My brother is currently home on leave and my mom and I wanted to throw a special party for him to welcome him back. He loves Mad Men (I think he fancies himself a mini Don Draper) and my mom and I are always down to do the twist with a Tom Collins in hand so we thought why not throw a 60's-themed cocktail party? We could have traditional cocktails, vintage finger foods, and a killer playlist. Spoiler alert: that's just what we did!
The colors for the evening were a festive silver + gold along with that beautiful, vintage blue. There's no exact name for the shade- it's close to a seafoam blue, but it's the blue that you'll see making an appearance in several of the photos. We went with a variety of paper plates and napkins for the occasion (because who wants to be bothered with having to wash a million plates after a party), but my favorite ones were from the Meri Meri collection. Look them up, they make the most darling party ware and I want to only use their items for the rest of my life.
If you know anything about the 60's (or have seen a single episode of Mad Men) then you know that it was the era of the cocktail. It feels like there are less moments in that show where Don or Betty or anyone at Sterling-Cooper don't have a drink or cigarette in their hand than moments when they do. Seriously. Needless to say, to host an authentic sixties party we knew we would need booze and plenty of it.
We had two stations to satisfy the needs of our guests. One table was set up near the entry way and was home to Pimm's Punch because who's ever heard of a cocktail party during the 60's that didn't serve punch? We knew it was a necessity- served in a vintage punch bowl complete with an ice ring made with oranges + blackberries.
On the same table as the punch, for a one stop shop for the guests, were the party classics of deviled eggs and chips + onion dip served in a vintage chip 'n dip!
The second drink station was a champagne bar set up on a bar cart which was stocked with, you guessed it, champagne! There was also a pear juice + ginger liqueur mixer along with pomegranate juice to mix with the champagne.
To go along with the booze the key to any successful cocktail party, according to Good Housekeeping’s Perfect Parties from 1967, is finger food!
Cheeseballs, foie gras on toast, salmon mousse on cucumbers, gin marinated olives, crab dip, mini meatballs prepared with a twist of gochujang, bacon jam, shrimp cocktail, and cheese boards all made their way onto our table, as well as plenty of toothpicks!
No party is complete without my favorite part of the meal to make: DESSERT. We had a spread of cookies: chocolate chip, salted chocolate chip shortbread, gingerbread, and cranberry white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.
But, the real showstoppers were the Banana Pudding Trifle- layers of banana/vanilla pudding, whipped cream, and nilla wafers and Black Forest Gâteau- a dark chocolate cake soaked with kirsch, layered with cherries and whipped cream. Y U M.
The most important part of any party is that everyone has fun and from the amount of Pimm's leftover (almost none) and the amount of twisting and shouting on the impromptu dance floor ( a LOT) I think we accomplished just that.
Scroll through for more captured mini moments from the party~
Not over how good this cake came out- sorry not sorry.
Love the jadeite and pyrex too! The gateau was as delicious as it looks!
Looks keen! Love love love!