Medieval Renaissance Party

Create coats of arms to decorate your medieval party.

Hosting a medieval or Renaissance themed party allows you to experience a period in history steeped in culture and art, with a rich menu and elaborate costumes to entertain and engage guests.

Decor

Rich jewel tones were a sign of nobility and aristocracy during the Renaissance. Make your guests feel like royalty with "tapestries" made from inexpensive cotton sheets in burgundy or navy, painted with coats of arms or printed and enlarged reproductions of Renaissance artwork. Construct a knight in shining armor from cardboard and papier-mache decorated with silver paint, fabric, foil or wrapping paper.

Menu

Hearty stews or roasted meats and vegetables were popular meals in medieval times. Serve stews with rough-cut potatoes, carrots and onions in hollowed-out bread bowls or "pheasant" (chicken or turkey) and rough-cut vegetables. For even more authenticity. serve foods that can be eaten by hand and forgo cutlery. Serve mulled cider for younger guests, and mead or honeyed wine for guests of legal drinking age.

Costumes

Full skirts, doublets, corsets, bodices and empire-waist gowns were the height of women's fashion, while men wore tunics, doublets, jerkins or vests and breeches. Create, buy or borrow "garb" of the kind you'd see at a Renaissance fair. Halloween and costume stores are also valuable resources for clothing. Use circlets of beads, flowers or metal in women's hair, and different types of hats for men.

Music

Buy music from the period, including that by English madrigalists or Josquin des Prez. Dulcimers, bagpipes, lutes and harps were popular instruments of the time, and minstrels at fairs still play these.

Invitations

Create invitations that look like coats of arms, crests, or parchment inscribed with the date and time. Scrolls of parchment with calligraphy add a touch of authenticity to the smaller details, but these can be more difficult to mail.

References

• Ye Auld Garb Monger: You CAN Make a Manly Man's Renaissance Costume Yourself
• JSayles: Free Early and Renaissance Music
• IPL: Music History 102-The Renaissance
• Renaissance Spell: Renaissance Food