France themed birthday party?

Question

I am trying to plan a surprise 50th birthday for my mom. She loves France and could quite possibly be her favorite place but she hasn't been there in decades! So I thought France would be a perfect theme, but I have never been there and don't really know much about France so it is hard for me to plan it. I really want to plan a great party any ideas? pictures for reference would be great! p.s. I am planning on making the center pieces and invitations by hand... I'm big on DIY projects.

Answer 1

Here is a search for French Decor that might give you some ideas. http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

http://www.antiquesquare.com/j/p/french-...

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

Baguettes for one dish

French cheesecake

Etoufee

Bourbon chicken

Bouillabaisse & French crusty bread

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/im...

Answer 2

Centre Pieces could be Eiffel towers, Invitations could have the Mona Lisa on it, it may have been painted by an Italian but it is in the Louvre, You could also have fancy dress, with a theme of th 1700's

Answer 3

What a charming idea!

The obvious things are to serve French food and play French music.  Centerpieces of the Arc de Triomphe and/or the Eiffel tower ought to be easy for someone with a knack for DYI projects.

So for food you might center on something that can be done in a big batch (I'm assuming a good sized crowd). Coq au vin comes immediately to mind or Bœuf bourguignon. Make sure you have lots of good bread. Maybe French onion soup to begin and for a spectacular dessert try a Croquembouche which is just a big pile of cream puffs tacked together with caramel.

The music should be from performers like George Trenet, Edith Piaf, Yves Montand, Charles Aznavour and Jacques Brel. You might also throw in Josephine Baker's classic, "J'ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris."

And, of course, make sure there is plenty of French wine and perhaps some real champagne.

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Answer 4

Rillifane has good ideas. Also, you might  want to write a few things in French.

Happy Birthday : Joyeux anniversaire

You are invited to the birthday of.... : Vous êtes cordialement invité à la fête anniversaire de...

French writing is cursive, no block letters. Here is a good example of it :

http://php.educanet2.ch/epcorgemont/spip...

If you eat a French meal don't forget the cheeses (to be served between the main course and desert), to be eaten with bread and red wine.  

If you are serving a buffet you might want to have a map of France and some food for each region, with a little flag with the name of the region by the plate. You can find a few recipes here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mostof...                        

Have fun