Illumination Night on Martha's Vineyard

Half the fun of attending the Grand Illumination on the Vineyard is to go to the campground in the afternoon and see the preparations. So much work goes into the decorating of each cottage.



If you only attend the nighttime event, you don't get to see the true colors of the cottages and the lanterns.



I love to see parasols added to the decoration of a cottage.



They vary in shape and design.



You know I had to photograph a cottage named Two Bad Cats.




I am sure I have a photo of this cottage from my last Illumination Night.



Wow, fans, lanterns, parasols, this took a lot of time.



This one had some very interesting lanterns. I love the ones with the tassels.



Pretty pastels on some of the cottages.




Lovely gardens too!



Some cottages had vibrant colors.



Poor puppy! He wanted to go out and play but he was safer on the porch.



The party has already started. Many cottage owners and guests enjoy food and drink on their porches.




Look at the lacy scrollwork, just beautiful!



A pretty combination of colors.



All ready for the festivities.




I need to look up Klonschnack.




I had just enough time to take a few shots in the dim light. Nighttime photography is not my forte.



Before the lights were illuminated there was a community singalong at the tabernacle. A musical journey through American History and lots of patriotic songs.




Ok, are you ready for some lanterns?




Some were made of silk and actually illuminated by real candles.




Some had very interesting shapes and fringe on the bottom.



Some were very old and some were not.



We missed seeing those in costume strolling the area but we caught them on their porch.



They added to the festivities.



Mesmerized by the beauty of the lanterns, I hardly noticed it had started to rain.
During the concert, we were standing under a tree and couldn't feel the raindrops.



We strolled around the main area near the tabernacle and then walked down the small streets of the campground.



I tried to take as many shots as possible of the beauty all around me. It was so magical.




But then the skies opened up and there was no denying it, we were getting soaked and the paper lanterns would not survive the downpour. Luckily, the bad weather held off just long enough to see most of Illumination Night.

And it was worth getting soaked to the skin!

Reminiscing about the Illumination Night Tea

Saturday's Illumination Night in Maine brought back memories to me. One memory of last year's trip to Martha's Vineyard and another of an Illumination Night Tea I hosted with my friend Kim back in 2007. At Kim's house we tried to recreate illumination night and the feeling of being on the Vineyard. I thought you'd enjoy reminiscing with me.



Here's a cottage on the Vineyard, all decorated and waiting for the evening's festivities.



And here's the illumination of the lanterns on the Vineyard.



Kim had never been to an illumination night so we decided that I would do the decorating for the party and she would handle the food. After all, she is the better cook.



Here's the tablescape. We served buffet style. Kim made a chicken dish with fruit compote and a dish with corn in it. Sorry, I forgot the details. We also had seafood salad rolls and a spinach salad with cranberries, goat cheese, and walnuts with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. We used paper plates and napkins and a fishing net for a casual feel. The plastic flatware was housed in a Nantucket Basket. Faux hydrangeas were placed in a Pellegino water bottle which served as a vase.



A rice paper parasol was placed over the dining room light.




We made favors for everyone. I had seen an article in Martha Stewart magazine about making beach glass jewelry so I mentioned it to my artist sister. I was secretly hoping she would help us make the jewelry. My sister came through for us. She adapted Martha's idea into something more simple. Instead of drilling holes in the beach glass, we wrapped silver wire around the pieces and made a bale at the top. We then slipped a silk cord through the top and voila, beach glass necklace! We had assorted colors of beach glass and various colored cords.

Then we made little pyramid shaped boxes out of maps of Martha's Vineyard. We wrapped the necklaces in tissue paper, placed them in the boxes and tied the top of the box with raffia.



As soon as darkness arrived, we flicked on all the light switches and we had our own grand illumination. Earlier in the day, Kim's husband had hung those icicle Christmas lights all around the edge of the porch and I covered the bulbs with the lanterns.



I have to admit the lantern illumination came out much better than I expected and it looked pretty darn close to the illuminated cottages on the Vineyard.



The many hours of planning and preparation were all worth it when one of the guests told me the evening was "magical".