on it and lights around it.
What I ended up doing was using the stars to hang from the ceiling, the red
carpet mural in a hallway that really does have
red carpet, and the big star with the lights as a backdrop for my picture
taking. I made a centerpiece for my room with the sequenced top
hats, the silk flowers and some black shiny, star picks. After clothing the
table with a black cloth, I used the tool with the gold stars in-between the tablecloth
and the black hats as well as to fill in the bottom of the arrangements. The piñatas
were used on the wall, instead of hanging them, because I realized that they
were only one-sided. I also had a few items that I found at Old Time Pottery
that I used around the area. Check out my own "store" to see
what else I found on line for this theme party and others. Also note that at
the bottom of my blog, you will find a discount for Shindigz. Click on it to
take you to the site and get the discount. Ordering with the links above will
not provide you with the discounts.
Residents were invited
to dress up for the event. I gave them the following suggestions: "Dress
as your favorite movie star: Clara Bow, Audrey Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Lena
Horne, Greta Garrbo, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Clark
Gable or even as the paparazzi!"
We had some of these stars show up and some that I have never heard of before!
The residents really got into this special event.
I also showed the movie, "Hollywood
Canteen" about a week ahead of the theme party and suggested that they
view it to get more ideas and the new movie, "The
Artist" that was set in the old Hollywood period. Both were great
sources for ideas.
Speaking about ideas, there are a few places on the web where you can get
more suggestions for planning an Old Hollywood party. My favorite is at Easy
Party Ideas and the other is at Top Party Ideas.
For food, the hors d'oeuvres were scallops wrapped in bacon and asparagus in
puffed pastry. Both were delicious. Light yet classy. These were served before
dinner in the main lobby.
The hit of the party was Marilyn Monroe and the show after dinner. Marilyn
was situated at the end of the red carpet walk. In front of her photo area were
red velvet stanchions
- as seen in the movie theater to create separate lines that I borrowed from
another community's dining room. Or you can get paper stanchions
instead if you'd like. The woman that I hired was amazing. She even brought a
fan to stand on to make her skirt blow up a bit. The show afterwards was so
unique. It was a man who spoke about Hollywood starting in the 1920's. He
showed film clips, spoke about each section, and played the piano as background
for the video clips. It was so well done and was perfect for the event.
Sometimes a theme night comes to mind because of a specific decoration that
is your "jumping off point," and sometimes it is in order to host a
specific entertainer. It may even be because you have a great outfit and nowhere
to where it. Whatever the reason, make sure that you pull it all together for a
well thought out theme party that will be a smash in your community!
