After much thought and careful consideration, we’ve decided to discontinue the Entertaining Blog for now. We have a lot of plans for the website, so keep your eye out for the amazing new things coming up.
In the meantime, feel free to explore the archives of this blog for past featured parties, book recommendations, or product picks.
Take care dear friends. Until we meet again.
Yesterday’s book recommendation
was all about being a reluctant entertainer, and let’s face it: entertaining others is stressful.
For today’s open thread, let’s talk about what stresses you out about entertaining and how you fix it.
Tell us: How do you deal with the stress of hosting?
What are your biggest fears when throwing an event?
Sandy Coughlin’s new book, The Reluctant Entertainer: Every Woman’s Guide to Simple and Gracious Hospitality, has some fantastic advice on taking back the joy of hosting while making your next event fabulous.
Focusing on the fundamental reasons for entertaining, Coughlin provides a refreshing perspective on the act of hosting in general.
The delight of spending time with company takes precedence over the stresses involved in hosting them.
It challenges you to rediscover your inner hostess with simplicity and creativity.
So ladies, let’s screw our heads back on, take a deep breath and get out there.
We’ve got parties to plan!
Who: Ani Kitsinian
Where: Phoenicia Restaurant in Glendale, CA
How many guests: 85
What time of year: October 2010
Reason: Baby shower for her sister-in-law
Ani Kitsinian created a fabulous baby shower for her sister-in-law, Eliza, revolving around the theme “Showered Love.”
The bright colors, upside down umbrellas, and floral designs provided a whimsical and cheery touch at this baby shower for the mom-to-be and her guests.
Ani says:
My sister-in-law, Eliza, knew she was having a boy, and I wanted to create an event that was stylish and graceful to be enjoyed by all the ladies who attended.
I used silk fabric for the umbrellas. Although I was the floral designer (my company is Honeydew Favors and Floral Design), I had to call in the big guns for the umbrellas. I had my mom and aunts help me out with them.
They brought out their needles, thread, and measuring tapes and hand sewed all the umbrellas from a checkered gingham-type silk fabric. They are a very talented bunch!
The theme was all about showering the mom-to-be with love. We had prepared special lollipop escort cards for each guest as well as caterpillar salt and pepper shakers as their favors.
Since we spent so much time on the design of the event, we had the restaurant cater the shower. The restaurant specializes in Lebanese/Mediterranean food, so the menu consisted of items such as hummus, tabouleh, wrapped grape leaves, chicken and beef kebabs and so much more.
Instead of ordering one large cake, we decided to order mini cakes for each guest. They were white vanilla with custard and strawberry filling. It was very light and very delicious. The restaurant also served special middle eastern pastries right after lunch.
For anyone who wants to throw their own baby shower, I suggest choosing the area you want to spend the most time on and enlist family members or friends to help with the rest. Also, hire professionals if necessary. There are some things that often require more attention and skill, and professionals are there for that very reason.
You could possibly have each family member create a dish to bring to the shower, but if you are design focused then maybe you should have serving platters to match your theme ready to be used when the dishes arrive.
In regards to flowers, I suggest sticking to groupings of the same flowers in vases or containers to match your design. There is no need to deal with floral foam, tape, etc.
Don’t be shy, ask for help! You would be surprised how many of your friends and family members would love to work on something that is so much fun.
Coming off the heels of the hectic holiday party season, I’ve been thinking a lot about Entertaining with a capital E. Yes, we understand that Entertaining with a Capital E is all about offering the right place, enough food and drinks, and the right mood, but what else?
Well, the “entertaining” part, duh. There are many ways people choose to do this. From iPod playlists to full out orchestras, most Entertaining with a capital E comes in the form of music–listening, dancing, perhaps singing if you have especially talented friends (or just really motivated Karaoke goers). But what about those times when the party is small? 15, maybe 25 people?
In those moments, it’s much harder (and actually, seems much sillier) to rally folks to get on the dance floor or come out of their shells. So, what’s a hostess to do? I wondered the same thing as I faced throwing a party for a group of friends from different social circles (work friends, old high school friends, college acquaintances and friends of friends).
So, of course this got me thinking about party games. Not the pin the tail of the donkeys of our youth or spin the bottle from college (ugh), but something more…sophisticated?
Wikipedia has a list of party games, but some were board games or seemed too childish. Then I looked up “Parlour Games” on wikipedia, and found a list of strange and obscure games that may or may not have actually been played in a parlour.
As I read through the list, I wondered if any of my friends would laugh me out of my own house by suggesting we play a game. I’ve had particular success in the past with the Post-It Note game and even Charades, but I’m just not sure if the time for those has past.
Tell me, what do you think? Are party games acceptable for those over 21? Or are they only relegated for children’s birthday parties and drunken college nights?
It’s a new year… time to make some changes.
We want to know what YOU want to see on the Entertaining blog. Do you want more resources, more featured parties?
Do you want Q&As or more links to party resources?
Do you like or not like the product picks and book recommendations?
Let us know and we’ll try to oblige. Because, after all, each new day is just another chance to become better.
Happy Christmas Eve! We’re going to be taking a break for the holidays here on the Design for Entertaining blog.
While we’re gone, feel free to explore our archives:
Explore all the parties we’ve featured.
Or how about just the ones for the kids?
Explore our DIY section, indulge in cakes or find some fun in florals.
Most of all, have a cheerful holiday season and fantastic new year! See you January 3rd.
I wonder what the crown of Rebecca Rather, the infamous Pastry Queen, would be made out of and if she would let me take a bite.
Finally Christmas cheer and the Queen’s belt loosening recipes exist in a new cook book called The Pastry Queen’s Christmas with the tagline: “Big-Hearted Holiday Entertaining Texas Style.”
The best part about this book, besides the food and the pictures that literally make my belly rumble, is the simplicity of it all.
Organized by holiday event, Rather gives you exactly what you need to make your holiday entertaining a success, one to be topped and beat next holiday season.
This uniquely crafted cookbook will help you revamp your holiday this season and keep your guests feeling full and topped to the brim with amazement at your new found Christmas cheer.
I think I might try to make the Chocolate Cookie-Crusted Eggnog Cheesecake….mmm. What’s your favorite holiday dessert?
Who: Talia Rogers
Where: Newberry, FL, near Gainesville
How many guests: 20
What time of year: December 2010
Reason: Annual Christmas Celebration
I was going to post a different party today, but when Talia emailed about her family’s new holiday tradition, I knew I had to post this instead.
Her party just goes to show that any event with a lot of love will be a success.
Check it out.
Talia says:
This year, my hubby and I decided that instead of giving gifts, we would host a family holiday party and call it the “Annual Rogers’ Christmas Celebration” to make our family aware that this was becoming part of “our” tradition.
This year has been rather tumultuous for us, as my husband’s mommy was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer back in August.
She has always been the glue that holds us together, and usually the holiday dinners are mom’s doing, but since she is still recovering, we decided that now is the perfect time to take over and put our spin on this tradition.
The design theme was all things purple and pink, with accents of green and blue and it definitely wouldn’t be right if there wasn’t a little BLING too!
Because I was designing for my home entertaining space, I tried to incorporate the colors of my home in the theme.
In my living area the walls are a deep teal and bright, yet warm lime green and my favorite colors are purple and pink. Of course every girl loves her glitter and ice, so I tried to infuse elements of that as well.
Instead of the “normal” party foods everyone is so accustomed to (we love BBQ) we decided we would expose the family to some of the things we love the most. We even dressed up (at my mommy-in-law’s request).
Since the entertaining space is small on the 1st floor of my 1500 sq foot home, I wanted to created an atmosphere that was warm, inviting and appealing to the eye.
We offered shrimp cocktail, fresh breads and assortment of fine deli meats and cheeses (which my family was not used to). Trust me, they had no clue what Humbodlt Fog was…lol. However a great time was had by all.
We also had an assortment of sweet treats that included cake pops, caramel apple wedges amongst other sweet treats.
When throwing a family holiday party remain true to yourself, while incorporating things you know your family will love. For example, my sissy-in-law loves butterflies, so there were butterflies all over the tree.
While I am a jeans and heels kinda girl, my mommy-in-law requested we dress up, so we did. But we did the decor and food our way. We love LOTS of variety!
While we were ambitious in the overall feel, we weren’t so ambitious that we felt overwhelmed. Most importantly remember why you’re hosting the event in the first
place…so that a fabulous and unforgettable time will be had by ALL and to show just how much you love your FAMILY and FRIENDS!
Instead of Product Picks today, I thought it might be more helpful to showcase some recipes you can use as your plan your holiday parties or New Year’s Eve. I’m not sure about you, but I’m definitely all shopped out. Goodbye memories of shopping mall mobs, hello tequila champagne cocktails.
The folks at the tequila company Avion sent us these recipes, and they look pretty amazing. I’ve never mixed tequila and champagne before, so it’s new for all of us. Here they are…
Sparkling Avión Sangria
Ingredients
Method
Squeeze juice from half an orange and half a lime into the pitcher. Add ice to pitcher and Tequila Avión. Gently pour in sparkling wine and soda (so as not to diffuse all the bubbles). Stir gently and top with pear and raspberries. Serve in wine glasses.
The Avión Blue
Ingredients
Method
Build all ingredients (except Champagne) in a shaker. Shake vigorously and then finely strain into a Champagne flute or coupe. Float 2 oz. dry Champagne on top and garnish with cherry and mint.
What’s your favorite cocktail? Share any tips or recipes in the comments.
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