I think I was born a few centuries too late for I've always been fascinated with the medieval era. Ask me what my favorite sport is and I'll tell you full contact jousting.
(Yes, I've tried it myself. It HURTS! A LOT!)
Sometimes the best parties arise out of a spontaneous event - as my medieval party did.
My neighbors and I were discussing attending the Bristol Renaissance Faire together - in full costume, of course.
(Is it just me, or does Sir Maxx remind anyone else of Todd Chrisley?)
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If you've never checked out a Renaissance Faire, by all means do so. Loads of fun!
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We'd all decided we'd go to the Renaissance Faire together, a 2 hour drive away. From there, it evolved to:
"Rather than everyone drive their own car down, let's take our RV!"
"We'd have to get an early start so let's just have breakfast together."
"We can have dinner at our house after the Faire!" (Me)
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And so the medieval party was born.
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There was no need for invitations with our group.
Staging
Staging is a breeze because you have so many options readily available to work with whether you like DIY or want to order everything online and have it delivered.
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We held my medieval party at my old home down south. We had a finished rec room in the basement with mini kitchen and bar.
Off the rec room was an empty room that had been a billiards room
previously and was perfect for a medieval dining room.
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If you're on a tight budget, don't forget to check out the dollar stores on this one! (Video above)
They have a lot of items that are suited to a medieval party. Party Cheap is another option.
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I started with staging what would be our castle dining room, that was previously the billiards room. I didn't have to do much with the walls as they were painted concrete block. Perfect.
Castles were big 'ol drafty places so to make the room appear as though it were part of a castle, I purchased the backdrop below ($20) to expand the space visually.
Photo credit: Pinterest
I had an antique sideboard that I put on one wall to put food on.
I dressed the wall up with a couple banners, a shield, some pennants and my silver candleabra.
Tip: Remember, they didn't have electricity so everything was lit with candles and torches.
We had a 16 person mahogany dining set that we moved into that room. The chair sets were upholstered in the material at right so we didn't have to do anything to them.
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To finish that room all I had to do was tablescape the table. Back in the medieval days they didn't use tablecloths but I didn't want my tabletop damaged so I used one. Hubby made wooden placemats to set on top of the tablecloth.
I really wanted pewter dinnerware but none of the rental shops I checked with had any and it's uber expensive so buying it was out of the question.
The light bulb came on. My uncle collected pewter, maybe he'd know where I could get some.
He walked over to his china cabinet and began pulling out plates, cups, silverware...and said "You mean like these?"
He lent me all the pewter pieces I needed.
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Because my table was so large, I used
a whole lot of candles, some bowls of fruit but it wasn't enough to tablescape that big table.
I'd spent little on staging so I splurged.
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I was one of those rare times when the little voice in the head said "If you don't get this now it'll be gone and you'll be out of luck!"
Photo credit: Etsy
Etsy, $200
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Hubby and I were into HO model railroading so had built dioramas for his trains.
I made a diorama with my Knights - castle, moat, Sword in the Stone, public stocks, the whole 9 yards.
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My neighbors thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I have to admit it turned out really well and was enough to fill the table adequately.
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Not that you need a $200 Knights of the Round Table to tablescape your table.
Julie at Chic Party Ideas also threw a medieval party and did a fantastic job on her medieval tablescape.
Photos credit: Chic Party Ideas
There are so many ways to do medieval. I love what Julie did with the red berries and her place settings. Check out her blog for more photos of her medieval party.
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We wanted something easy clean up for our breakfast together so we could get on the road. I used disposable dinnerware that had a pewter look to it.
Currently this 24 piece 9" plates at left available at Amazon for $14.97
Dollar Tree has 4 packs of silver utensils with napkins.
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I'm a huge coffee drinker so had insulated cups with lids on hand, but if you need some: You can get some here
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This left my rec room to stage.
I had one long wall and one very short wall to deal with. I used a wall covering similar to this one from Amazon. $20
Photo credit: Amazon
Photo credit: Brandon Tran
No medieval party would be complete without a castle so I built one out of corrugated shipping containers.
You can build one with or without a drawbridge. I couldn't put a drawbridge on mine because the castle was positioned at the bottom of the step and guests would've tripped over the drawbridge after they came down the stairs.
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But essentially to build a drawbridge, it's a large cardboard panel with a length of rope attached on either side of the panel. Super easy.
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Once I got the castle built I set to work painting the stone work walls.
Tutorial video at left.
I wanted my castle to look very realistic and aged so I gathered moss, sprayed it with floral preservative and hot glued it in places between the castle wall stones.
I also draped vines from the top of the castle.
I wanted the castle to have stained glass windows. On the interior of the castle I glued strips of styrene around the windows. I bought some thin plexiglass panels and covered them with antique pattern window film.
The plexiglass then got glued to the styrene strips on the INSIDE of the castle windows.
If you're going to attempt this with your own castle, get the sizing of your antique window film FIRST and cut your castle windows according to that size so everything fits when you assemble your windows.
Then after you've done that, you can cut some cardboard stones (blue arrow above) to glue to the OUTSIDE of the castle windows as seen in the castle photo. This will hide any gapping that might occur.
When gluing the plexiglass panels in place use a strong bonding glue like E6000 and allow it to dry thoroughly.
Hubby then surprised the hell out of me, presenting me with a real full suit of armor knight!
I'd always wanted one but armor is so outrageously expensive...
I named my armored knight Lancelot (what else?) and stationed him outside my castle. So my castle ended up looking something like this...
If you want a life-sized knight in armor and the real deal isn't in the budget, then check out this 6' jointed suit of armor from Party Cheap. Currently selling for $15.29.
I had a corner that needed some addressing so I made some DIY swords and other weapons and hung them on the wall in that corner.
Beneath them I used some of my pirate party DIY crates and a barrel.
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This left my decidedly NOT medieval-looking furniture to deal with.
I found some red velvet furniture covers on sale for $60. Luckily for me, I guess the Early Bordelo style had gone out of fashion. My rec room now resembled a cathouse but it was a MEDIEVAL looking cathouse so furniture problem solved and I was a happy camper.
So was Lancelot.
I had a DIY styrofoam well I'd built for another party. I slid my modern coffee table into hubby's workshop and turned that well into a coffee table, covering its top with a cut sheet of plexiglass.
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It actually turned out to be kind of handy in that my ice bucket fit neatly inside my well bucket so if anyone needed ice cubes to freshen their drinks they only had to dip into the well bucket.
The wall behind the mini kitchen was brick so nothing needed to be done with that. I threw some of the leftover stone wall covering over the top of the bar. Staging complete.
Most everything you'd need to stage a medieval party can be DIY and places like Party Cheap and the dollar stores carry a lot of medieval props so staging can be as inexpensive as you want to make it.
Food/Menu
My neighbors and I all wanted to give authentic medieval food a try. I don't recommend you trying to serve a medieval dinner without plenty of help. Or have it catered.
We neighborhood gals got together and spent a day preparing most everything ahead of time so all we had to do was heat it and plate it during our cocktail hour after returning from the Faire.
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We had 2 medieval meals - breakfast and dinner. I'll start with breakfast.
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Breakfast wasn't called "breakfast" back in the medieval days. It was called "jantaculum" and was quite different than our breakfasts today. We served a traditional jantaculum on charcuterie boards.
Slide #2 - Poached Egg & Bacon on Sourdough Bread
The medieval method of cooking poached eggs—or pochee, as they called them—was almost exactly the same as it is today. “Take Ayrenn and breke hem in scaldyng hoot water.” Translation: Take eggs and break them into scalding hot water.
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To poach 4 large eggs, fill large deep skillet or sauté pan with water and bring to boil; add 1 TBSP white wine vinegar. Reduce heat to bare simmer. Carefully crack eggs, one at a time, into a custard cup and slip into water. Cook until whites are firm but yolks are still soft, about 5 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer eggs, one at a time, to paper towel–lined plate to drain. Cover to keep warm.
Fry the bacon, put it on the sourdough bread, top with the poached egg. You can garnish with some fresh parsley or I made Hollandaise sauce and put that on the side for anyone who wanted it.
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Traditionally they were served with a special sauce: Whisk together two egg yolks, sugar, saffron, ginger, and salt. Add milk, and cook until it thickens, not letting it boil. Then serve.
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Slide #3 - Steak Pie Recipe here
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Slide #4 - Payn Fondew
This was the medieval predecessor of bread pudding. Fry some bread in grease or oil. Mix egg whites in red wine. Add raisins, honey, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and simmer until it thickens. Then break up the bread, add it to the syrup, and let the bread soak up the syrup. Sprinkle with coriander and sugar.
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Slide #5 -Assorted Cheeses Complete list here
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Slide #6 - Sour Cherry Scones Recipe here
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Dinner
Dinner was a bit more complex. I think you'll see why I said don't try this alone without help.
Slide #1 - Best Sirloin Tip Roast Recipe here
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Slide #2 - Roast Cornish Hen Recipe here
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Slide #3 - Medieval Sansa Salad Recipe here
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Slide #4 - Pickled Roots & Cabbage Recipe here
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Slide #5 - Medieval Times Copycat Potatoes Recipe here
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Slide #6 - Bread & Butter Pickles Recipe here
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Slide #7 - Whole Wheat Rolls Recipe here (They ate a lot of different breads so you can substitute)
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Slide #8 - Apple Cranberry Tart Recipe here
Activities
Our activity was attending the Renaissance Faire but we threw in a couple of after dinner activities.
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COSTUME CONTEST
Have guests vote on who has the best medieval costume and award a prize to the winner.
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We awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes - medieval gift baskets and a medieval wood wine box for 1st place.
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MEDIEVAL TRIVIA
I made up medieval trivia questions that also included a kind of Guess Who element to it.
For example, who was the castle Privy Keeper and what was his job? Who was the Norman Nobility Chamberlain and what was his job?
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For the guests who got the answers correct, we handed out appropriate gag gifts.
Photos credit: Etsy
For example, if a guest correctly guessed what the castle Privy Keeper was, we gave them a knight toilet paper roll holder.
Tip: The more ale you ply your adult guests with, the more quickly this trivia game becomes hilariously funny.
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CHECK FOR LIVE THEATER PERFORMANCES
50 some years later, I still remember the thrill of watching a live theater production of Camelot, starring the original Broadway cast of Richard Burton as King Arthur and Robert Goulet as Lancelot. It was FANTASTIC!
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Most bigger cities have live theater facilities and you may get lucky and find a medieval play to attend!
Photo credit: Amazon
Failing that, consider live streaming a medieval movie for your guests. I did this in the past for a different theme party, even setting up an old fashioned popcorn maker and supplying various gourmet flavors of popcorn from Minocqua Popcorn & Puffs.
Best new Medieval movies in 2023 & 2022 (Netflix, Prime, Hulu & Cinema List
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GO TO A MEDIEVAL DINNER
Photo credit: Medieval Times
I attended one at Medieval Times and would certainly go again. While initially the event might look to be a bit on the pricey side, I discovered when I crunched the numbers that I would spend nearly the amount of admission if making my own medieval dinner party - sans the entertainment Medieval Times provided. Or have each guest pay their own admission fee and you throw a pre-dinner cocktail party to get things rolling.
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