Midnight Sun Midnight Release Party Kit
Savannah here! For those of you who don’t know, my mother was a party planner. Okay, technically she wasn’t a “party planner” but she did plan a lot of events in her working days, and all through my childhood she had massive parties for us. I have inherited the party-planning gene. Case in point, when I was in pre-kindergarten my teacher said we were having a party and I asked if she had a pen and paper to write down notes. Then I asked her what our “theme” was. (Btw, your girl still loves a good theme).
And what is a great excuse to throw a party? The release of Midnight Sun of course! And while COVID-19 is still out and about preventing us from having large-scale gatherings and midnight release parties in bookstores, we can still celebrate in smaller groups with our family and roommates (while maintaining safety guidelines, of course!) and virtual with our friends all over the world!
Now then: what is the first thing a good party planner does? Decide that theme, obviously. 4-year-old me understood. DONE. So what is the second thing a good party planner does? INVITATIONS! Now, most people don’t send paper invitations anymore, but you are not most people! You are going to follow the Edward way, and send out some classy paper invitations. Or maybe you are most people and you’ve entered the 21st century. Whatever! They are still gonna be tricked out! How do I know this? Because we’ve already made them for you. Feel free to use these downloadable invitations to gather your besties in one zoom call!
Okay, invitations, check! Now for décor! Try decorating using your books! Get creative with the way you stack your Twilight collection because a nice stack always makes for a good centerpiece. I would look to the bookstagrammers for inspo, they’re SO creative!
For the crafty-er among us, you can create your own custom Twilight vase, included in our party kit below! Whether you want to create your own vase or use one you already have, flowers are always a great idea for decorating. You can almost always find red or white roses in the grocery store or your local flower shop, and they work great with the covers. Tulips are also a great choice if you want to reference the New Moon cover, but they’re not always in season. According to venuelust.com, for Bella and Edward’s wedding in the film, they used delphiniums, viburnums, white lilacs, ranunculus, and sweet pea.
For us mere mortals without access to all of those flowers, you can get a similar look by using a lot of greenery, like ferns and moss, and incorporating white flowers in differing sizes and textures. You can even add stones and branches if you want to get extra creative!
Since you can’t get together with your crew IRL, you can zoom it! For some added pizzazz, download our custom Midnight Sun zoom background! You can always use the preview quotes from Midnight Sun as decorations too!
Now you’ve decorated, you’ve sent the invitations, and now it’s time for a menu! You can download this recipe card for our Read It and Eat It Midnight Sundae recipe. For those among us who might want to tap into your vampiric nature, you can try preparing venison for your guests. For the rest of who might not have easy access to venison (or are actual vegetarians), you can take inspiration from Bella and Edward’s first date where Bella has mushroom ravioli in cream sauce. (Side note, Bella Italia, the restaurant in Port Angeles where this scene takes place, IS A REAL PLACE. WITH REAL MUSHROOM RAVIOLI.) You can make your own from scratch, for which I will applaud you. Instead, I’ll be getting pre-made mushroom ravioli and a mix-it-yourself packet of béchamel sauce from the grocery store. Don’t forget to add extra parmesan cheese!
Additional snacks could be red velvet cupcakes, chocolate-dipped pomegranate gummies (I recommend the Brookside ones, they’re fantastic), pomegranate arils, and caramel-dipped apples. Also, I have this distinct memory of Bella making chicken enchiladas, so that’s fair game too!
OKAY! Final stretch folks! Menu, done. Decorations, check. Invites sent. Now, you could just leave it at that, but why would you? Every good party planner has a schedule of events and a selection of activities in their back pocket in case the debates over Team Edward vs Team Jacob get too heated! I would suggest starting with some of our own Twilight quizzes, or checking out some of our blog posts featuring the Twilight Saga!
