Gretchen's 13th birthday party banquet

Oh, the joys of hosting a formal banquet for one's friends!  Gretchen had been planning this event for at least a couple of weeks before it took place, and I think that everything worked out well for her.  They were in a flurry of preparations on Saturday morning -- decorating, rearranging furniture (the living room was transformed into a banquet hall), setting the table, prepping whatever food could be done ahead of time, etc. 
When the guests started arriving, the "maiden of honor" left her organizers to the work in the kitchen and headed upstairs to begin the elaborate "toilette."  Each of the guests was treated to a manicure and a hair styling, and if she did not have a dress to wear she was given her choice out of the wardrobe.  Gretchen herself wore Mama's wedding dress -- something she's been wanting to do for a long time.  They were all lovely when the preparations were finished!

Gretchen wanted the "official photographer" (yours truly) to take a picture of each of the girls as they came down the stairs to the banquet hall.  Of course, she wanted her picture taken as well.  :-)

It was a multi-course banquet, with a slight pause between each course.

The cooks kept busy in the kitchen.

Gretchen is proud to share her birthday with Sam Houston, Texas, and Dr. Suess.  In light of this, she did some research about the birth dates of all her friends, to see what other things might have happened on those specific days.  The butler read them as banquet entertainment.

Yes, there were really 13 candles on there!

And she received several lovely gifts.

After the banquet they all became regular girls again and had a romp outside.  :-D  Gretchen thoroughly enjoyed her celebrations!