KINGSTON — Just as Hollywood rolls out the red carpet for Oscar Night, Jayanne Czerniakowski will roll out a similar red walkway to the door of her Kingston home next Sunday evening as she welcomes friends to an Academy Awards party.
The veteran hostess, who describes herself as a fan of themed gatherings rather than a movie buff, shared with Weekender several tips for making the night memorable. Among them:
• Build enthusiasm through social media in advance of the get-together by suggesting that your friends watch as many nominated films as possible. It’s more fun to watch the Oscars if you’ve already formed opinions about, say, the costumes in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” or the make-up in “Star Trek Beyond” or the music in “Jackie.”
• Encourage friends to dress up in an interesting way — an evening gown, perhaps? A top hat and tails? Or perhaps they’d enjoy putting together a costume that looks like an outfit their favorite actor or actress wore in one of the nominated films. Czerniakowski treasures a photo from her 2011 Oscar party, when two friends arrived dressed as the white swan ballerina and the black swan ballerina from the 2010 movie “Black Swan.” Actress Natalie Portman won an Academy Award for her leading role in that film.
• Make your friends feel special as they arrive, perhaps by letting them walk over a red carpet. Czerniakowski buys hers at Party City, and adds to the festivities by enlisting her teenage children or the children of friends to provide valet parking and to play the part of paparazzi, shooting photos of guests and “interviewing” them as they arrive.
• Serve some tasty foods, perhaps passed by those eager-to-pitch-in youngsters who will act as servers for the evening.
• Prepare ballots for your guests’ voting convenience. Czerniakowski will have ballots prepared, not just for the main categories such as best film and best actor in a leading role but also for the less-well-known categories involving foreign films and documentaries. This increases interest in the televised Oscars that your guests will watch throughout the evening.
• After the televised Oscars draw to a close, give a prize to the person who correctly predicted the most winners.
• Send each guest home, Hollywood-style, with a swag bag filled with little treats.