I’m excited to bring a new series of lifestyle posts to my blog, full of inspiration and ideas to help you celebrate life better with your friends and family! These posts are an inside look at parties that I am hosting for my friends and family that I hope will not only give you a peek into my life, but also inspire you to celebrate life with the people you love most!
The first party that I get to share is a fun take on Halloween. To be honest, I have never been a big fan of Halloween; I am not fan of the spooky and scary parts of this holiday. But, I never turn down a reason to get together with my girlfriends, so I came up with the idea of a “Gothic Glam” dinner party- bringing in a touch of this darker holiday, but in a fun and feminine way.
Watch this great video created by the fabulous Alexa Sims and see how all the details came together.
THE TABLE
Knowing that I was having a smaller group size I decided to have a sit-down style meal. Plus, I love that the “Gothic Glam” theme lends itself to something slightly more formal. To create a Gothic, yet modern effect I mixed grays, blacks and whites, dimmed the lights, used tons of different candles and added details like a skeleton hand on each place setting. Monochromatic purple flower arrangements tied it all together to give balance, softness and femininity. I used my wedding china which has a modern design to add contrast and a personal touch.
And because I love the even the smallest details, I wanted to make my living room fit the theme as well. I covered my couches in white sheets to give the look of a haunted or abandoned house. I even changed out all the picture frames on my shelves to vintage photos of my family members to take us back in time. As my friends mingled it was fun to see them notice all these details.
THE FOOD
I kept things simple when it came to the meal, and I chose a comfort-food menu. I baked my favorite mac and cheese recipe by none other than Martha Stewart, broiled fresh asparagus with a little salt, pepper and olive oil, made a simple side salad, and of course pumpkin pie! I created a custom cocktail for the night with blood orange margaritas, but also had champagne and wine for my girls who love a classic. It was an easy to prepare most of this before my guests arrived, giving me more time to enjoy the party with my friends.
THE FUN
Hands down, my favorite part of this celebration was the activity! In keeping with the Gothic Glam theme, I put together a “Pick Your Potion” essential oils bar (special thanks to my lovely sister-in-law Alyssa for the inspiration). Here my friends could mix and match essential oils that they loved most to create a custom perfume or spray.
Putting it all together was fun and I learned a lot about the great effects of essential oils. I found different oil recipes online, and then purchased the grapeseed base oil and all the essential oils from Sprouts Market. The black dropper bottles and purple roll-on bottles I purchased from Amazon Prime and they shipped in no time. I then printed out the remedy recipes and put them in a cute frame so my friends could know how to create each remedy. A few examples included “stress relief”, “good sleep” and “love potion”. If you want to step it up a notch you can add details such as custom labels for each of the essential oil bottles, display beakers and flasks filled with water and food coloring to add to the laboratory setting, as well as pretty labels and baggies for your friends to finish off their beautiful creations to take home or give as gifts. I also put a hand-made lava bead bracelet at each of my friends’ place settings that they can drop some of their oils on and wear. Lava beads are absorbent and great for essential oils. Each girl had so much fun at the essential oils bar, this could be a great addition to your next get together.
MIXING OILS
Using essential oils needs to be done carefully, so I wanted to include a great step-by-step guide on how to safely create your own custom oil remedies.
Overall this was a fabulous dinner party where each woman was able to taste and enjoy great food, create something personal, and celebrate the lives of the other women there learning and laughing together.