In the Magic Forest
My Aunt Joan and I decided we wanted to do something special to celebrate my parents' twenty fifth anniversary, so we put or heads together and started planning a party. My mother is a children's book author and my dad is the illustrator, so we thought we would make one of their books into the theme for the party--"A Magic Forest" with fairies, tree spirits, elves and goblins--what a perfect setting for a party.
When we were done listing family members and close friends we had about twenty guests. We sent out beautiful invitations shaped like a little fairy. Inside were the details of place, date and time of the party. We requested that guests arrive at least an hour ahead to get into costume. My parents didn't suspect a thing when I asked them to show up at my house so I could use what I learned in my gourmet cooking class to fix them a fantastic anniversary dinner.
The make-up artist and costumer were already there when the guests began arriving. The men changed in the living room while the women used my room. There were snacks and several varieties of red and white wines to get the party atmosphere going until Mum and Dad arrived. We had a great time turning everyone into fairies, elves and goblins. Getting ready for the party was almost as fun as the party itself. By the time mum and dad got there everyone was getting into their roles.
Mum and Dad came in and were completely dumbfounded when I answered the door bell in a fairy costume. They couldn't believe the way I had transformed my entire apartment, decorating it exactly like dad's illustrations. Most of my furniture had been moved, with the help of friends, into my spare room. Between the folding chairs and buffet tables were cardboard trees, giant brightly coloured tissue paper flowers (that I had made myself) and a dragon peeking out of his cave. Goose down and bits of cotton were strewn across the entire apartment lending it an ethereal effect. Paper fairies dangled from the ceiling on fishing wire. Some were held up by wires attached to wooden bases and decorated with artificial flowers and ivy. My cat had a ball trying to knock them all down. My parents were delighted by seeing all their friends and family dressed up as characters from their books. It was like entering into another world.
We took them to the costumer and make-up artist who turned mum into a fairy and dad into an elf. We had a lot of fun watching dad trying not to laugh as the make-up artist applied his make-up.
The buffet dinner was served on silver platters in honour of their 25th. Mum and Dad are vegetarians so we catered to their taste. There was steamed vegetables, freshly made black bean burritos, artichoke soufflé, stuffed eggplants and a variety of salads and dips. There was fish or roasted chicken for the meat eaters. After dinner we brought out a beautifully decorated cake. It had purple and white swirls in the whip cream frosting and multicolored sprinkles dusted on top. The filling was mum's favourite: strawberry.
We played games after mum and dad opened their gifts. Some of the fairies started a game of poker while some of the elves and goblins played Twister. Twister was even more hilarious because the costumes made it a little awkward for people to move. The best move was when Mum lost her balance and sat on top of Joan. I snapped a picture the moment it happened. Boy is that one worth a thousand words!
Aunt Joan had also hired a photographer who got many shots I missed while I was taking other pictures or just enjoying myself. We sent copies of the pictures to all the guests.
