Can there be any better party theme for any little boy with a big imagination than a Knight's Tournament Banquet? Let your little knight dress up in a suit of shining armour for his special day and the day can be filled with rescuing damsels in distress or fighting fierce fire breathing dragons. And when the rescuing and dragon slaying is all finished they can return to their castle where there will be time for tea and perhaps some tournament games.
Read on for some invitation, costume and decoration ideas for that perfect Knight's Tournament Banquet birthday party.
Children are at their most imaginative between the ages of three and ten and opportunities for pretend play should be encouraged in-order to ensure healthy development. A Knight's Tournament, although mainly associated with boys will also allow girls - or little princesses - to equally enjoy the adventure and fun.
As with any party, whether for children or adults, the degree of success is usually linked directly to the amount of planning and preparation that is put in in advance. Usually you should allow yourself around six weeks planning and preparation time. This should be ample time to get everything you will need together including costumes, decorations, party gifts and pieces for your menu. And not forgetting the invitations!
We would always recommend that you send your invitations out around three or four weeks before the party. Invitations that arrive much earlier are likely to be forgotten and anything later and you risk the chance that your guests may already have made plans for that day. So the rule would be; not too early and not too late!
For the invitations themselves, it is most likely that you would be invited to take part in a Knight's Banquet by nobility so your invitations should look the part. We have already published articles on princess and pirate invitations and we can take some thoughts from them. Royal invitations would look best on parchment or regal type paper, written or printed by the computer in a flowing handwriting style or font.
To make simulated aged parchment use heavyweight paper and age it by staining it in a weak solution of tea. If you want a few darker spots, leave a few (not too many) coffee granules on the damp paper - these will spread with the dampness in the paper. Dry with a weight on top to retain a flat surface. You cannot imagine royal invitations being folded and given out in plain envelopes; this would never be good enough.
Red ribbon and sealing wax with a royal seal made using a small coin (unusual foreign coin works best) and small length of red ribbon (or child's favorite color) and then the invitation rolled and held with more wax for the ultimate in luxury - this will require a responsible adult or well supervised child to complete.
If you are lucky enough to have your own Royal Seal, please ignore our suggestion of using a foreign coin and er, perhaps you could use your own!
We have the look, now we need to establish the words. First you need to write out what the invitation needs to state, this should include; name of guest, name of party giver, date, time and location at a minimum, and should also include any fancy dress theme or dress code if you want everyone to dress up. Lastly, include an RSVP address or contact details so that you can get an idea of how many guests to expect and who they are likely to be.
Don't forget that these are royal invitations and therefore the wording should reflect this. You could try something like;
"Hear ye, Hear ye.
By order of the King and Queen _(insert name)__ you are invited to a Knight's Banquet and Tournament to be given on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the birth of their loyal knight Sir Charles of Essex.
To be held at; _________________________________________ on ___________________
At: ________________________________"
And don't forget you know live at the castle etc.
If you are looking for suitable costumes for knights and princesses then most online fancy dress costume suppliers should offer a good selection to choose from. Knights and Princess fancy dress costumes will become firm favourites in the dressing up box and will provide hours of enjoyment and adventure after the banquet. A selection of suitable costume accessories, swords, tiara, crowns, shields and royal robes will ensure that these costumes remain first out of the box.
For decorations choose the colours silver, grey, red and white. If using balloons than silver and white with a spot of red tied with grey, silver and red curled balloon ribbon. If you have access to the internet find some royalty free and colourful shields, print these out mount them on card board; cut them out and create your own round table banquet.
Alternatively, and if you want some quiet time to slow them down before they eat; print out some blank shields and allow each of our guests to create their own shield design using crayons or coloured pencils - or paint if you're really brave! These they can take home as part of their goody bag.
Easy gifts for goody bags would be 'anything' dragon, or knight themed for boys (figures etc) and perhaps a tiara and scepter for the princesses. If you want spend a little more, you could purchase stickers, tattoos or even knight's swords. We don't believe that you need to spend a fortune on the goody bag rather the value comes from the thought that has been given to ensuring that the contents fit the party theme.
Karnival Costumes stocks a huge selection of fancy dress costumes and accessories for knights, kings, queens and princesses in the section Renaissance Fayre go to: [http://www.karnival-house.co.uk/acatalog/Renaissance_Faire_fancy_dress_Costumes.html] Feel free to browse our website and purchase your costumes and accessories with confidence from one of the leading costume suppliers in the UK.
We also have a large selection of articles on a wide range of party themed topics; go to: http://www.karnival-house.co.uk/acatalog/Articles_and_Papers.html Why not join our newsletter for up to date information on the latest trends in costumes, news and notification of our special offers.
Article submitted by: KV Sinclair. Keith Sinclair has over 35 years of business experience and in addition to being a part time University Lecturer on Business Studies, he is CEO of Cavalcade; a group of companies operating in the party sector. Cavalcade operates Karnival-House at karnival-house.co.uk one of the UK's leading internet Fancy Dress Retailers. With massive stocks for immediate dispatch and an ever expanding range, Karnival-House continues to strive simply to offer outstanding service combined with outstanding value.
