12th Night at Selma

I love a good party.  And as exhausting as the prep can be, I am fortunate enough to live in a home that seems to be happiest when its full of fun and laughter. The bookend to our holiday festivities last year was our Twelfth Night Party, inspired by my research on Masque of Honor.

Traditionally, it is called the Feast of the Epiphany, as it marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  Those of Christian faith, know Epiphany as the day that the Three Wise Men brought the baby Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Twelfth Night is not celebrated in the U.S. as much as it is observed in the United Kingdom, France, and Spain but we’re doing our best to keep the tradition alive. Twelfth Night parties are particularly popular in New Orleans and because of that, there are elements that make it akin to Mardi Gras, with flashy costumes, gold decorations, and party favors representing the gifts of gold brought to baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

My favorite part of the party is choosing the party’s King and Queen by cutting into the King’s Cake and the Queen’s cake. The King’s Cake contains a bean in its batter and the Queen’s cake has a pea baked into it. The man whose slice of cake contains the bean is crowned King for the night while the lady who finds a pea in her slice becomes his Queen. This tradition has a history in the early nineteenth century among Virginia’s aristocracy … you’ll have to read Masque of Honor to learn more about that.

Incidentally, it is also customary that the guests help the host take down their Christmas decorations during the party.  We’ll do our guests a favor and pass on that; I don’t think any of them would be willing to spend the rest of January dismantling our eight Christmas trees!

Guests welcomed and announced by trumpeters, entertained by jesters, jugglers, and minstrels, and the crowning of the King and Queen. This year we’re going to take a bye on the Twelfth night party (way too much going on this year to pull it off!) But Scott and I are thinking a little Fat Tuesday masquerade on Leap Day might be the perfect substitute! It only happens once every four years and sounds like a great reason to have a party!