A mom obsessed with “Law & Order” threw a birthday party for her infant daughter, taking mug shots and fingerprints of guests.
“We’re a true crime family,” Dara Natale, who hosted the party for her 1-year-old daughter, Maxine, tells TODAY.com.
Natale shared her party plans in viral TikTok videos that piqued the attention of “Law & Order” star Mariska Hargitay, who plays Detective Olivia Benson on the NBC show, now in its 27th season. Natale posted footage of the party on her Instagram account, which Hargitay shared in her Instagram stories. Even the official account of “Law & Order” commented on Natale’s Instagram post, “This is LEGENDARY.”
“Law & Order” star Ryan Buggle, who plays Hargitay’s adopted son Noah Porter-Benson, wrote on Natale’s Instagram page, “Happy Birthday Maxine! Epic!”
Natale tells TODAY.com that the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” birthday party was “healing” for her and her husband.
“It wasn’t an easy journey to get to where we are,” says Natale. “It was a celebration of … getting pregnant, parenting for a year and our little girl,” who she says loves the show’s theme song.
“As much as this party was for her, it was for us, too,” adds Natale.
Natale’s love for the thriller began years ago, persisting through pregnancy; she even watched episodes of the show while laboring in the hospital.
Months before Maxine’s first birthday in April, Natale shared party plans on TikTok.
“For food, we’re going to go with some ‘Law & Hors D’oeuvres,’” Natale said in a February TikTok video. “I’m thinking we’re going to have some ‘Munch-ies,’ maybe do something with olives for Olivia,” she said of respective characters Detective John Munch (played by Richard Belzer) and Olivia Benson.
Natale’s party decorations were precise: evidence markers and crime scene tape littered the scene, while a cork board with photos of Maxine connected by red string mimicked an “evidence board,” a visual map of suspects and clues with which fictional investigators solve cases on television. In the center of the board hung a sign reading, “These are her stories,” a joke about the show’s opening narration line, “These are their stories.”
There was a “mug shot” station to take photos, a cut-out prop of Olivia Benson and “police badge” name tags for guests.
A table topped with a photo of “Law & Order” star Elliot Stabler (played by Christopher Meloni) doubled as a fingerprinting station for the kids.
Photos of “Law & Order” characters lined the food area, including of rapper Ice-T, who plays Sergeant Odafin Tutuola. Pitchers of iced tea were marked “sweetened” and “unsweetened,” accompanied by two photos of Ice-T smiling and snarling, respectively. Guests drank from bodega-style paper coffee cups (convenient for on-the-go officers) and ate doughnuts instead of birthday cake.
Kids were given individual case files containing a worksheet challenge to crack the case of a missing stuffed monkey hidden in Natale’s home. Kids left with goodie bags of “evidence” stuffed with “top secret” detective notebooks, stickers in the shapes of ambulances, police cars and fire trucks and pairs of sunglasses.
Maxine, the birthday girl, wore black pants and black top that read, “Part of an elite squad.”
Natale says the party idea is typical of her personality — her nighttime baby shower was ‘Babychella’ themed and included a DJ.
“Law & Order” fans on TikTok said the party idea was “so cute” and “unique,” though some wrote that the theme was not appropriate for kids.
“Law & Order is a very adult show,” says Natale. “Some feedback was, ‘This is not a child-friendly party.’” She says the party was creative and fun and doubts her daughter will remember her first birthday party when she grows up.
“Do what you want to do,” says Natale, “and don’t worry about the opinions of others.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
