Melons, Waffles & Defiant Jazz: A Severance Watch Party
Hello, Innies!
This is our very first blog post! One of my goals as a Home Sweet Homebody is to lean into planning and hosting creative gatherings. Last Thanksgiving, I went all out with favors, signage, name tags, table decor, and more. Seeing everyone light up from all the little touches gave me a new appreciation for hosting. I’ll definitely share that Thanksgiving setup in a future post. Same goes for the 50th birthday party I threw for my husband. That one deserves its own spotlight. But for now, let’s start with Severance, since it also kicked off our Instagram account for Home Sweet Homebodies.
Let me just say… Severance on Apple TV+ is one of the best shows I’ve seen in a very long time. I’m a huge fan of sci-fi mystery thrillers, and this one checked every box. The concept, the story, the characters, the casting, the haunting score, the unsettling retro-futuristic visuals, the suspense, and the way it gives you tons of information every episode while somehow keeping you in the dark. How is that even possible?! I love it. And I wanted to share that love with the people closest to me.
Growing up, my family used to throw watch parties for shows like Arrested Development, Lost, and even a few Office episodes. Over time, as life filled up with marriages, kids, and different schedules, those gatherings became fewer. And that’s okay! Life wonderfully happens. When Severance came out, I gushed about it. My family said they’ll probably watch the show at some point. But then I had an idea to host a finale watch party and had some fun ideas for the party. So I told everyone that if they wanted to come, they had to watch both seasons before the big night. It was a month away at that point! To my surprise, everyone agreed. They were instantly hooked, and it was such a joy to share a new favorite with my family.
I put together an invitation based on a design I had seen online, but gave it my own spin before sending it out via text to officially invite everyone to the party.
The invite I sent out to my guests.
What made it even more fun was that my family responded in full Lumon-speak in the group chat. It was hilarious and kind of thrilling to see everyone fully embrace the world of the show. By that point, most of them had seen all or nearly all of the episodes, so the inside jokes were flying.
This is a small snippet of the conversations we were having.
Party time!
As guests arrived, everyone received a personalized Lumon-style name badge. I found photos of each person and created the badges using Photoshop and Illustrator, it helps to have a graphic design background! Guests signed their own names on the badges, just like in the show. They also got “office perk” finger traps as little favors.
Name badges I made with Adobe Illustrator.
Everyone was assigned a dish. My sister Martie brought a picture-perfect melon bar, with melons cut so precisely I almost didn’t want to disturb the display. She also made a “The YOU YOU Are” sign, and I added Irving’s melon head as a final touch. My mom brought the coveted AF egg bar. We had other non-themed food too, but my husband Mark and I made sure to end the meal with a proper waffle party.
Speaking of office perks, I really wanted to surprise everyone with their own version of the crystal head cubes Mark S had from the show. I was not about to buy crystal head cubes for everyone, so I decided to make resin versions instead. I have been getting into resin art lately, and this seemed like the perfect challenge.
Homemade resin “crystal head cubes”.
Getting the resin crystal head cube party favors just right took approximately as many tries as it took Edison to invent the light bulb. The success criteria were different but just as specific. Each resin “crystal head” started with a photo that I turned into a blue and white portrait to match the crystal/transparent effect. I printed and laminated the photos to prevent the ink from bleeding in the resin, cut them out, and embedded them into hand-poured resin layers. It was more technical than I expected. I had to resize each image, make sure it didn’t float or shift in the mold, time each resin pour just right, avoid bubbles, and sand the edges cleanly. It took about a month and more tries than I want to admit. I barely finished the last one in time for the party.
It was worth it. Seeing everyone’s surprise when they received their own resin crystal head cube made all the effort feel completely justified.
Other fun touches:
I created a fake record cover for “Defiant Jazz” featuring Milchick and Helly mid-dance, along with the other music options from the infamous MDR cart.
I framed Severance-themed Etsy prints and swapped them into frames I already had on the wall.
I labeled rooms in my house with Lumon department signs.
I printed out stills from the show and put them into frames that were already around the house.
I blew up blue balloons and taped Mark S’s face to each one.
Right before we watched the episode, I dimmed the lights and turned on the calming Wellness Center music that Miss Casey plays. I read ten personalized Outie Statements for each guest. Some were totally random, some were nice, but many were intentionally the opposite of how that person actually is. It felt like a gentle roast in Lumon-speak.
For example, my husband Mark is a chef who avoids the microwave at all costs, so one of his statements was: “Your outie is always there to help people microwave their frozen meals to perfection.” That kind of thing got a lot of laughs and made the moment feel like part game and part ceremony.
Outie statements
After the last statement for the last guest was read, the lights went down and we watched the finale together. I wish we could have watched the whole series that way, but even getting everyone together for one episode was special. It felt memorable, communal, and a little surreal, which was exactly the vibe I wanted.
Show time!
Thanks for letting me share this little slice of Lumon with you. It was such a fun night, and I’m so glad I got to geek out over one of my favorite shows with my favorite people, and that I now have it documented so I can return to this memory anytime.
My family, L-R: My husband Mark, me, my brother Ronnie & his wife Angie, Martie & her husband Arland, my sister Randa, and my parents.