Jonno

The ‘S and K’ Fancy Dress Party

Hitchin 30th Birthday

We love a good party and our nomadic JWalking lifestyle seems to make party invites few and far between. So when our son and daughter-in-law decided to hold a joint 30th Birthday party how could we resist? And it was Fancy Dress! Even better. The fact that we would be the only ones over the age of 30, pushing double the age of most people there didn’t even enter our minds.

Fancy Dress Parties

Our family has quite a history of Fancy Dress parties, read into that what you will, and traditionally we like nothing better than donning a ridiculous costume and having fun with other people in ridiculous costumes. Over the years Christmas, New Year, Anniversary, and of course Birthday parties have all been celebrated with extreme and serious intensity by all involved.

Murder Mystery Parties

Our favourite type of dressing up though has always been Murder Mystery parties. Ever heard of them? It’s where you invite 6 or 8 guests, all of you have a character, there’s a storyline and clues running through the evening, and at the end you all have to guess who the murderer is. Brilliant fun and such a sociable occasion. We did so many that we were writing our own scripts and making up our own characters and stories. Hard work but so much fun.

How to survive a Fancy Dress Party

Being invited to dress up for a party strikes fear into a lot of people, we have a few friends who would run a mile rather than dress up. It’s a real shame as they are always so much fun and great ice-breakers if you don;t know many of the other guests. Much easier to chat to Sporty Spice or Captain Kirk than to unknown ‘friends’ isn’t it? The only way to survive then is to just go for it and become someone else.

Dressing up doesn’t mean that you have to go over the top though, it’s so easy to just stick on a funny hat or a mask to show you are joining in without becoming the centre of attention. Great friends of my parents once turned up at a family fancy dress do in just their normal clothes. Except, he had three bread rolls around his neck and she had two pairs of frilly knickers pinned to her blouse. They had come as ‘Master of the Rolls‘ and ‘Chest of Drawers‘. Brilliant.

Shaun and Katie’s Thirtieth

This time it was a joint 30th for our eldest son Shaun and his lovely wife Katie. They decided on an ‘S and K‘ theme for costumes and a room over a cool bar in Hitchin was booked. We met them and others in the afternoon for pizza and last minute costume-repairs before heading back to our overnight lodge, the Hitchin Priory, to get ready.

Jo had worked really hard on making most of her ‘Steampunk‘ outfit for the evening and looked fabulous. Mine was a little easier as I stuck on a false beard, shades, and hat and went as a ‘Security Guard‘. Shaun and his mate Kier went as ‘Star Trek‘ characters ‘Kirk‘ and ‘Spock‘ and Katie was ‘Khaleesi‘ from Game of Thrones. Everyone was really doing well on the whole ‘S and K’ theme so far although neither Jo or I had a clue about GoT.

“Shaun and Katie as Kirk and Khaleesi”

As more of their friends arrived it was great to see that everyone had made the effort to dress up, makes the evening more fun doesn’t it? Our middle son and his wife, Sam and Tabitha, came as ‘Sid Vicious‘ and ‘Studio 54‘.

So with ‘Spice Girls‘, ‘Steve Austin‘, ‘Subbuteo Player‘, ‘Slash‘ from Guns’n Roses, ‘Salah‘ from Liverpool, and so many more it was wall-to-wall selfies and photos as everyone got into the party spirit.

“Sid Vicious and his mother aka Sam and Jo”

Two of the best were Shauns Uni friends Sam and Adam, who came as a ‘Sheep‘ and a ‘Kangaroo‘. Very weird and a little unsettling but very very funny. Throughout the evening it was constantly bizarre to catch either a Sheep or a Kangaroo, or both, just staring at you. Brilliant.

Fancy Dress Party Hitchin
“The rather creepy Sheep and Kangaroo …….. or where they actually a Goat and a Rabbit?”

Our favourite outfits though, and I think Shaun’s choice too, was their friends Steve and Helen. Now Steve must have had a serious psychological issue at some stage as he came as a ‘Speed Camera‘ complete with flash! Initially a bit odd and a little naff but the more you thought about it and the more you saw him the better it seemed to become. And Helen? Very bravely she stuck a pillow up her shirt, slouched quite a lot and pinned a photo of her husband to her face. She came as him! ‘Steve‘. Excellent. Not sure if he was offended or proud?

“Steve and Helen as a Speed camera and …. um … Steve”
Fancy Dress Party Hitchin
“No idea what on earth Katie is doing to her friend Mel here”
Fancy Dress Party Hitchin
“The Spice Girls …….. obviously”
Fancy Dress Party Hitchin
“Here we have a Kiwi, a Subbuteo Player, a Sumo Wrestler, Steve, wrestler Steve Austen, and Mo Salah from liverpool FC”
Fancy Dress Party Hitchin
“The Security Guard, Sid Vicious, and of course birthday boy Captain Kirk”
Fancy Dress Party Hitchin
“Thirty years on and not changed a bit!”

Fancy Dress Party Hitchin

A great night had by all which we absolutely loved being a part of. It’s wonderful to be able to share moments like this with our boys especially as our nomadic lifestyle makes getting together a little tricky at times.

It also took us back, way back, to 30 years ago when Shaun first arrived. We were so young and had no clue what was going on and I distinctly remember thinking as we drove home from the hospital “Does anyone know we’re taking this baby with us?“. He turned out pretty amazingly though and we couldn’t be prouder of him and Katie.

13/07 – 14/07/2019

 

23 comments

  1. What a great partywith some great costumes. Katie’s Khalessi costume was wonderful, she suited it. Paul and I had a P & C costume party for our 40th. I was Cleopatra, and Paul a Confederate soldier. We had cops, prostitutes, cowboys, clowns, painters, prisoners, candles, and even a can of beer (or as the guest said – he was both the C and P, he was a can of piss. One person came in pyjamas, someone dressed in pink, and one person donned pink plaits. The initials as the theme made the party very easy.

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  4. HI Jonno and Jo, this looks like such a great party and it’s so good to see everyone amde an effort. I enjoyed reading about the characters and who they came as! We once had a fancy dress party where everyone had to wear either a wig or a hat – it turned out to be such fun! If they didn’t arrive with either a wig or a hat, we produced a party hat for them to wear so no-one escaped! I also can relate to the fact that turning 30 is quite huge for the parents as all three of our girls are now over 30 – how did we get so old?? A fun post and I’ve pinned this on my group board 🙂

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  8. Oh that looks like terrific fun! I love a good costume party. It really looks like the crowd all got into it which does make the party doesn’t it? Happy birthday to your son and daughter in law. I chuckled about when you took him home from the hospital. We had our first very young and I we had the same feeling.

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  9. I do find fancy dress parties really stressful. I’m never happy with my costume in the end, and it seems like no one else goes to any effort (at least not the time when I tried to host a Halloween party and was pretty much the only one in costume. Never again!). It looks like everyone got into the spirit at this party though! Love the Sid Vicious!

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    • They can be stressful if it’s your own party as you just worry that everyone will make the effort. That’s why the hat or easy costume is always a great way to go. Try a murder mystery party, much better.

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  10. Hahaha this is brilliant! The speed camera is ridiculous, but a top effort from all involved. I think that is actually Mo Salah! Happy Birthday to Shaun and Katie!

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