Review of the Twilight Convention in San Francisco 2011

Since Twi-K and I have already attended and reviewed two other Twilight Conventions in the past year (the San Francisco Convention back in February 2010 and the Los Angeles Eclipse Convention in June 2010), I'll just post highlights and differences in this Convention.

Reservations and Tickets
First of all, we brought along Twi-K's daughter (lilwolf), who's definitely Team Wolf Pack! We all decided to go up for just Saturday in the general seats for $25 each, attend the Volturi Vampire Ball for $79 each, and stay overnight at the hotel for about $140 (including $10 for parking overnight in the hotel garage.)

I thought that the general ticket seats were very close to the preferred ticket seats ($45), so I'm glad we saved the $20. The Volturi Vampire Ball was definitely the highlight of the event, so I'm glad we got tickets for that, too.

We didn't purchase celebrity photos or autographs this time. The celebrities were very approachable (we saw them with their families all over the hotel) and I already had photos and autographs from last year, so I just got a few candid photos throughout the day.

The hotel itself was very clean and comfortable, and the staff was friendly. I'm glad we didn't have to drive home after the Ball (which ended around midnight.)

Costume Competition
We all decided to wear/make costumes for the Costume Competition before the Ball. Twi-K dressed up as Victoria (from Eclipse), lilwolf dressed up as Leah (a member of the Wolf Pack), and I dressed up as Rosalie (in her wedding gown from Eclipse).



Lilwolf tied for the best costume in the 10 and under category (congrats, lilwolf!) and I made it into the top 5, but the 1st place winners were a couple of fans who acted out Jacob's wolf transformation from New Moon.

Volturi Vampire Ball
I was surprised to see quite a few families with young children at the Ball this year, and most people dressed for dancing. I didn't notice a lot of drinking either (sodas were expensive at $4.50). There was a lot of group dancing this year (led by the Hillywood girls) which I really enjoyed!



Centerpiece Competition
For the Centerpiece Competition, Twi-K made a beautiful Meadow Scene with Bella and Edward, with romantic photos of Bella and Edward placed around the meadow, connected with black ribbon to Bella's engagement ring. Twi-K painted all the flowers to match the colors in the movie.

My centerpiece was the canopied honeymoon bed (on Isle Esme) with Bella and Edward covered in feathers. (I'll post a description of how I made this centerpiece soon.)

There was only one other centerpiece in the competition, and it won! It was a large open book (Eclipse, of course!) with the scene of Bella and Jacob on the mountaintop coming out of the book. The winner said she took over 30 hours to cut and prepare the styrofoam mountain!







Celebrities
Originally, Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) was scheduled to be at the Convention, but he had to cancel at the last minute because he was needed on the set of Breaking Dawn. They replaced him with Gil Birmingham (Billy Black) and Jodelle Ferland (Bree Tanner), but we were still disappointed not to see Jackson. I'm surprised they even tried to schedule one of the major actors while they were filming Breaking Dawn, knowing they might have to cancel.

I noticed that attendance was down this year, and that there were many more young kids here this time. I did recognize a few die-hard fans who've attended the same Conventions as we did, so it was cool to see them again.

Also, only the two Hillywood girls (Hilly and Hannah) came to this Convention, so there were no Hillywood group skits. I really missed the other Hillywood actors, but the girls did a great job of hosting the Convention and Volturi Vampire Ball on their own.



Even though we'd seen most of the other celebrities before, it was nice to see them again. It's fun to watch the Twilight movies after you've actually met and chatted with the actors!

Recommendation
Overall, I'd recommend the Official Twilight Conventions if you're a fan of the Twilight movies and books. Saturday seems to be the best day to attend the event, especially if you want to attend the Ball.

Don't be afraid to say "hi" to the other fans and participate in the competitions. It's so much more fun when you're part of the action!

Twilight Halloween Costume Ideas

If you haven't picked your Halloween costume yet, here are a few Twilight-related costume ideas for you to consider...

Gothic Vampire Costume



Twi-K and I wore this Gothic Vampire Costume to the Vampire Ball at last year's Twilight Convention in San Francisco. This is a high-quality, full-length gown with lovely details like lace trim, antique silver buttons, and a tulle and lace petticoat. I thought it was very soft and comfortable to wear. This costume also includes a black velvet choker necklace with a large red jewel, but Twi-K and I preferred to wear our own necklaces instead.

You can shop around online to find a better price, but I thought it was worth the price I paid (just under $100.) You can buy this "Theatrical Quality Deluxe Gothic Vampiress Adult Costume" from Spirit for $119.99.

Gothic Vampire Costumes for Kids



This is the child's version of the Deluxe Gothic Vampira Costume . This gown costs $71.97 from HalloweenExpress.com. There is also a men's version ($159.99 from Spirit) and a boy's version ($76.46 from CostumeCraze.com) of this Gothic Vampire Costume.



If you're looking for something less expensive for a child's costume, check out this red, hooded Gothic Vampire Costume for Kids. (This costume reminds me of the St. Marcus Day Festival in Volterra in New Moon.) You can buy this costume from Spirit for $19.99.


Rosalie (from New Moon) Costume



I wore this Rosalie costume to the Vampire Ball at the Eclipse Convention in Los Angeles. It's from Bella's birthday scene in New Moon. I created this look using a classic black dress with spaghetti straps (from Overstock.com), black shoes (from Bakers), Rosalie's pendant necklace (from Hot Topic), black chandelier earrings (from Charlotte Russe), and dressy vampire makeup (the Twilight Volturi Makeup Kit from Hot Topic).

Here's the link to the post describing how I put together my Rosalie costume , including where to find these items in the stores.

Victoria from Eclipse Costume



Twi-K wore this Victoria costume to the Vampire Ball at the Eclipse Convention in Los Angeles. It's from the scene where Victoria kisses Riley in Eclipse. Twi-K created this look using a long-sleeved black lace shirt, skinnny black pants, and black (Doc Marten?) boots. It also helped that Twi-K had long, red hair!

Wolf Pack Costume



If you prefer to dress up as a member of the wolf pack, check out my post about how to make a wolf pack mask. If you don't want to buy a wolf suit, you can make your own. First, choose the color of your wolf, then choose a long-sleeved shirt and pants to match your wolf's fur color.

Here are the fur colors of the wolf pack:

- Seth (fur colors: yellow brown, light brown, and light gray)
- Quil (fur colors: light brown and black)
- Leah (fur colors: light gray and dark gray)
- Jacob (fur colors: dark brown and light brown)
- Paul (fur colors: gray and black)
- Sam (fur color: black and dark brown)
- Embry (fur color: light gray and black)
- Jared (fur color: black and light brown)

To add a wolf tail:



If you'd like to add a wolf tail, use a ball of yarn in wolf fur colors (gray, brown, or black). Cut the yarn into about twenty 2-foot lengths. To make the tail look a bit "ragged", cut a few of the pieces of yarn a bit shorter than the other pieces.

Tie the twenty pieces of yarn at one end with a short piece of yarn. You can attach this tied end to the back of your wolf costume using a safety pin. Or you can just tuck the tied end of the tail into the back of you pants so that the tail pokes out from under your shirt.

Rosalie's Wedding Gown from Eclipse Costume

I was really hoping to see more of Rosalie's vintage wedding gown from her flashback scene when she "visited" Royce to get her revenge!



As far as I could see, Rosalie wore a white satin gown with a low, square-cut neckline (which showed off her string of pearls), puffed, long sleeves, a Juliet-style cap and veil, and dangling pearl drop earrings. Rosalie's hair was pulled under in the back and curled to frame her face.

I've also read that Rosalie had a very long train that flowed beautifully behind her gown, but I didn't see that in the movie.

I think the most striking part of Rosalie's wedding gown wasn't so much the wedding gown itself as Rosalie's glowing red vampire eyes and the expression on her face. If you are willing to wear red contact lens and would like to dress up in Rosalie's wedding gown, I bet that would be an awesome Halloween costume!

Have fun with whatever costume you choose to wear, and let us know if you use any of our ideas!

LA Convention Update

So I have been looking through many many photos and I think I might be changing my mind on what I want to wear to the Ball. The Victoria Doll's outfit is not Bally enough so I think I am going to look for an outfit she wore with Riley. A black lace top with black jeans and boots. The other outfit would work for the costume contest maybe. I guess I will be doing more shopping! I did find the Boots she wore.

We got our tickets today! I need to look at them more closely to find out where our seats our. As long as we can see Rob, Kristen and Taylor good that is all that matters!