Engaging Party; Parasols and Lanterns

A  friend is getting married in May.  She and her husband to be have been renovating his great grandfather's four square that was built in the 1920's.  Their wedding will be an ohmage to all things from the era of Speakeasys, the Charleston and over the top decor.

Main Food Table with antique table cloth, parasol arrangement, Japanese lanterns,candelabra and pearls.

I had the privilege of organizing the decor for the engagement party which was held in a beautiful old home that was built at the turn of the century.  I started by looking for contemporary, painted parasols.  Either they are non existent or difficult to find so I began to look at vintage parasols and I hit the jackpot.  EBay was full of sellers offering vintage parasols and some were in mint condition.

Another view of Parasol Arrangement

 Gathering those parasols was fun and opening each package I received was an adventure.  Some of these vintage parasols had never been used and had not been opened in years.  Placing them in the container was even a bigger adventure and I had to have an engineer help to devise a way to do so.

This parasol was breathtaking.

Another beautiful parasol

Our signature drink was a Gin Ricky and was very popular with the guests.  Our food was a bit more modern to suit modern tastes.  All was served on appropriate silver to create a vintage mood.

This is the second parasol centerpiece that was displayed on grand piano.

Another view of grand piano centerpiece

Candy cigarettes and a box of chocolate cigars.

We had a young friend pass candy cigarettes and chocolate cigars to guests to emphasize the 1920's mood. 

Our poised, young candy girl.

Guests entered through movie theater stanchions on the sidewalk.  The beautiful front lawn trees were decorated with lit lampshades and Japanese lanterns and the hostessses and hosts had much fun hanging these.  It was difficult to photograph this at night but the effect was magical.

The guest who entered through the back door were greeted by more lanterns and this sign.

The bride and groom had had a book made of their engagement photos and this was signed by all who came to enjoy their 1920's engagement party.  The couple received the parasols as a gift so that they can be used to carry out this theme at the wedding.  But that is a story for a spring day.

Author, Bride and Vivi, fun was had by all.