"It's not everyday your young man girl turns eleven, now, is it?" - Hagrid
Being huge fans of the Harry Potter books and movies, we had to throw our aspiring witch a themed party. Her eleventh birthday was in November. And, since we had Thanksgiving and another November birthday to celebrate, we decided to combine all these celebrations into one big overnight weekend party with family members. We had so many ideas that we had no trouble creating an elaborate schedule for possible three day event! After all, we didn't want to run out of fun magical things to do. But, unfortunately, we had a nonexistent budget and unpredictable Texas weather to contend with.
Our plan was to have a start of term feast with sorting ceremony when all guests had arrived. Then, first thing the next morning we would start some scheduled classes throughout the day and have a second end of term feast with house cup award ceremony and possible Yule Ball. Since our guests were to stay possibly three nights, we also planned for an optional second day of classes. We also planned for some classes to be outdoors, but you never know what the weather will bring. The schedule looked something like this:
Day One:
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Sorting Ceremony
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Start of Term Feast
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm Adjourn to Common Rooms/Dormitories
10:00 pm - 12:00 am optional "Hogmeade" for drinks
Day Two:
9:00 am - 10:30 am Broom Making 101 (outside)
10:30 am - 12:00 am Flying Lesson (outside)
12:15 pm - 2:00 pm Divination - tea leaves (Lunch)
2:15 pm - 3:15 pm Care of Magical Creatures (outside)
3:30 pm - 5:45 pm Potions
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Dinner in the Great Hall
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm Yule Ball (masquerade as character)
10:00 pm - 12:00 am Adjourn to Common Rooms/Dormitories or "Hogmeade"
Day Three:
9:00 am - 10:30 am Wand Making 101
10:30 am - 12:00 am DADA (Pop Quiz and Dueling Practice)
12:15 am - 2:00 am Divination - (Lunch)
2:15 pm - 3:30 pm Quidditch (outside)
3:45 pm - 5:45 pm Charms - Levitation
6:00 pm - 8:30 pm House Cup Ceremony/End of Term Feast
10:00 pm - 12:00 am Adjourn to Common Rooms/Dormitories or "Hogmeade"
I know it seems like a lot to put into a weekend, but this is just a rough guide for time to keep us on track. Due to the bad weather, some guests arrived a couple days late and still others had to postpone until Thanksgiving day. We ended up with two separate parties, but it all worked out okay. We had to do a bit of juggling and sacrifice to make it work, and had to cancel outdoor classes completely. (Yes, I know. "You CAN'T cancel Quidditch!" But, we did.) We ended up rearranging for one day of classes something like this:
Day One:
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Sorting Ceremony
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Start of Term Feast
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm Adjourn to Common Rooms/Dormitories
10:00 pm - 12:00 am optional "Hogmeade" for drinks
Day Two:
9:00 am - 10:30 am Charms - Levitation
10:30 am - 12:00 am Dueling Practice
12:15 pm - 2:00 pm Divination - tea leaves (Lunch)
2:15 pm - 3:15 pm Potions
3:30 pm - 5:45 pm DADA (Pop Quiz)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm House Cup Ceremony
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm End of Term Feast
10:00 pm - 12:00 am Adjourn to Common Rooms/Dormitories or "Hogmeade"
We don't host a great deal of parties at our place, especially this elaborate. There would prove to be challenges in the sleeping arrangements, money and time for decorations and food and overall hosting. I would like to stress the that the utmost importance when hosting a party like this, is to have a mix of activities including a few that require minimal supervision so you can prepare for the next "class" and keep your guest fed and happy and not wear yourself out. Keeping folks entertained so that they don't get bored and wander off to watch football was quite a challenge. With limited time and energy, you have to remember that you can't be three places doing twenty things at once. Many guests and even our birthday girl all helped entertain as well as prepare each activity and the food.
All in all, it was a really fun time. Everyone was a good sport and participated. Daughter said they enjoyed the dueling and potions class the best. And, it was her favorite birthday ever. (YES!! SUCCESS!!! ) And, she wants us to host another Hogwart's party next year. (Oh dear. I guess we have future plans for an outside event when it's warmer out.) But, besides the overwhelming amount of leftover sweets from this party, I think it was pretty great. And, the best news it that we still have a little money left for Christmas. ;)
In the next few days I plan to share a few more detailed posts on our decorations, food recipes and games in case you need inspiration for your own wizard/witch's party. This will actually be the first time any significant amount of our humble abode will be pictured on my blog. It's kinda embarrassing. She's no castle or even a looker any means. But, we did our best to make it Hogwart's as much as we could. :)
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