Our friend Julia Healey spends a fair bit of her life behind a camera. For her birthday, she put on a top hat with rabbit ears and stepped in front of ours. There was a cake with two cats on it, and we turned up to work dressed as a hot dog and a bottle of ketchup.
That was the start of Saturday night at Melodie Park in York. Julia had brought 50 people together in the Stardust Ballroom for a fancy-dress birthday. We brought the Magic Mirror, a silver glitter backdrop and a cutter for making photo keyrings as we went.
Julia, our birthday Mad Hatter.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
The cats got the best seats in the house.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
Before the Ballroom Filled Up
There’s a pink neon sign over the entrance to the ballroom. Inside, strings of lights and bunting cross the ceiling and the dance floor catches the blue and pink light. It’s worth seeing the room empty for a moment, because once you’ve seen a lobster standing in it, that’s the version you tend to remember.
The Stardust Ballroom at Melodie Park, York.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
The room before the fancy dress arrived.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
The Chef Brought a Lobster
A Ratatouille chef and a lobster were among the first costumes we clocked. Then came the Minions, a Roman emperor, Neo and Trinity, Kev and Perry, and Mario and Luigi. We spotted Jack Sparrow, Hermione and Marty McFly, which is a cracking use of a costume.
We’d already done hot dog and ketchup by this point. For our second shift, we came back as a wet-floor sign and a traffic cone. There’s a mirror selfie to prove it.
The chef and the lobster. An uneasy alliance.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
Mario and Luigi take a break from plumbing.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
The wet-floor sign takes a selfie.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
Ten in the Mirror
Somewhere in the middle of it all, we got ten people into one Magic Mirror shot. The Tin Man and the Scarecrow made it in. With 50 guests in the room, that’s a fifth of the party in one frame.
That photo says a fair bit about the evening. People were happy to squeeze in together and have a laugh. We were working the party, and it still felt like we’d been invited.
Ten in the frame, including the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.
Photo:Yorkshire Magic Mirror
A Photo to Take Home on Your Keys
We’d designed a print layout with a small photo panel that we could cut out on the spot. The cutter trimmed it to fit the keyring insert, so guests could take a little version of their photo home that night.
By half nine we’d made 41 Magic Mirror prints and 35 photo keyrings. Joanna B was there working as the evening’s photographer, too.
Happy Birthday, Julia
There’s a photo of Julia on her own against the silver backdrop, in her top hat and rabbit ears. Of all the pictures we came home with, that’s the one I’d put first in her album.
Thanks for having us, Julia. You brought together a room full of people who were happy to pile into a photo with each other. You also gave us a perfectly good reason to put a traffic cone in the van.
Planning a birthday party in York? Tell us what you’ve got in mind for your night.
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