real party: oscars/old hollywood

I mentioned awhile back that I was working on a Spring Formal event.  I have waited to post about it in hopes of gathering pictures from others put I haven't tracked many down yet.  I have a few pictures that I took (I never get many pictures at my parties) that will have to work for the moment.

I was on a fairly tight budget which isn't always fun but does make you get creative.  It also makes you think about the creative talents of friends.  When planning for the outside decor of the venue I called in many a favor from talented friends and family members.

I started by asking a good friend of mine, Herk Wright to help me out.  Herk is the one that remodeled my kitchen in our old house - the kitchen that we redid and than a year later moved from :(  He did amazing work, check it out...

Here is the before

and a few after shots

Herk did an amazing job, right?  If you are in the Orange County, California area and are looking to do some upgrades to your home let me know and I'll pass along Herk's number to you.  

But back to the party...Herk was kind enough to say yes to me when I asked him if he could make me 4 large wood frames.  His 4 frames along with 4 smaller ones I purchased at Aaron Brothers was all I needed to get started on my first project.

I made a few measurements and then drilled holes into the frames.   Here is a shot of one of the Aaron Brother frames getting drilled. 

Once all the holes were drilled all the frames got a few coats of some silver metallic spray paint.  Once dry I inserted some white ball lights that I picked up at Target.

The part I really loved though was the 1930's inspired artwork, my nephew Sam Ricks created, that went in the frames.  Sam is amazing!  You can check out his work on his blog and website.  In some of the pictures further down you can see the 4 designs he made - each one represented the city that the youth attending the Formal were from.

The outside of the venue (below) all put together and waiting the arrival of the kids.  The event was held at Soka University - can I just say what a beautiful campus this is.

To finish off the look of the entrance I called in another favor from an artist friend, Steve Ogren.  He created these massive academy styled statues for me out of cardboard, paint and sequins.  I love them!  I actually have them sitting in my front room at the moment while I figure out a place to store them.  Nothing like walking into someone's home and being greeted by an 8ft sequined man.

This last shot isn't great but it allows you to see the check-in tables where I used the 4 small frames mentioned earlier.  The frames contained the same posters as the outside they were just smaller in size.  This allowed for easier check-in as the youth could check in at the table from the city they live in.

Most people don't have plans to decorate for a 400+ youth Spring Formal but you can still steal some of these ideas for a party at home.  


The lit signs would be great at your front door welcoming guests to a movie night.  Buy a movie poster or create one of your own on your computer.  All the poster enlargements from this night were done at Costco with their online photo center.  It is easy and inexpensive.  If you haven't checked out all the Costco Photo Center offers you really should.  I use them for parties, school projects and more.