Halloween is only two weeks away, and you know what that means: soon you’ll have plenty of chances to scare yourself stiff watching all the old horror movies on television! I don’t know about you, but I think Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds is still one of scariest movies I’ve ever seen. The Master of Suspense knew a thing or two about humor, too, and we’d like to think he would very much approve of our “Birds”-inspired Halloween fête. So without further ado, may we present a few of our fowl-est Halloween ideas
A vintage table below an ominous bird chandelier awaited our guests at Mercury Hall.
We paired a twig runner with striped black-and-white linens to offset our Bird & Crown dinnerware by Mary Carol. The custom menu featured a roast squab entree and dove chocolate mousse dessert. Each plate was garnished with one loose feather.
Ash created the custom floral arrangements using black urn vases and dark, velvety red roses. The vintage bird statue was graciously lent to us by my grandmother. A loose base of dried hay was the final touch to our tabletop “nest.”
A pretty bird cage from LOOT Vintage Rentals served as decor for the drink buffet. (There was much debate over whether or not the bird should be in the cage, or have “escaped.”) In the end we decided a sly hostess would reposition the bird mid-party when her guests weren’t looking!
Ash created a gorgeous berry garland for us to drape over the cage.
We spray-painted inexpensive faux birds black. At less than a dollar a piece, it was easy to form a large flock.
Guests enjoyed sinfully delicious caramel apples from Sara Townsend of Sara Belle’s Bakery.
Sara also created these bird-shaped sugar cookies with black icing especially for us. (And she’ll be sharing the DIY later today!)
With it’s beautiful stained glass windows and vintage charm, Mercury Hall in South Austin was the perfect location for our spooky soirée.
A classic bloody mary cocktail provided just the right splash of color against our neutral palette.
Two found twigs were transformed by Chanel into our creepy chandelier covered with birds. Cristina sported one of our favorite current Halloween looks: black nail polish!
With the help of a few bright lamps and one large bed sheet we created a fun photo-booth idea for guests to try out. The shadow puppets were created from poster board and taped onto wooden sticks. Guests could experiment with creating their own “backgrounds” for each other to pose in front of. With the help our friend Melanie Grizzel, we were able to achieve the perfect lighting!
I posed in front of the bed sheet while Cristina and Chanel created the bird shadows in the back.
Guests were encouraged to don Hitchcock-esque attire. Chanel went for authenticity with a green tweed skirt!
Chanel and I hammed it up while Cristina provided shadows. This entire party concept was a blast, but we had so much fun with the photo booth. Having a few props on hand (like the vintage gloves and hat) helped us to loosen up and have fun with it… We’re already thinking up ideas for next year!
*Special thanks goes to Mercury Hall, The Byrd Collective, Sara Belle’s Bakery, LOOT Vintage Rentals and She-N-He Photography and Design for their contributions to this project.
