A Look Behind the Scenes at our Brimfield Lawn Party

I know what you're thinking: Brimfield, Brimfield, Brimfield—it's the new Marcia! We were so effusive about our most recent event, a Lawn Party-Market combo at the Brimfield Antiques Fair in Massachusetts, that a few of you actually came! (Okay, a lot of you. It was awesome!) We met Food52 fans who said our event inspired them to make the trek all the way to Brimfield, and made a whole new slew of friends, from vendors to passersby who walked into our site wondering what kind of antiques dealer this could be.

Um, a fun one! Stocking loads of vintage and vintage-inspired pieces on our shelves was just the start: Here's a look behind the scenes at our Brimfield Lawn Party, in case you couldn't make it this year. (Don't worry if you didn't get to come; we're already plotting the next one!)

Setting up

Long before we made the trek up from NYC to Brimfield to set up the Lawn Party, our Art Director Alexis Anthony (who is an architect by training) dreamed up a layout for the space.

Our three sites, all in a row, would have five distinct sections: An area to play corn hole and other lawn games, picnic tables for any and all passersby/snackers, a lounge area for the more recline-inclined, a market stocked with pieces from our Shop, and a vintage camper that we borrowed from our friends at the Brimfield Flea Finder app.

The puzzle pieces were many: Alexis sourced vintage pieces to use in the lounge areas, we rented German beer-hall tables from another vendor at the fair, we made new checkered curtains and ticking cushion covers for the camper, built IKEA shelves to hold all the pieces from our Shop, hung lights, fluffed pillows, and high-fived each other right up until the first customer strolled by.

(That was around 5:30 A.M. on Tuesday morning!)

See that drill master above? She's our controller! (Yes, she loves math and she's very fun.)

Volunteering

Set-up began on Sunday before the start of the fair, and over the course of the week over a dozen employees made the 3-hour trek to help run our Lawn Party. We hosted workshops (like trivet-making and succulent repotting!), checked out shoppers in our market, played supervised the lawn games.

Some of us even found cell phone service (it was much stronger than expected!), checking in on our side jobs (a.k.a. our jobs) and perusing the Brimfield Flea Finder app for new vendors and trending topics.

Shopping!

How could we have gone all that way and not? I polled our team (and you!) about the best things they found at this year's fair; here are some of the highlights:

Gifting

After the success of our copper bowl giveaway on Instagram, we decided to source some extra-cute small pieces from around the fair to give away through social. Those included: a lunchbox, mismatched white linen napkins, a white enamel pot, a vintage blue mason jar, and a pair of fruit prints.

In addition, we had a whole survival kit station—in the form of free tote bags, snacks, sunscreen, and the like. You cleaned us out (and donated a considerable amount to our Give Back jar, all of which will support good food in schools through Edible Schoolyard).

So, see you next year? And if you did make it this year—what was your best find from the flea? Tell us in the comments.