An Enchanting Literary Party

Friends, my heart couldn’t be more full! One of my big dreams for The Enchanted Book Club this year was to host our very first in-person event. We have created such rich, inspiring connections amongst our kindred community online and I just knew if we had the chance to meet in real life, it would be pure enchantment.

I started pre-planning for what would be our enchanting literary party earlier this year. I began by sharing a survey with our community to get an idea of how many kindred spirits might be in attendance. Shortly after I began the planning process, the opportunity for our book club to go to ENGLAND presented itself. So I put a quick hold on the party planning to move forward with our England trip…which has evolved into ongoing literary travel opportunities for us. (Pinch me!)

As I returned my focus to planning our literary party, I knew the party had to include a few very important aspects. My hope was to translate the magic of The Enchanted Book Club to real life which meant the party would need: an author interview, exciting giveaways, and a surprise.

The very first decision I made for the literary party is where it would take place. After visiting a couple tea rooms in Southern California (where I live), I hadn’t found just the right one yet. The first week of June, I visited The McCharles House & Gardens in Tustin, California. I have fond memories of visiting The McCharles House for tea with my mother when I was a little girl and was eager to visit again after all these years. When I met with the owner, Vivian Heredia, I knew The McCharles House was the absolute perfect place for kindred spirits to be whisked away and completely enchanted.

Vivian explained that The McCharles House has hosted events and photoshoots for Victoria Magazine and she worked directly with the magazine’s founding editor, Nancy Lindemeyer, amongst countless more inspiring women. I trusted that she understood my vision for the party and would help bring it to life.

When you enter through the McCharles garden gate, you’re invited to meander down a path lined with whimsical trees and a variety of vibrant flowers. In the garden, you’ll find the original gazebo from the Disneyland Hotel, a lovely lodge that authors often use to work on their novels, and even more gorgeous trees adorned in string lights. It’s a true fairy tale.

With the venue booked and a date set, the next step was to book an author! I reached out to Syrie James, best-selling author of The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen, The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, and Jane Austen’s First Love. Syrie was a guest at one of The Enchanted Book Club’s virtual discussions last year and I just adored her. With her enthusiasm for Austen, I knew our guests would love to meet her. Within hours of reaching out to Syrie, she agreed to be our special guest — how lucky are we! In celebration of our guest, I decided to make The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen our September reading selection so that attendees could get their signed book ahead of time.

Next, I started making a decor and raffle prize wishlist. The first “decor” piece I ordered was a Mr. Darcy cardboard cutout. What would a literary party be without Mr. Darcy in attendance?! I knew the kindred spirits would love to take pictures with him. So much fun. As I continued searching for just the right charming decor pieces, I reached out to some of The Enchanted Book Club’s friends to see if they would be interested in donating raffle prizes…and my goodness were they generous!

First, I reached out to our friends at Bond and Grace, a women-owned publishing house that republishes the classics as stunning coffee table books. They graciously donated their Secret Garden Art Novel, a gorgeous art piece that makes a beautiful family heirloom. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind edition and I was thrilled to offer it as a prize.

Next, I reached out to Rifle Paper Co. who you may be familiar with for their Puffin in Bloom series. They have an entire line of literary products that are just about the cutest things I’ve ever seen. Rifle Paper Co. has always been so kind to The Enchanted Book Club and their donation was no exception! They offered a prize bundle including: a literary tote, mug, keychain and notepad in addition to an embroidered journal and floral candle.

Lastly, Wordsworth so kindly offered a set of their luxe editions. These beauties have all the gilded details, sprayed edges, and the prettiest end pages. The prize included Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Anne of Green Gables!

If you’re a member of The Enchanted Book Club, you know that I love a surprise. One of my favorite book club surprises was Susan Branch’s guest appearance during our Zoom discussion about her memoir. As I mentioned earlier, with this party, my hope was to bring so much of what makes our virtual book club special to life. Because flowers are an essential part of The Enchanted Book Club’s aesthetic, I thought it would be wonderful to surprise everyone with a flower truck.

To keep it a secret, I arranged for the flower truck to set up out front while everyone was in the garden. One of my favorite parts of the day was telling the guests that after they got their book signed by Syrie, they could stroll out front to create their own bouquet!

Our flower truck was The Nine Petals and I truly can’t say enough kind words about them. Maggie and Cisco went above and beyond to ensure an enchanting experience for our guests. The Nine Petals only uses fresh, locally grown blooms and they even worked with me to source flowers that are reminiscent of The Enchanted Book Club’s logo!

After months of planning and pouring all of my heart into our literary party it was almost time. Over the course of 3 months, I planned the layout of furniture in the garden, scoured the internet for the perfect floral decor pieces, ordered chairs, chose gift bags, decided on the food (there were many iterations of what the treats would be!), sourced goodies for the gift bags, created a schedule for the day, curated a dreamy literary playlist, designed our welcome sign, wrote interview questions for Syrie, visited the venue several times to walk through with Vivian, and more. However, there were a few to-do items I intentionally waited to cross off just before the party…

A couple days before the party, I filled our gift bags with goodies. Each bag included a classic book, an Enchanted Book Club gold foiled bookmark, and a raffle ticket. The day before the party, I brought all the decor and goodie bags to the venue. I adorned the gazebo with florals and hung my vintage tea cups with pink ribbons. The night before the party, I put together small floral picnic boxes with petit fours, madeleine cookies, brownies, vanilla meringues and Anne of Green Gables napkins! I couldn’t believe the day had almost arrived.

The best part of the entire day was without a doubt, meeting our kindred community. I waited in front of the garden gate to welcome our guests and was so taken by their kindness and excitement. We shared handshakes and hugs and meandered through the garden as music from our favorite literary soundtracks played. So many kindred spirits said “what is this place?!” and “is this The Secret Garden?!”

After all the guests were seated, we enjoyed an interview with Syrie James. This was my first time interviewing an Enchanted Book Club guest in-person. I loved looking out into our audience and seeing their expressions as Syrie talked about her novels and what’s like to write in Jane Austen’s voice. What a dream! As our discussion concluded, I excitedly told the guests about our incredible raffle prizes and drew raffle tickets.

Maricela won the Wordsworth Luxe collection and Kristina won The Secret Garden Art Novel. Kristina traveled all the way to the literary party from Texas — I was so excited for her to have such a beautiful souvenir! After the raffle winners were announced, guests started lining up for the book signing and flower truck.

Our intimate and memorable conversations with authors are some of the most beloved experiences The Enchanted Book Club offers. It warmed my heart to see these special interactions happen in real life as kindred spirits chatted with Syrie James, creating cherished memories.

As guests waited to meet Syrie, I stood in line alongside them and sat with the guests waiting their turn. Meeting our community was exactly how I always thought it would be. One of the things about The Enchanted Book Club I am most proud of is the kindness and light you will find amongst our kindred spirits. Whether online or in real life, our interactions are filled with so much joy.

We have members who have loved Jane Austen their whole lives and members who join our club because they want to read the classics for the first time. It doesn’t matter if you are a seasoned reader or how old you are, The Enchanted Book Club is for anyone who wants to celebrate the beauty and timelessness of stories that enchant us.