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Hi, Allison.
As a successful planner of numerous failed garden parties, I consider myself an expert on the subject and am glad you have come here for advice. The following elements should be considered:
Setting
Obviously a garden is kind of a key element. Though garden is a pretty loose term here, as really a lawn is about all that is really required. Weather should be appropriate for prolonged outdoor activity, so try to plan accordingly (though really all you can do is hope that it won't rain and not be a complete moron and plan it for January or something). Generally late afternoon is about right as it will still be light out, but nobody wants to go out in the morning/mid-day. Aside from some form of greenery, shade and seating need to be taken into consideration.
Activities
As with most parties, milling about and general chatter will probably be the primary activity for your guests, but it is highly encouraged to have games on hand to keep people entertained. Lawn games and garden parties go along hand-in-hand, so they are encouraged. A few games to consider: croquet, badminton, bocce, egg rolling, lawn darts. Though essentially any party game could work if brought outdoors (Pictionary on blankets with an easel on the lawn would be fun, for example).
Food
While I don't recommend going with a strict theme for the party as a whole, I would recommend sticking to something fairly specific for the food. You can go with a Southern theme (watermelon, fried chicken or something barbecue-y, mint juleps, etc.), an English theme (cucumber sandwiches, scones, tea, etc.), a French theme (baguettes or croissants, cheese, creme puffs, etc.), whatever suits your fancy. But maybe that's just me. I mean, I suppose you can't really go wrong with like fruit and vegetable trays and some punch. And though it takes away from a little of the formality aspect, feel free to delegate food responsibilities to some of the closer friends attending; most people our age these days are on a budget.
Dress
Dress for a garden party has already been extensively covered here (http://alphabetgame.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-dress-for-garden-party.html). As a host/hostess, it is imperative that you make it clear to each invitee that dressing up is highly encouraged (Unless you don't care, I suppose, but who doesn't care? Outfits are the best part of any themed party). Also be prepared to offer advice/encouragement to invitees who may be nervous about their attire for the event. If you want to go all out, you may even want to have some props on hand (parasols, fans, canes, hats, etc.) so that people who aren't as done up for the event can have something to make them fit in better in pictures.
Decor
Decor can be fairly simple, as just the outdoor setting creates the atmosphere you're looking for. If you have lawn furniture, it can add a nice touch and be practical. Paper lanterns are kind of nice and outdoorsy, though not really necessary unless you're wanting to do things in the evening (which I don't recommend as the games would be trickier if it's darker out). I also think mirrors are always fun to have around at dress up parties, because everybody likes to see themselves in costume (right? I'm not the only vain person here, right?). Whether you have some big mirrors to prop up somewhere or maybe some little mirror squares on the table or something, they act as both classy but simple decor and add to the fun. Flowers are also good, if you have some garlands to put around the food or whatever. -
Worst job interview question ever.
Since this is not a job interview, however, we'll just go with a personal kyrptonite:
Dress-up parties.
We may not be that good of friends, but if it's cocktail dress required, I will see that I'm invited to your party. And of course theme parties with costumes are immediate death. If you want to near-guarantee a visit from me plan, for example, a Mad Men themed party and I'm there in my best Joan Holloway dress (okay, so I'm probably more of a Betty Draper...). The only thing that could keep me away would be if someone else was throwing an Alice in Wonderland tea party the same day (I would go as one of the animals, probably, Alice is too easy. And I'm not blonde). Also, Halloween should be like four times a year.
(Yes, I did think about answering this seriously as some sort of personal growth exercise, but the weather's so nice out and I'm feeling frivolous.) -
Hi, mom.
If you're wanting all your children, I'm assuming that means after Nate is back from Chile and whenever Jared is available (when does he come back to UT from NC?). So later summer. Time doesn't matter that much as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure Trevor and I could get work off whenever with proper notice.
As far as place, I've been kind of wanting to go to Ridgecrest again, but I know that's not exciting to you that live there. Trevor's dislike of traveling seems to have developed into a full-on phobia, so I'm sure he would vote the close the better. And probably he would prefer not camping. I'm not picky myself.
We're financially more free than we have been in the past (have I not mentioned on my blog yet that Trevor got a job after nearly six months of unemployment...well now I have, consider yourself informed; yes, we are very pleased), so that'll make travel easier.
So yeah, I guess just somewhere not too far away and as comfortable as possible (camping is okay, I suppose if it's a clean/sissy enough campground) is probably our only criteria. Let me know what you're concocting and I'll throw in more input as needed. -
Très (that's "three" in Spanish; look at how cultured I am!): Canada, Mexico, United States.
And for those people who say I can't count the United States because I'm a native, just let me have it. My list is already fairly pathetic. And technically I have traveled to the United States by traveling to various places in the United States, right?
I've never spent a night in a foreign county. I've spent an afternoon in Tijuana and an afternoon on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and that's all I've got. And I've never been outside North America (well, I guess Hawaii counts as outside North America...but it's still US). The vast majority of the travel I have done has been to places that can be driven to in a Wonnacott family station wagon or van (farther than you think), because that's how we roll.
However, I would love to be a world-traveling sort. I have a well-documented appreciation of foreign places. I suppose lack of money and anyone to travel with has limited me. Trevor's not a huge traveler, though given the right destination (Ireland and Scotland, perhaps, love?), I think he could be persuaded. If we can get him over his fear of flying. Though of course money is the bigger problem, but a trip could be saved up for if planned far enough in advance. Basically what I'm saying is...does anybody want to go on a trip to a foreign country with me? I'm down for basically wherever. When would depend on the where (as when depends on cost, weather, and events). Let's plan something. -
I'm not sure. I know I have a fair amount of clothing that I had in late high school that I still wear...mostly t-shirts, I suppose, but still. I just recently got rid of a dress that I know I had in 9th grade, but I got rid of it because I hadn't worn it for a year, so I guess that doesn't count. Actually the shirt I'm wearing today I'm pretty sure I originally purchased in 10th or 11th grade (from Wal-Mart and it's still in good condition!), though I didn't wear it much until I was in college.
Which brings me to something I really think clothing manufacturers should do (yes, this is straying from the original question; no, I don't feel guilty about that because this is far too important of a cause to stay silent on):
One day, a couple months ago, I was sitting on the toilet and noticed something on the tag of my pants. Along with the brand name (Old Navy), the washing instructions (machine wash warm with like colors, tumble dry low), and country of origin (Indonesia), there was the season and year the pants were produced (Fall 2005). Awesome. Why don't all clothes have that? It would make thrift shopping all the more amazing (How do I know if this is actually from the 80s or if it was created during an 80s revival period? Or if it's actually part of an 80s costume, heaven forbid?). And it would certainly come in handy if you were ever in a situation where you had to answer "What's the oldest piece of clothing you still own and wear?" and needed a 100% correct answer instead of something wishy-washy followed by a semi-related tangent.
Of course, I love chronology more than the average person, so maybe it doesn't matter that much (I'm the kind of person who Mark Twain's Memory Game was made for...not because I'd be good at it, but because I would love to be good at it). But still.
The only people I could see being against this are the super snobby high-end fashion people who would be like "Well, of course, that's from Givenchy's Spring '97 collection, what do you think I am, an idiot?" But since that's a very small portion of the clothing market, whatever. Though maybe having the season/year stitched on the tag is actually something common in the high-end clothing market. I really wouldn't know.
But anyway, that's my cause. Write your congressman (I mean, I technically hate government over-involvement, but...). -
I don't know if I really hated any group. WLHS was not particularly cliquey (that word looks like it should not be a word, but as I see no little red-dotted underline, I guess that means I'm okay), or maybe I just didn't notice because I had no friends. We'll go further back to the BHS world.
Ummm...I guess I was jealous of the pretty girls who everybody liked (I guess "popular" girls) in the same way everybody is, and that's sort of a form of hatred. And I was somewhat put off by the goth kids, because I didn't get them, but that's not hatred.
And now I'm drawing a little map in my head...the popular kids over by the science hall, the goth kids under the trees between the library and whatever that hall was with Mrs. Wisecarver's room (N hall?), the stoner kids over by the assembly hall, band kids near the music hall (duh)...how would you classify that group over by the Sherman Shack? And of course the planter and then the benches over by the north locker bay was me and my group of friends (the smart girls? plus David?). I suppose nobody remembers Burroughs the way I do, since my experience ends with Sophomore year. Probably groups migrated and re-formed throughout my two year absence. -
Either Japanese or Mandarin Chinese.
Probably Spanish would be more useful in the short-term (I do deal with a fair number of Spanish-speakers at my current job), but a lot of people speak Spanish.
And East Asia is the place of the future. You know they're being all inventive over there while we sit around fat and still proud of ourselves for landing on the moon. Being fluent in Japanese or Chinese could potentially be a good leg up the business world.
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