And remove the weed mat while you can still do it easily. They're worthless for preventing weeds.

I’m with your husband. Stones and pots of mature plants are the safest bet for a deadline a month away! I know things grow fast in Florida but really...

Agree with kitasei. You need a quick fix, possibly temporary. And if you're having a party chances are that area will get trampled. People aren't going to wait in an orderly fashion to use the narrow walk. They'll take a short cut. Even the sod will get messed up I imagine. How about artificial turf pro tem? I'd do the long term planting afterwards.

Any suggestions on what color or type of stone we should put down so as to not clash with the reddish stone on my house (which i am not fond of)?

Where the black fabric is, I’d concrete it at the same height as the existing concrete. It’s an odd looking, awkward space and if you concrete it, it will sort of fade away and blend with the existing entry. Then set your potted palms there.

Edited to add: if you do the landscape gravel, get a color to match the concrete. Match horizontal surface to horizontal surface. Plus, it’d be hard to get an accurate match to your multicolor brick. It might end up looking like a near-miss.

some ideas:

I'd prefer rock to concrete in that area.......too much of our world is already covered in concrete!! And I'd use river rock rather than gravel. It is a much more finished, polished look. Here, you can get river rock in a variety of color tones, including some that have a lot of the pink or red tones that would compliment your existing stonework. Check to see what local rock suppliers carry.

And then stage it with one or two large containers planted with some shade tolerant color.