Mad Men Cocktail Party

I always enjoy parties...going to them and throwing them.  Even planning an event is task that I enjoy.  After moving in and getting settled I knew it was time to have a party and celebrate, let friends see the space, and just get together.  I picked the date but wanted to have some type of theme.  Since the space has a bit of a mid-century modern vibe to it I decided on a "Mad Men" cocktail party with classic cocktails, finger foods, and a play list Don Draper could groove to.  Little did I know that the week of the party was probably the busiest work week I have ever had, so the party was a welcome light at the end of a very long tunnel. 

I had the theme, now I just needed to pull everything together.  One of the first things I like to do in the planning stage is to have a theme and it doesn't have to be carried out to the letter. Lets say I am going to have a dinner party with a French theme then the food will be French or French-inspired but I will also make a play list on Spotify that is in the theme as well.  The Mad Men party was no exception and I had a great time putting together a fun play list.  There were actually already some Mad Men play lists that I built mine from.  Connie Francis, Patsy Cline, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, The Platters, and Dave Hamilton were among the artists with some Rat Pack thrown in for good measure. 

I did research on finger foods from that era and while I didn't copy or follow it to the letter I kept in that same area.  Pimento cheese finger sandwiches on rye bread, veggies with a cucumber dip, pretzels, nuts, mini red velvet cupcakes, chicken salad in phyllo cups, and some brie were among the items.  One thing that liberated me some years ago was a episode of The Barefoot Contessa where she was hosting a party and suggested you make 3 things and buy 3 things.  If you make yourself crazy getting ready for an event you guests won't have anymore fun and you'll be exhausted.  So I always like to follow that rule of thumb. 

For the bar I decided to offer more than just Manhattan's, martinis, and Tom Collins.  One thing I am glad I did was to have a bartender so that I was free to play host and not have to sling drinks all night.  Guests were able to choose from wine, beer, bourbon, vodka, or gin with mixers and such to make a pretty endless combinations of drinks. 

For the invitations I created an event on Facebook and invited friends that way.  I know the traditional way with invitations in the mail is nice but updating addresses, envelopes, and postage are quite a bit of work.  Not wanting to make people feel like they had to dress up to fit the theme, I just asked that everyone wear cocktail party attire and the guests did not disappoint!  The guys had great jackets and the ladies were decked out in vintage dresses.  I was so impressed and so pleased that the event pics didn't all get deleted.  I'd taken food and beverage shots on one card and then party pics of the guests on another.  The party pics survived but the others were lost in a moment of me forgetting that there were images on that disk that I wanted. 

It seems that everyone had a great time and I did as well.  If you are looking for a cocktail party theme, "Mad Men" is definitely the way to go!  Just remember to pick a theme, make a playlist, and keep food and beverages to the theme but you don't have to overwhelm your guests or yourself.

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  All of these images are courtesy of Brian Kelley/Imagine Photography/Brian's Style Guide and are protected by copyright law. None of these images may be used, edited, reproduced, transferred, published or distributed in any form or by any means whatsoever without prior written permission.