Phantom's (of the Opera) -16yr- Masquerade Ball

My birthday is coming up, and it just so happens that two of my closest friends have birthdays around the same day, so we're having a combined party. The theme is a Masquerade Ball hosted by the Phantom of the Opera. 

INVITATION: Our invitations are typed out in Edwardian font on sheet music, then stained with tea bags, and slightly crinkly. At the top, there is a sketch of a gorgeous masquerade mask. The invitations are folded and sealed with wax.

DECORATION: For the party, we rented out a lodge at a park near us. It has a gorgeous main room and a beautiful patio next to a pond. The lodge is surrounded by woods on all sides, so in the night time, it will not only be mysterious, but also magnificent.  The three colors of our party are Deep Red, Gold, and Cream. These colors are very elegant, and can be used easily. The main room has cathedral-style ceilings, so the decorations will include gold and red gossamer twisted together and draped from the ceiling in the center of the room out to four or five sides of the room to create an elegant atmosphere. Four long tables will be set at each of the two long sides of the room, and will have cream colored tablecloths.

The centerpiece of each table will be a glass vase with a single red rose. Leaning up against each vase, I have eight separate poems pertaining to masquerades (one for each table) which are printed on aged stationary paper and backed with elegant cardstock. At the entrance to the ballroom, we are making two large columns and draping them with more gossamer. The buffet table will have a gold tablecloth and a large, glass bowl on each side filled with water, floating candles, and rose petals. In the corners of the room, and anywhere else that seems fitting, we will have fake spider webs to fit the theme of The Phantom of The Opera. Several cream colored and red balloons will be placed near the windows and in the corners of the room as well. We are also bringing our white Christmas lights from home to give the room a more elegant and romantic feel.

COSTUME: We're inviting about 80 people and since most of them are involved in theater, they are more then happy to dress up in Victorian Formal attire (which is what we have asked them to wear). They are also asked to bring a mask to wear for the night. I spoke with many of them, and they agreed that purchasing their own mask would be much more fun than us supplying them with one.

ACTIVITIES: Our DJ will be set up outside on the patio, where we'll be able to dance later on, when it's cooler. The party will be lasting from 6 to 10. When guests arrive at 6, they will be given two name tags; one for their chosen table place, and one to pin onto their costume. The names are not theirs, but rather, Victorian names. (Ex: Amelia Grady, etc.) They will only be referred to by that name for the rest of the night. Along with the name tags, the guests will also be given boutonnieres or corsages that we have handmade for them to wear throughout the night. In the background, we will have haunting music playing. Many of the songs are from Phantom of the Opera or by famous composers of the same time period.

We will be placing a disposable camera on each of the tables for guests to take pictures as they wish, and then we will be asking them to leave the cameras at their tables when they leave so that we can develop the pictures. At one point in the night, we have asked the DJ to play a selection of music that we have used in our ballroom dancing classes. He will have the floor cleared, and will ask the three birthday girls (and our escorts) to come to the floor where we will do the dance that we have learned. Everyone is welcome to join in, as many of our friends are also ballroom dancers. There is a projector screen in the main room that will play Phantom of the Opera throughout the night. 

GAMES: Two of my closest guy friends are excellent at story telling, and have agreed upon being the narrators in our game of Mafia. The story will take place at the opera house, and will involve the phantom somehow, but they reuse to disclose any further information to us. All of our friends know how to play mafia, so we're thrilled to be able to play without explaining to a large group. The concept is simple. There are three categories of people. Townsfolk, Mafia (Phantom), and Police. The Mafia goes on killing sprees in the night while everyone is sleeping, then the cops wake up, followed by the townspeople, who are supposed to accuse someone of being the mafia. They then vote to sentence the accused to death. The game goes on until either everyone is dead except the mafia, or until the mafia is dead. 

PARTY SNACKS: Since the party is after dinner, we will not be having a formal dinner, however, we will be having hors D'ouvres such as elegant crab cakes, tofu tempeh, fresh vegetables and fruits, cheese, and dainty crackers. As for drinks, we will have several bottles of sparkling juices and other formal, yet non-alcoholic drinks. We will also have a huge bowl of punch, for those who enjoy the more typical party drinks. For a small dessert before we eat our cake, we are serving chocolate dipped pretzels, and white and dark chocolate dipped cookies which consist of peanut butter in between two Ritz crackers. We will also have chocolate dipped fruit, and tiny organic cheesecake bites.

CAKE: Due to our completely different tastes, we will have three different birthday cakes. One will be White with butter cream frosting, and the other two will be Ice Cream cakes with the delicious fluff frosting. We are purchasing all three from our local bakery, and we have put in our orders so that they will be custom made.

FAVORS: Throughout the party, we will be taking several pictures, and we will have a backdrop set up in one of the corners where we will take pictures of all of the guests and their dates or groups of friends. These pictures, along with the film from the disposable cameras will be put onto my computer where we will make a DVD for each guest including all of the pictures, and themed music from the party. We will send these DVDs out with the thank you cards as a party favor. For something that the guests can actually take home right from the party, we will have little boxes of chocolates, along with the corsages and boutonnieres that we provided them with at the beginning of the night.