Birthday Buffet à la Versailles

 

Posted by Shane,  Senior Home Editor

A few weeks ago, my friends Philip (who was visiting from Paris) and Emmanuelle (who lives here in New York) asked me to decorate their dual birthday celebration for roughly 100 people. The theme, we decided, would be "imaginative Versailles," and everybody would wear a mask. I immediately knew how I wanted it to look: gluttonous, fluffy, and, of course, pretty.

To accomplish this, I enlisted the help of my good friends and fellow crafters Katie Hatch (Blueprint's fashion editor) and Marcie McGoldrick (the holiday/crafts editor of Martha Stewart Living). We threw the party in a raw, white, lofty space with plenty of room for dancing and for the big ball gowns that many women showed up in. The pièce de résistance was an enormous cloud of cotton candy, which I ordered from Dylan's Candy Bar, in smaller quantities, and whooped up into a crazy mound. This three-foot tower of saccharine fluff served as our centerpiece, alongside a big pile of roasted ham. Behind the buffet, I hung a 4"-by-6" portrait of Marie Antoinette, made using the Rasterbator.

I built the buffet itself from two sets of white-painted sawhorses and some 3"-by-6" painted MDF boards; for the bar, I used two folding wooden tables that already existed in the space. We covered these with pink construction paper, the kind you can buy in giant rolls at the hardware store (it's used to protect areas of your home during renovations). Katie artfully styled a black ribbon across the table, letting it cascade around the 30 glittered pigs Marcie and I had made a week prior, using plastic pigs from the dollar store -- a nod to the spirit of gluttony.

Most of our other supplies came inexpensively from Party City. I stacked clear plastic wine glasses and plates in giant piles for grand impact. All over the floor, we sprinkled white paper confetti. You may think, "What a freakin' mess to clean up!" But it was worth it. It created a wonderful veil all over the floor and really transformed the space, somehow helping people feel comfortable letting go.

The large gold vessels are from Jamali Garden. We made the tiered displays by turning bowls we already owned upside-down and stacking plates in between, securing each layer with sticky tack. To add to the drama, we drizzled white strands of faux pearls around and over some of the food. Colorful confection classics like Necco wafers, two-foot-long pink Pixie Stix, and luscious swirls of ribbon candy dripped over the edges of their containers. Metallic jewel-toned eggs filled with chocolate overflowed from gilded vases.

Of course, the day of the party, I had a minor meltdown when thinking about everything I had to accomplish. Thankfully, Marcie and Katie offered their eleventh-hour assistance. The three of us, along with Philip, worked furiously, finishing just before the first guest arrived.

(there's Katie, in disguise)

Comments

[L]

I love this party..Its so pretty. I think my favoirte things are the cotton candy and those lovely little glittery piggies.

[Cate O'Malley]

I love those glittery pigs!

[Fairfax]

I WANT those pigs!!! I need those pigs!

[Suzanne]

Wow wow wow. The mood, the details, the effort.
All I can say is... Hear hear! Bravo! Encore!
The song Hong Kong Garden started to play in my mind... just like the party scene in the modern fluff version of Marie's life in Sofia Coppola's film.

[Modern Marie]

BEAUTIFUL party!!!!! I had to post pictures on my blog, as my blog is all about "Marie". You really captured the whole feel of the film. AMAZING! Marie would be proud!

[greengelato]

this...is simply amazing. i must put these pictures on my blog! :)

[Erin]

Shane, I L-O-V-E this!! You did such an amazing job! I love your interpretation! I, too, drew a lot of inspiration from Sophia Coppola's version of Marie Antoinette...I'm still not over the hair, the make-up, the costumes, the set....

WOW.

anyway, great stuff...I really enjoyed this entry (so much that I posted about it on my own blog!).

Happy Easter to you!