Ivy's 1920's Birthday Party!

It's taken me a very long time to write about Ivy's 11th birthday party in November 2019; the end of her birthday always signals the start of Christmas planning and after that, of course, the world was turned upside down by COVID-19. So my blogging got put on the back burner for a while, but it's been on my mind to write about this epic celebration because it really was one for the memory book!

I suggested to Ivy that we should have a low-key celebration that year. She was adamant that she wanted a party, so we agreed on a 'small' one. Well, of course, everyone knows that I love planning a family event, so pretty soon the small party idea snowballed into a 1920's extravaganza!

We decided on a Murder Mystery theme. Upon discovery of a grisly murder scene at the start of the party, each of our London high society guests would become suspects and would have to do some detective work to discover the culprit hiding amongst them!

First all of all, I assigned each guest a suitably posh name. Then I gave each of them a list of character traits and key personal information. The deceased guest was called Daphne Dalton-Devonport. The idea was that there would be a treasure hunt for the clues. At each location, each guest would receive a clue in an envelope addressed only to them. The clue would give one detail about the murderer, such as, 'The murderer is not related to Daphne Dalton Devonport,' or, 'The murderer was born in London,' or, 'The murderer is a millionaire.' The guests would then go and socialise for a while and ask the other guests if they were related to Daphne, or if they were born in London, or of they were a millionaire, or any other question relevant to the clue they'd received and would cross suspects off their list accordingly.

-The guest list

-The clues and the individual character details

I have to say, it took quite a bit of planning to make sure each guest was given a different clue each time, to be certain that they were all asking different questions at any one moment, but I enjoyed figuring it all out!

Next, I designed the invitations and to each one I added the guest's personalised character details and a general guest list. We decorated each invitation pack with gold and black ribbon, to help add some glitz!

-The invitation packs

After that, I set about buying a party pack for each guest, including a 1920's note book to write down their detective notes and a 1920's bag to keep their book in and safely store the party gifts that they would be given throughout the event! I printed 1920's pictures to stick on the front of each one and stuck a guest list inside every book so the guests could cross names off.

-The note books and party bags

Then I focused on decorations, buying 1920's table sets, gold cardboard to stick 1920's decorative wall prints on and gold and black balloons. I also bought transparent helium balloons with gold glitter inside as table decorations, and made a 1920's pinata.

-Wall pictures, balloons and table sets

The night before, it took a family effort to blow up all the balloons! And Ruby made some wonderful 1920's cupcakes for the occasion, I hired the tables and chairs from a local company, which they delivered on the morning of the party, and when our driveway was set up, with all the place settings, balloons and wall pictures in place, the scene was truly set for a rip roaring 1920's celebration!

It really was a family affair, which is something I always adore: a total team effort to help ensure the day ran smoothly. I gave everyone a script to follow and we rehearsed our lines before the big day. The twins, Oscar and Arlo, were policemen, Ruby, Lyla and Mia helped me to organise the flow of events and direct the guests, George was in charge of music and the pinata, and Ruby's friend gamely agreed to be the murder victim!

-A team effort!

The excitement level was sky high as Ivy eagerly waited for her guests to arrive!

-Ivy excitedly waiting for it all to begin!

Then, perfectly on time, the guests started to roll in. My heart soared when I saw just how much effort every child had put into their costume! They all looked amazing! We greeted them in character and gave them a cocktail and name tag on arrival.

-The wonderful guests in their fantastic costumes!

Once all the guests had arrived, we gathered everyone together so I could give a speech about how honoured we felt that so many members of London's high society had come to attend our birthday celebration for Rosalind Cecilia Barnardiston-Grosvenor (also known as our Ivy!) However, the speech was interrupted by a piercing scream. One of the guests (Ruby!) had found the murdered body of Daphne Dalton-Devonport!

Daphne Dalton-Devonport (Ruby's friend!), victim of a horrific crime!

All of the guests ran to the back of the house to see what had happened. As the party host, I was deeply shocked by the unexpected turn of events and quickly realised that all of our distinguished guests were suspects!

-The shocking realisation that the murderer must be a high society guest known to us all!

Just then, the police came rushing in and cordoned off the crime scene.

-Two brave police officers (Oscar and Arlo!) quickly arrived on the scene!

Once all the guests had gathered back at the tables, they were told that Daphne Dalton Devonport had, in fact, been in fear for her life and had left a series of clues in case the worst happened. The first set of clues were under the bench in the garden, so we all rushed there to begin our investigations!

Once the guests each had their clue, they went back to the party area to socialise, interrogate each other, and of course, enjoy some 1920's dancing!

The clues led to more clues hidden around the party area, the garden and the pool, and gradually the guests began to confidently cross names off their suspect list!

One set of clues was hidden in the pinata, along with copious amounts of sweets to enjoy. So the guests began to bash it with wild abandon, and when the clues and treats fell to the ground they enthusiastically piled in to grab as much as they could!

Ivy was in her element, absolutely loving every second. It was such a joy to see! One of her friends came rushing up to me and blurted out happily, "This is the best party I've ever been to!" which, of course, made my heart swell!

After all the clues had been found, it was time to go back to the tables to discover if anyone could correctly identify the murderer!

The guests were asked to write down in their books who they thought the murderer was and all hold it up at the same time. Luckily, most of them identified the correct person! The guests with the correct name were given prizes and the murderer herself was given another prize for being such a good sport!

After that, we all tucked in to lots of food and party treats!

A short while later, we gathered around to sing happy birthday to our birthday girl, who was beaming!

With tummies full of party food and cake and bags full of prizes and sweets, our guests then joyfully danced the evening away to contemporary tunes, pulling some very impressive moves, with the girls even having a brilliant dance off at one stage!

I have to apologise for the low quality of my night time pictures, my phone back then wasn't good at taking photos in the dark!

When it was time to leave, we gave each guest a party bag filled with little treats, like squishies, putty and bouncy balls, and we were all filled with a glorious feeling of contentment from a day that had gone perfectly to plan. Most importantly, Ivy absolutely loved it and will treasure her memories forever.

Afterwards, she came into the sitting room to open the gifts from her very generous friends and soon after she was sound asleep with her trademark smile on her beautiful face!

Sadly, that was the last party we've hosted to date because since then we've been living under COVID restrictions, but I can't wait to get back into the swing of things and start planning events like this again; we all love them!