Bridgerton Ball

Part 1 of season 3 of the popular Netflix show Bridgerton was recently released with the second half set to stream this week.  I have enjoyed watching this show as I always love period dramas and over-the-top love stories, and this show has both.  I decided it might be fun to host a Bridgerton themed dinner for this month's monthly dinner, and it did not disappoint.  We had a great time dressing up, eating delicious food, and laughing at some of the party details I put together.

Invitation: The Bridgerton family is often seen in purple and lavender flowers adorn their home, so I wanted to incorporate these flowers into the invitation.  I also incorporated a Lady Whistledown image into the center of the invite. I found some of these images online and just adapted them to fit with the look I wanted.  I tried to use regency era wording like "soiree" and "finest frock" as well as some others.  I mixed fonts between a font like the Bridgerton logo for the show and a fancy script to match the time period.

The ladies and I had fun dressing up with our fancy jewelry and dresses for this dinner.  It wasn't full costume or anything as I didn't want my guests to have to purchase items.  The girls did a great job adding fun jewelry, fancy gloves, and hats to their dresses.  I borrowed my dress from a neighbor, and it was perfect for the regency era.

Decorations: Oh what fun I had finding decorations for this dinner.  Every ball or dinner party in the show is elaborate with gold, candles, and flowers everywhere, so I definitely wanted to try to recreate that for this dinner.  

I purchased fake flowers to lay out as a table runner and a gold bow decoration from Michaels.  

I borrowed the gold candle sticks, candelabra, and vases from a neighbor and used Ikea plants I already had around the house to place inside those vases.  The white pillar candles I already had from previous parties.

I borrowed my mom's fine china for the place settings, and they were perfect - pastel flowers and many with gold trimmings on the edges.

On each place setting I wrote a Lady Whistledown issue about our party and our party guests.  I tried to think of gossipy things about each guest.  It was super fun to write (with some help from ChatGPT on some of the entries), and the party guests got a kick out of reading the silly happenings or habits.  Here is a sample of part of one of the entries with the last name changed:

"Meanwhile, it has come to this humble writer’s attention that our very own Lady Smith  has been engaging in activities that would surely cause a raised eyebrow or two among the ton. Sightings have been reported of her indulging in a glass (or perhaps bottle) of boysenberry wine, savoring its rich, tangy notes well into the night. What, you may ask, has been keeping our night owl’s attention? None other than the charming escapades of Neal Caffrey in the delightful series “White Collar.”

For place cards I made Dance Cards like the unmarried ladies wear at the balls in the Bridgerton series. I designed the front and back on PhotoShop using a Bridgerton family crest with the bee and found flowers in pink and purple shades to match my table.  I used my Cricut to cut out the circles as well as the filagree frame, glued them together, and added a purple ribbon for around the wrist. I placed these on flowered napkins I purchased at Daiso.

I designed my wine labels on PhotoShop with Regency era backgrounds and designs.  Lady Whistledown is known for "spilling the tea" or writing gossip in her columns, so I used that phrase to encourage guests to "Spill the Tea, but Drink the Wine."  For the white wine, I simply called it Lady Whistledown's White Wine to play with alliteration and added that it was "the delight of the ton."  For those that aren't familiar with the show, the "ton" refers to the elite class of British society during the Regency era.

For wine charms, I made silhouettes similar to the heading of Lady Whistledown's writings for each guest.  I tried to find a silhouette that looked like the guest, added the word Lady with the guest's name below, and then Society Pages just as is written on Lady Whistledown's issues.

Menu:  I wanted to serve very elaborate foods at this dinner since Bridgerton Balls are very elaborate.  This did cause me to spend quite a bit of money on groceries, but everything was delicious and liked by all.  I named each menu item after a character in Bridgerton and added a common adjective often used on the series. I started with an appetizer I titled Queen Charlotte's Brilliant Brie and Berries that I designed to look like Queen Charlotte who is known for her high and elaborate wigs.  I used the round brie for her face placing doilies under the bottom half for a royal collar.  Then I used blackberries and edible flowers to create her wig.  I used my Cricut to cut out a gold crown to add as well. 

With it being summertime, I decided to serve a light summer salad I called Simon's Swoonworthy Salad. It was simple to make and delicious. I will definitely be making it again.  You can find the recipe here at Simple Joy.  The salad included romaine lettuce, raspberries, blueberries, goat cheese, walnuts (I candied them), and was topped with a lemon poppyseed dressing. I left out the radishes from the recipe as I am not a fan of their taste.

For the main dish, I made beef wellington which I called Lady Whistledown's Wondrous Wellington. I chose this recipe because it had fewer ingredients than many of the others I found.  It is somewhat time consuming to prepare and not much can be done in advance, but it was very tasty.  I tripled the recipe which was a good call because it really does only make 4 servings. 

Alongside the beef wellington, I made duchess potatoes.  These are easy to make and can be prepared sightly ahead of time, so that was helpful.  I love that they look regal which fit the theme.  I called these Penelope's Picturesque Potatoes.

I also served asparagus which I called Anthony's Alluring Asparagus.

For dessert, I made individual Chocolate Lava Cakes.  I was able to make these ahead of time and had them sitting in the refrigerator until it was time to put them in the oven.  They took longer to bake than the recipe said, but were very good.  I served them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and called them Daphne's Dazzling and Decadent Dessert.

Favor: Bath and Body Works currently is selling a line of Bridgerton candles, soaps, and sprays.  They happened to be running a sale on the soaps, so this became my party favor.  Guests could choose between the Diamond of the Season, Wisteria Garden, Bridgerton Study, or Queen Charlotte's Tea scents.  

I added a tag to each bottle in Lady Whistledown language which read, "Your attendance enhanced the evening's allure and added a touch of refinement and delight to the festivities.  Yours Truly, Lady Whistledown."

This was a super fun theme with Bridgerton music in the background, an elegant table, and friends laughing at our dresses and accessories.  Not all of the guests had watched the show (although a few binged watch a bit before the party), but it was totally not necessary for the evening and we all had a great time.  Guests loved the Lady Whistledown issue, so if you don't have a huge guest list, I would definitely spend the time crafting that as it was a big hit.  I love you enjoyed this poist, and if you are a Bridgerton fan...this might be a fun theme to host for your next gathering!

Yours Truly,

Lady Casto

Flipping Thru the Channels

I am the ASB Director at the school where I teach, and we just completed a super fun spirit week titled Flipping Thru the Channels.  It was so fun seeing teachers and students dressed up for the spirit days. From MTV Monday wearing band tees to Disney Channel Friday in mouse ears & Disney clothes, it was a week full of fun.  I thought it would make a fun dinner party idea, and that was this month's theme.  It did not disappoint.

Invite:  I designed the invitation with various TV channel logos along the left hand side and an old school television in the middle.  Since the spirit week at my school was full of fun dress up days, I decided to have guests dress up to represent a channel as well.

Decorations: I used bold and bright colors for the table as most TV channel logos are bold.  For the centerpiece, I spray painted a box black and added television decals to match the TV on my invitation.  I cut a hole in the top of the box and put a vase inside with flowers.

As a table runner, I set out black card stock and then printed various TV channel logos to spread along the runner.

For place cards, I designed small televisions using Photoshop and then cutting them with my Cricut machine.  I matched a logo that represented various guests hobbies/likes to show on the "screen."  My family travels a lot so I used the Travel channel on my place card with On the Go Carole. A friend who is currently remodeling her bathroom was HGTV with Renovating Rene.  For the antennas, I used push pins with black balls at the end and just stuck them through the card stock of the television.

For napkins, I printed the Disney Channel logo to place on bright yellow folded napkins.  I labeled the Mousekatools (fork, knife, spoon) for guests to pull in that term used on Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

For my beverage table, I borrowed an MTV shirt to display behind the wine and party favors.

For the wine labels, I also incorporated TV channels.  The white wine was the logo for TLC (The Learning Channel).  I just switched it up to be Totally Love Chardonnay to represent the letters.  The background of this label was the same TV as the invite all the way around.  For the red wine, I chose the Red Zone channel from NFL Network. I designed the label with a glass of red wine and the NFL logo in it.

The wine charms were just various TV channel logos that I printed out and put on the glass stems.

Menu: As a main dish, I served garlic mushroom chicken that was delicious!  I followed this recipe from Cafe Delites, except I baked the chicken in the oven instead of on the stove as I didn't want to be stuck in front of the stove and not interacting with guests.  I did do the mushroom mixture on the stove, but that didn't take long.  This is a recipe I will definitely make again.  I used an acronym for this dish to match with the AMC television channel.  Instead of American Movie Classics, I had it stand for Amazing Mushroom Chicken.

As a side dish, I made Baked Cheesy Ranch Potatoes which were also amazing and super easy to make.  I chose this "cheesy" dish to go with the Hallmark Channel.  I am a sucker for all of their cheesy holiday movies!

I also made a fruit platter and organized the fruit on a platter in the shape and colors of the NBC peacock logo.  I served pineapple, cantaloupe, strawberries, purple grapes, blueberries, and honeydew.  The NBC letters I cut out on my Cricut. 

For dessert, I made a sponge cake.  My good friend did all the SpongeBob themed icing on the cake to represent the Nickelodeon channel.  I also added the top of the pineapple to the platter to add to the SpongeBob theme.  

Favor: The party favor was easy to throw together.  I simply wrapped Hershey bars in black cardstock, and then designed an image of a remote control on Photoshop to print and glue to the front to make take home remotes.  The text read "Thank You for Tuning In."  Guests can enjoy a candy bar as the Flip Thru the Chanels at home!

I didn't take any photos of my guests at this event, but we had several channels represented.  I wore an MTV shirt, one guest wore a jersey to represent ESPN, a few guests wore Disney ears.  So many options to work with - safari gear for Discovery Channel, decade dress for History Channel, chef attire for Food Network, etc.  This was a fun party and would be great for a get together or birthday party theme.

Thank You for Being a Friend - Golden Girls Theme!

The world was saddened by news of Betty White's passing New Year's Eve.  She was an iconic superstar with an amazing sense of humor.  As a child, I loved watching The Golden Girls, and she would crack me up with her silly responses as Rose.  I decided The Golden Girls would be a fun theme for our monthly dinner and it truly was fun to put together.

Invite: I designed the invitation on Photoshop using some images I found online.  I incorporated some iconic phrases and lines from The Golden Girls episodes to add to theme.  With the surges in COVID cases, we decided to host this dinner on Zoom rather than in person.  I would have loved to have had the chance to decorate the table Miami-style with some afghans around the room for fun, but we decided to be caution and keep it virtual.

Party Details:  I created the mini wine bottles labels to match the invitations with the four main character faces along the top.  For the white wine, I used Sophia's iconic phrase "slut puppy" with the words Drink Up above it.  For the red wine, I used a phrase that Dorothy said to Rose, "Go to sleep, sweetheart and pray for brain."  I just added "or red wine" to the end of it.

For my napkins, I used another famous quote from Rose that makes me laugh.  Rose says, "The older you get, the better you get...unless you're a banana".  I designed a tag with this quote and wrapped a bright pink napkin around a banana to give to guests.

Menu:  The character Sophia in the series consistently speaks of her younger years being raised in Sicily.  She likes to good Italian food, so this is what I decided to serve for our dinner.  I created this menu to put on top of the boxed meals so guests would know how the food related to theme.

I started with a salad I called Blanche's "You look like a Prostitute" Slutty Salad.  This comment was said by Sophia to Blanche in one episode, and it is so reflective of both of their characters.  This was a simple green salad with diced red peppers, cucumbers, croutons, and Italian dressing on the side.  I used a lip-shaped cookie cutter to cut one large red pepper for lips as well.

I found an easy lasagna recipe online to make for what I termed Sophia's "Picture it...Sicily 1922" Lasagna.  I found the recipe here.  It was tasty and not difficult to make once you have all the ingredients.  I was able to serve the nine guests as well as my family.  Alongside the lasagna I served a bread roll pretending it was from St. Olaf Bakery.

Cheesecake is the obvious choice for dessert, since The Golden Girls are always eating cheesecake during their late night chats.  I cheated this time and just purchased a cheesecake from Costco which I never do.  I just added some raspberries and called my dessert "RaspBETTY White Cheesecake."

Favor:  When I was thinking about what to make for a favor for this party, I ran across this cute purse pattern on Etsy.  I printed the purse on photo paper, cut it out, and folded it to create this purse.  I wonder if it would look better and fold better using card stock, but my printer prints pretty dull on card stock, so I opted for photo paper.  I filled the purses with gold Hershey kisses for The Golden Girls.

This would be a great theme for a Golden birthday.  I had so many ideas for decorations and other things that I was not able to do since we had the party on Zoom.  Either way, it was a fun theme and spending time with my friends is always Golden!