Harry Potter Yule Ball

As you know, we have been crazy busy this

last month with Harry Potter activities for our

Young Single Adult Ward.  My husband is the

Bishop of the Ward and I have fun throwing

fabulous parties for them.

To end the month of house competitions, I

decided it shouldn't be just an awards ceremony,

but a Yule Ball.  Now asking these kids who

are age 18-30 to come to a ball, could be kind

of risky, but we knew that if we made it magical,

showed them how pretty it was going to be, fed them, 

and then turned the lights down they might dance!!!

I invested a little money in netting, sparkling

silver tablecloths and runners, and fairy lights,

but other than that, I used what I had.  

Our Ward cultural hall is smaller than most and

carpeted rather than a gym floor.  It also has the

advantage of having accordian walls that can make

the space smaller, so we closed off a third of the 

cultural hall.  Then we strung a wire across the back

accordian wall to hang the fabric and fairy lights from.

The tables were set with my white pinch pleat

tablecloths that I purchased for my daughter's

wedding six years ago.  The vases and votives were

ones that I glittered for a friend's wedding reception.

I purchased new silver glittered table runners.

Then I filled the vases with water beads, submersible

lights and white and silver naturals.

We had electric candles in vases leading up to the

front door of the church and hung netting curtains

at the front to make the entrance inviting.

A chalkboard sign directed them to the right

entrance door.  We had the ball music playing 

in the foyer as they entered.

As they entered the cultural hall, they saw the

final results for the competition in the bottles.  They

also were to put their names in the cup for a special

drawing at the end.

The star of the dessert table was the five tiered

chocolate fountain.  My daughter used to have a

chocolate fountain business where she supplied 

them for wedding receptions and events, but

that changed when everyone got small ones

that they purchased themselves.  I still get a 

thrill seeing a huge chocolate fountain.  

I also filled tall vases with the water beads

and placed two submersible lights in those.

Some of my metallic trees anchored the table ends.

I ordered a three-tiered cake from Sam's Club

(only $65 - such a steal) and then added a

Hogwart's seal that I printed on my edible

printer, surrounded by edible pearls.

I also created a Yule Ball Chocolate Board for 

the dessert table.

The dessert table was anchored on the other 

end with a candy selection and in the center

The Triwizard Cup (which I purchased recently

at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter).

My niece had given me a set of Harry Potter

Cookie Cutters from Williams Sonoma, and I

made shortbread cookies and dipped the bottoms 

in chocolate.  

Our final item on the dessert table was Golden Snitches

made by a member of the Relief Society Presidency.

On a side table we served sparkling apple cider

in plastic goblets from Dollar Tree.  I have used

and reused these a dozen times - I just throw them

in the dishwasher.

I came as Hermione with the side pony tail and pink 

ruffled skirt, and hubby came in his dress robes.

The invitation said, 

"Dress to impress!"  This was a ball, after all.

It wasn't required, but we had quite a few who 

dressed up.

Ravenclaw was the winning house with over 

15,000 points!  The closest competitor had 7,000 points.

It was a huge success and with the help of some of 

the Young Adults, we had the whole room transformed 

in about a total of two hours.

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

Dishing It and Digging It

Sources

Water Beads (I used 1 lb)

Submersible Tea Lights

Curtain Fairy Lights (I used 2)

Silver Tablecloths

Table Runners (I used 10)

40 Yards of Tulle 

(I used 3 but more would have been nice)

Silver Cake Platter

(I have had mine for years, but this is similar)