I think it was a great success. Last weekend David’s mother Jeri turned 70, and we threw a party for her at our loft in Manhattan. Twenty of Jeri’s girlfriends from her home in New Orleans flew in for the occasion (no husbands, except hers), and around 50 guests from New York joined them for an evening of revelry. Everyone seemed to have a good time (I certainly did), and the party didn’t break up until well after midnight.
It was the first time we had entertained a large group in our new place, though, so there were some things to think through. We wanted the place to look festive, of course, but it also needed to function well for a large group of partiers. For smaller numbers, we had served food and drink off of the island in the open kitchen, but for this party, I was concerned about clutter and traffic in this central area, so we put the caterers in our home office and kept the kitchen clear, except for the beautiful arrangement shown above from our good friends at Zeze Flowers.
Similarly, I was worried about crowding around the dining table (which is near the front entrance), so we had all of the food passed and kept the table empty, except for another of Zeze’s gorgeous arrangements.
The main living area can comfortably accommodate over a dozen people, but the key to comfortably hosting a lot of people in this space is to draw many of them back into the large hall that runs down its center. Booze is a great lure, and so we placed a temporary bar at the very end, leaving our regular bar at the front unused, except for anyone who wanted to fix themselves a drink.
To make the hall feel festive and inviting, I put 60 hand-blown votives from Glassybaby on the bookshelves, tucking them into spaces between the books and objects that line the West wall of the space. Buying this many of these handcrafted candle holders was well beyond our budget, but fortunately Glassybaby rents votives for a reasonable fee.
To avoid the remote but party-killing possibility of books, shelves or party dresses catching fire, I used battery powered LED tea lights instead of real candles. (I got mine at Bed, Bath & Beyond.) In the low evening light, their softly flickering light was warm and, I think, pretty convincing, especially after a Corpse Reviver or a Red Hook from the bar.
It turned out to be a nice evening. We’ve been very comfortable in our new place, but somehow after this party, it now really feels like home.
