2nd Annual Academy Awards Party

Last year, my mom and I threw an Oscars Viewing Party for the first time. We decided to create a spread based on the films nominated for Best Picture and it ended up being a lot of fun. Ever since our first party, I've been looking forward to this year's party. We kept the same idea food and drink inspired by the nominated films and it was a lot of fun to find something tasty and fitting for all nine films.

I started with the invitation, which I designed myself in PicMonkey. I was inspired by a pin I found and made it look like an event ticket. Unfortunately, I had the times off by an hour and had to contact everyone about the time change, but oh well!

12 Years a Slave 
blackberry cobbler
Solomon attempts to use blackberry juice as ink to write to his wife.

American Hustle
clams casino
Irving and Carmine bond of clams.

Captain Phillips
shrimp
The pirates hail from Somolia, a coastal country in Africa.

Dallas Buyers club
green juice
Ron travels the globe to find natural treatments for HIV, including aloe.

Gravity
moon & star cheese crackers
 The entire film takes place in space and no food is consumed, but the moon is made of cheese, right?

Her
margherita pizza
Theodore orders a slice of pizza at Samantha's request.

Nebraska
corn fed buffalo wings
They mostly drink, but they do enjoy some football snacks.

Philomena
waffle bites with raspberries, blueberries, and brandy sauce
A key scene takes place over breakfast and Philomenia is quite a fan of brandy.

The Wolf of Wall Street
sugar cookies with lemon frosting and powdered sugar
Jordan loves cocaine and Quaaludes, a powerful form of which is nicknamed "lemons"

I created a Pinterest board in the weeks leading up to the party to organize my ideas and get even more good ideas. This was key in planning the party because I found some great decorations and favors. I got these chocolate Oscars to send home with the guests.  I also purchased an Oscar statue from Hollywood Mega Store online. 

I created a garland with this Academy Awards printable and hung it over the fireplace, as well as hanging fun facts about the Oscars from gold balloons over the food table. (I had to tape the balloons to the ceiling with packaging tape to keep them up, even with helium.)  

We also had a cute print-out of every dress worn by the Best Actress winners, dating back to 1929. Of course we printed out ballots for our guests to fill out. My mom got the most correct answers with 15. I got 13 correct. Finally, we played a game with this graphic of the Best Picture winners where we had guests guess which movie it was. We provided an alphabetical list of all 85 winners and it served as a lot of fun during commercial breaks and (sorry to say) some of the smaller awards.

As for the ceremony: I figured Gravity would win everything it did. Visually, that movie was fantastic and I think the director did a fantastic job. The I only acting award I correctly predicted Jared Leto. I hoped Lupita Nyong'o would win, but I figured the Academy was just too enamored with Jennifer Lawrence to not give her the statue again. I didn't see Blue Jasmine, but I thought it would be Amy Adams year. She was great in American Hustle! And finally, I'm not please that Matthew McConaughey won. I saw Dallas Buyers Club and I wasn't too pleased with the movie either. From what I read, the real Ron Woodruff wasn't homophobic and was actually bisexual or homosexual. If they wanted to make a movie about a straight man getting HIV when most people thought only gay men could get it, then they should have made up a story about it! Also, I don't think McConaughey can act. I think he just plays himself whether it be muscular or sickly thin, whether it be in leather pants or a swim suit. I thought it might have been Leo's time to shine. (Don't worry, I'm not one of those crazies that gets too caught up in why Leo hasn't won an Oscar.) And the biggest question of the night: Why was Lady Gaga there?

My picks for Best Dressed:

Kerry Washington in Jason Wu
Sandra Bullock in Alexander McQueen
Lupita Nyong'o in Prada
Kate Hudson in Atelier Versace 
Jenna Dewan in Reem Acra

I have so many more ideas for next year, so hopefully the annual bash will keep getting bigger and better!

What did you all think of the Oscars this year?
Who were your picks for best dressed and worst dressed?