Ravenwood Manor…Halloween Ladies’ Night-In

Ladies’ Night is something we look forward to every month and we love planning a memorable evening that is out of the ordinary. So, for October, we planned a spooky yet elegant Halloween Dinner Party.

Since we were only hosting a small dinner party (just 4 of us!), we focused our décor efforts on the dining room so that we could really make an impact.

We stumbled across a Pinterest post for a “Modern Witch Costume” that really called to us. We were inspired to create a sleek and dark yet alluring tablescape with unexpected pops of spook.

“Welcome to Ravenswood Manor”…

We really channeled our inner creativity while planning our décor… we wanted to really wow our guests without breaking the bank. Whenever we’re hosting a party, we always start by looking at what we already own and how we can “repurpose” items.

  

We started by collecting empty bottles and jars (for a few weeks lol) that we spray painted matte black to create our Potions Table and followed this DIY Spell Book tutorial to enhance the witchy vibes. We dug through our Halloween decoration bins and pulled out anything that fit with our theme – potion bottles, skeleton animals, ravens, black candles and even random pieces of leftover black fabric from past years DIY Halloween costumes.

 

And to add a little witchy magic and further the eerie ambiance of the evening, we suspended floating witch hats and broomsticks from the ceiling…which also made for a few super fun photo opps.

We set the table with a light chiffon linen that paired with black matte candlesticks and two candelabras to create a soft glow, but the showstopper were the floating branches (complete with ravens), hanging directly above the table. We had a number of décor pieces around the dining room, so we kept the table setting simple.

We paired dark gray dishes with our gold flatware to finish off the table settings.

Our menu was carefully planned to elevate and compliment the overall ambiance of the dinner party and align with our witchy theme.

We served a delicious and eye-catching Charcuterie Board and Mushroom Toast to start. Both were plated on slate boards to add texture and align with the monotone look we were striving to create. The Charcuterie Board was carefully assembled with darker coloured meats, cheeses, nuts, confections and preserves.

Dinner continued on-theme, as we served a Halloween inspired pasta dish of black linguini simply dressed with Calabrian chili oil, lemon, fresh parmesan and basil.

We concluded dinner with a delicious and beautiful cake from Caked by J – the ordering process was so easy. Jaime was very responsive and helping us determine the right style, size and flavours to compliment the theme of our dinner party. The chocolate cake was topped with blackberries and dripping chocolate and paired perfectly with the rest of our menu…it truly was perfect finale to dinner.

 

We felt like wine was the perfect pairing for our menu and coordinated well with our witchy theme. We enjoyed a bottle of the Chateauneuf Du Pape La Fiole, which is a smooth French red blend. We also served the new-to-Manitoba and highly anticipated Spade and Sparrows Pinot Grigio.

 

We had so much fun celebrating our favorite holiday and even though, it of course, looked different than years past, we pulled off a Spooktacular, yet elegant and modern Halloween dinner party!

Halloween 2020 – Ravenwood Manor by Bronze + Vine… That’s a Wrap!