Mary Ramsay with Peacock Feathers from Urban OutfittersFri., May 30, Spoleto SCENE Party for Monkey: Journey to the West. Church Street home of James and Dolly Small.

Hosts: Elin Cate & Harry Waikart, Justin Harris, Caroline Nuttall, Elizabeth & Stokes Player, Mary Ramsay, Jackie & Neil Thomson and Taylor Webb.

Last year this reporter caught hell for comparing Spoleto SCENE’s Soiree to a prom.

The point was that it was like a prom…with an open bar and put on by the best party planners in the best city for parties in the South. (And the South is to parties what the ACC is to basketball).

oriental rug on the garden walkWell, this year’s white party was a little like a fantastic version of an illicit high school party you threw at your grandparents’ house – passed hors d’oeuvres of seared tuna on fried wontons, ginger monkey martinis, glamorous young professionals, and a troupe of Asian opera/circus performers.

And it’s not like Mary Ramsay sneaked the keys to her grandparents’ home while they were in Cashiers.

“They are actually hiding out upstairs,” she said. “They didn’t want to be the old people at the party.”

killer wabi-sabi patinaWell I for one would have loved to have met Jim and Dolly Small, because this 1794 single house is easily the most truly Charleston home of the party circuit thus far.

“It hasn’t changed since my mother was growing up here,” Mary said. (Poston notes a partial restoration in 1961).

Susan McKellar, Stephanie Thomas and Nancy BillardA moss-covered brick walkway led through a lush garden of geraniums, tea olives, begonias, more. (At Mary’s grandparents’ suggestion, oriental rugs covered the slippier parts.) A green vinyl couch on the porch. And a patina of peeling paint that all my architect friends would kill to be able to replicate.

Nathan Lodge and Alexander Robang (of Mount Pleasant!) with an ancestor (unidentified) of Mary RamsayMembers of the Monkey orchestra Nathan Lodge (keyboards) and Alexander Robang (bass trombone, of Mount Pleasant!) posed with an unnamed ancestor.

The party planning team hung paper lanterns and other touches, but the house already had an asian theme: lotus flowers, jade statuettes, Chinese toile wallpaper.

Waiters tried gallantly to get trays of chicken satays, rice cakes, edamame salad spoons, and duck rolls out of the kitchen before being mobbed by hungry cast members.

Evan and Jen Harris, Julia GriffithThey may have been wearing white but Evan and Jen Harris bleed Tarheel Blue. Jen was reconnecting with fellow Carolina alum Julia (Sanchez) Griffith, (at left, carrying bounce clutch by l_design).

Westminster’s Sonni James and Monkey baritone Elvis LiuAt midnight, efforts to move everyone uptown to Chai’s were meeting resistance. This was a group after love and excitement, not getting home to David Letterman. Monkey baritone Elvis Liu was deep in the backyard flirting with Sonni James of the Westminster Chorus

“This is my American girlfriend!” he said.

mobbing the waiterFood: JBC Catering

Signature cocktail: Ginger Monkey – ginger infused vodka, white cranberry, lime, triple-sec and a piece of candied ginger on a skewer.

monkey castmember’s entryMost terrifying: glasses of red wine – they must be banned from any white party!

Best moment: Parade of the Monkey cast.