Williamsburg Garden Party

Now that I'm seeing ads for this event again this year, it's about time I blogged about last year's Garden Party!

I know I jumped at the chance to dress to the nines and attend a party at the Governor's Palace, even though I was eight months pregnant at the time!  I once again wore my Gold Francaise over my maternity stays (which I finally finished binding!), pocket hoops, and several petticoats:

My friend Stefanie, who lives near the historic area, graciously allowed me to change at her house, and took these couple of photos for me.

I was pretty pleased with how well the Francaise still fit over my baby bump, and I managed to coax a halfway decent hairstyle into existence:

Jewelry by Dames a la Mode

The evening began at the Williamsburg Inn, where a special reception for Garden Party attendees was held with hors d'oeuvres prior to the main event.  I met up with some friends from the Francaise Dinner and made several new friends throughout the evening!  (And honestly, I do not remember everyone's names, so I am not going to attempt to caption these.)

There was a raffle (or was it a door prize?) for a carriage ride from the Inn to the Palace, but I did not win.  They had a shuttle bus bringing guests to and fro, but a few of us opted to walk as it was a fine evening and the historic area is so picturesque.

Awaiting our turn to be escorted though the Palace:

The Garden Party itself was held in the gardens behind the Governor's Palace.  There was music, dancing, a play at one point, a speech by Thomas Jefferson, drinks, and desserts.  I spent most of my time mingling with other guests, taking photos of pretty gowns, finding places to sit down, and stuffing my face with yummy desserts! 

It kept threatening to rain (in fact the event was very nearly canceled/postponed) but never did.

So many pretty gowns!

I love the gardens at Colonial Williamsburg.

At various times throughout the evening, I had different people take some photos of me in my gown - I can't remember who you all were now, but thank you!

Much pregnant. So belly. Wow.

I really love how the back of my gown looks!

New friends!

There were also fireworks, but I got no (decent) photos of them.  I did Instagram a bit throughout the evening, with the hashtag #williamsburggardenparty

We got a little bit of a sunset:

And then it did start to rain, right as the party was wrapping up.  A few of us die-hards ended up walking through a light sprinkle to Chowning's Tavern, where we waited out the rain with some food and revelry.  My one disappointment with the event was the lack of actual food for the ticket price.  The desserts were delicious!  But not very filling.  Then again, I was pregnant...