How to Host a Garden of Eden-Themed Party

Warm weather makes shedding layers and feeling attractive pop to the top of the priority list. And because we’re likely to feel a little frisky, it’s the perfect excuse to throw a Garden of Eden-themed party.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Note cards or small pieces of paper and pens for invites and call-to-action cards
• Fresh flowers and fruit for décor
• Tree or coat rack
• Plants
• Toy serpents
• Polaroid camera and film
• Flirtini: A Guide to Mixing and Mingling by Allana Baroni
• Snacks or munchies like fruits, cheeses, and chocolates
• Apples (real or faux) for invites, snacks, décor, and forbidden fruit tree
• Garden accessories, like birdbaths or benches
• Fishing line
• Small envelopes

1. Style an invite that gives your guests a hint of what’s to come. Whip up some irresistible text and put it on a note (handwritten is great): “Be Tempted” or “Shed your winter coat and come play in Eden” along with the date, time, location and RSVP contact information. Tie it to the stem of an apple (real or faux) and plop it in a box cushioned with tissue.
2. Decide where you want everyone to hang out. Inside or outside?
3. Decorate. To create Eden, you don’t have to buy out the local nursery. Look through your stash of garden stuff and see what you already have. Just feature a few key elements. Arrange potted trees, flowers, ferns and other plants into clusters. If you have access to small pieces of garden statuary, benches or birdbaths, intersperse them with the greenery.
4. Raise the kitsch factor by featuring rubber serpents peeking out from the trees. Cover table tops with fig leaves (other leaves work, too) and stash apples in urns (available at craft stores).
5. Turn the Tree of Knowledge into a party game. Start with an apple tree or any other tree you can get your hands on. Okay, even a coat rack. Attach the forbidden fruit (apples, real or fake) with fishing line, then tie small envelopes to the tree with ribbon. In the envelopes are calls to flirtatious action. The plan is for partiers to snag an envelope off the tree, cruise over to another guest, and present the envelope. The lucky recipient must then perform whatever task is dictated on the card.
6. Write the keyword (truth, dare and soforth) on the outside of the envelope and put the action on the inside. Here are a few ideas for composing cards. Truth: What do you consider sexy? Dare: I dare you to sing “It’s Getting Hot in Here” like Nelly. Whisper: Whisper your favorite line of romantic poetry. Confess: If you lived in the Garden of Eden, would you have eaten the forbidden fruit? Kiss: Kiss your sweetie like it’s the first time. Laugh: Tell a joke with a little innuendo. Toast: Make a toast to why we shouldn’t resist temptation.
7. Set up a photo-op area where guests can pose with the serpent in front of the flirting tree while taking a bite out of a big, red apple. Snap Polaroids of your guests, stick them into a scrapbook, and ask them to finish the sentence, “Paradise is ________.”

Tips & Warnings

• To stir up thoughts of Eden, introduce these enticing scents (they all contain antidepressant properties) by burning candles or incense: Orange (refreshing), patchouli (relaxing), jasmine (soothing), bergamot (uplifting), ylang ylang (stimulating).
• For more nose candy, float aromatic flowers, such as gardenias or tuberose, in clear glass bowls and place them in spots like the bathroom and the smoking corner.
• Fruit doubles as both décor and stuff to munch on, so lay out a sexy spread of fresh figs, heaps of grapes, apples and cherries. Chocolate-covered cherries or strawberries are perfect to satisfy a sweet tooth.
• Don’t overdose on a ton of different aromas. Stick with a single theme so there is one pleasant smell through the entire party space.

Who Can Help:

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