MAD MEN 50th Birthday

This was my husband's 50th Birthday Party. Since he was born in 1965, and we loved our MAD MEN series, it only seemed fitting to celebrate MAD MEN STYLE! This party was so much fun to plan! All of our guests came dressed in their 60's best, which made everything that much more fun!!

I bought various vintage furniture pieces and staged a "1965 living room" in the center if our backyard. Complete with a backdrop wall with some fun fabric from Joann's to resemble wallpaper from that era. Of course, we had to have a plaque of Elvis on the wall (one of my mother-in-law's favorite props). Additional decor included fake cigarettes and candy cigarettes throughout as well as enough for guests to have.

Vintage playboy magazines from the 1960's and 70's were also placed on the tables to add a little fun reading material, I hear the articles are great!! Hehe

In the dining room, I put a "50" picture collage up on the wall, as well as a picture memory board in the backyard. To create the memory board, I took a large piece of thick plywood, draped and stapled-gunned a white sheet to it and draped twine across. Mini gold-painted clothes pins clipped pictures of my husband through the years, grouped by decade. I had old yearbooks and photo albums that he had from growing up out on display. In this section, I also had a place for people to jot down their favorite memory of Gene. Those were hilarious to read later!

Menu included classic 1960's recipes:
- sliced ham with brown sugar and pineapple
- Swedish meatballs and meatballs with grape jelly
- garlic cheese ball & pepper Jack Cheese ball with ritz crackers
- cheese cubes
- French Onion dip and Lays ruffle potato chips
- shrimp cocktail
- deviled eggs
-chocolate fondue with marshmallows, strawberries and Nilla wafers.
The food table was decorated with a 1960's Royal typewriter as the center piece and various framed ads from that time.

Signature cocktails the bartender was serving up were Manhattans, Martinis and Gimlets along with various beers and wines.

Of course, the final piece that stole the show was our friend's 1969 cherry red Porsche that was parked in front of the house and that we used for some fun photos!

Invitation: LizBasseyStudio (https://www.etsy.com/listing/235632087/mad-men-1960s-cocktail-party-invitation?ref=shop_home_feat_3)
Photo credit: Jeremy Paul Photos (http://jeremypaulphoto.com)
Photo clothes pins:(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LTOGQ1I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
Candy cigarettes: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X3DMLK/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687762&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000BXSRT2&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=187HK13MJS2BKJBH8Q58
Fake/costume cigarettes: http://www.amazon.com/12-2-Packs-Fake-Puffing-Cigarettes-Gag-gift/dp/B002RBLN0G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1442513877&sr=8-2&keywords=Fake+cigarettes

• Party Favors

  Custom matchbooks were ordered from foryourparty.com