I am one of those women who is inevitably drawn to the daintiness and feminity of the late 1800s’ Victorian style. I have always been fascinated with the corsets, big fluffy skirts and the curls. Well, this fascination has been with me for quite sometime – to the extent that I wore a corset with my wedding lehenga as well. I also did a post on Victorian look that i sported to a friend’s cocktail very recently. You can check out the post here –
When we started planning for V’s birthday , we got loads of suggestions on cartoon character themes but we did not pick any of those solely because V was just about a year old and she had no friends of her own to be invited who could enjoy the party. The guest list was filled with our family and friends, hence we decided on a theme which would give a vintage and ornate feel to the whole setup.Though it seems like a Victorian-themed party might be hard to pull off, it could be a lot easier than you imagined. Let me give you ideas and tips on how to prepare for that perfect party .
First and foremost was of course the color code for the whole party and after a lot of deliberation, white/red seemed to be perfect for the evening. We picked the key elements that we wanted to highlight in the decor – Umbrellas, vintage frames, cages, candles, fur and lights. Of course you can make it as simple or elaborate as you may like. The picture above is the entrance filled with inverted umbrellas on the top and candle stands on both the sides.
The pathway was set up with Vintage frames of V’s pictures and small photo frames kept on table covered with fur mats.
Photo booth was a tough choice as we kept shortlisting and discarding several backgrounds with Victorian themes. Initially we thought we could use a flex of a castle as background and few props in the platform but somehow it did not create the right effect. So we ordered a complete fabrication of a chariot with the horse. Few cages were hung here and there and the ceiling was covered with red and white helium balloons with the ribbons hanging.
Then came the cake table and background. I wish I had better pictures for these as we spent the maximum time and effort behind it. The V shaped light inside the vintage frame was made locally to create a 3D effect. I had a huge dilemma on what flowers to be used in the background as roses are the biggest elements of Victorian times but they looked too mainstream to me. So we got in touch with a vendor from another city who handmade flowers which looked something in between roses and carnations and got them sprayed in red, pink and white. The cake table was laid with a Victorian White Lace cloth as the base and lot of silver candle stands, carnations and one huge cake stand studded with crystals.
The cake had to be a simple one, white fondant with red roses.
Our performer for the evening – a Russian flutist was also dressed in a Victorian gown. So were me and V! Check out my Instagram posts and stories for more pictures of the evening at http://www.instagram.com/missvogueviolet
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