Dardanella’s Great Gatsby Lawn Party

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Last weekend, I went back in time to the Roaring Twenties at Dardanella’s Great Gatsby Lawn Party. This was Dardanella ’s first event in Atlanta, and after seeing photos from their previous events, I was super excited to check out the Great Gatsby Party!

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

The event was held at The Wren’s Nest in the historic West End neighborhood of Atlanta. The Wren’s Nest is a house museum formerly owned by Joel Chandler Harris, who collected and recorded Brer Rabbit and many other folktales. We had the opportunity to take a free house tour in the afternoon, and I learned quite a lot about him!

As you can probably tell by the name, the Great Gatsby Lawn Party was held outdoors on the property behind the actual Wren’s Nest house. MARTA comes very close to the location, but I took uberpool to avoid walking in heels.

I thought the location itself was beautiful, and fit quite well with the historic theme. There were several food trucks, a stage for the bands, a dance floor, and photo booths. (I saw a bocce ball kit, but I didn’t notice anyone playing while I was there). I would love to see more activity stations/photo booth areas and props in the future!

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

My 4 Favorite Things at Dardanella’s Great Gatsby Lawn Party

  1. The costumes! While my own costume ended up being a little lackluster due to time constraints, almost every person I saw at the lawn party was jazzed up in some type of 20s-era garb. Several people I spoke with had sewn their own costumes! That’s definitely my goal for next time.
  2. The music. There were some really fantastic live bands at Dardanella, and you couldn’t not dance along!
  3. The dancing! I had to make a separate entry just for the dancing, both practiced and spontaneous. The dance demonstrations were fab! I was blown away by the unbridled enthusiasm of all those who took to the dance floor. Friends, couples, families… all kinds of guys and gals were dancing up a storm!
  4. The location. Before this event, I was actually unaware that The Wren’s Nest existed, and I certainly didn’t know that it’s the house-turned-museum of Joel Chandler Harris. We were fortunate enough to get a tour of the inside of the house during the lawn party, and I learned a lot of local history! The venue was beautiful, and I think that it fit with the 1920s-era theme perfectly.
  5. I know I said this was a top 4 list, but I had to give an honorable mention to the amazing white chocolate lavender milkshake from Chillybean Coffee Co. I didn’t know what to expect from that flavor combo, but it was amazing and super refreshing on a warm day!

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Like I mentioned above, my own Dardanella costume wasn’t quite as great and grand as I’d originally planned. I wanted to sew a flapper dress, and I’d even sketched out the design. Unfortunately, end-of-semester projects and exams got the best of me, so I had to do some last minute improvisation. Looking through my closet, this shift dress from Old Navy had the closest shape to a dress from the Roaring Twenties (most of my dresses are a little more fitted through the waist). I used scrap fabric to make this flowery flapper headband. The headband is a crucial component of any great flapper costume!

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

It worked pretty well for a last-minute flapper getup, but like I mentioned before, I’d really love to make my own dress before their next event (Dardanella plans to come back to Atlanta in September, so don’t worry if you missed it this time)! They’re planning to make improvements to the Lawn Party for their second time in Atlanta, so I’ll be excited to see what they come up with.

Dardanella's Great Gatsby Lawn Party | Raine In The City

Have you ever been to a Roaring Twenties-themed party? What was your favorite part?

xoxo,

Raine

(Photos with Dardanella logo are from event photobooth, all others are from me)!

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31 Comments

    1. It was a really pleasant afternoon! I’m pretty sure they have an event in DC, so that’s a little closer to your location!

    1. It really was! I love The Great Gatsby, but I haven’t read it in several years. This definitely made me want to pull it off my bookshelf!

  1. This looked so fun! My senior prom was actually Gatsby themed so I had a headpiece similar to yours! I think the clothes inspired by this era are wonderful.

  2. Your dress fits in perfectly, even if it’s not the homemade costume you had in mind. And I agree, your headband is perfect and really makes the look!

    Sounds like such an awesome event! 🙂

    Hope you are having a great week! I just published my first eBook so the week is starting brilliantly for me! 🙂

    Away From The Blue Blog

    1. Thank you! I appreciate it, I was pretty proud of my little headband 🙂 It sounds like your week is exciting- congrats on the eBook!!

  3. Oh my gosh! This is just too darn fabulous, and you’re so stinkin’ cute! A Great Gatsby Lawn Party is such and incredibly unique party idea. Hip, hip, hooray for awesome spring-time festivities. 🙂

    1. Thank you so much! Basically any outdoor gathering is perfect for the springtime, haha. I love just being outside and enjoying the weather!

    1. Thank you!! 🙂 If there’s not one near you, you should have a little Gatsby Get-Together of your own so you can dress up!

  4. I lovethemeparties this looks like so much fun, and lots of hard work! I’m sure it was worth it. Thanks for sharing the experience and idea.

  5. What an incredible theme for a party! The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books, so I’d love to go to a book-themed soiree. 🙂 I think your costume turned out really well: I’m amazed you threw it together at the last minute!

  6. This looks like such an amazing event! I actually went to a hotel grand opening a few months back, and as the building was all designed in art-deco and built in the 20s, they went with a roaring 20s theme. Seeing the hired dancers do their thing was amazing and I loved the swing music!

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