Posts Tagged ‘dinner party’

Planning a shower is the same process as planning any event.  Last summer I shared with you the 5 W’s to planning a party. To  review those tips click on July 2009 at right.

Once you’ve answered the Why, Where, When, What, and Who questions, you can get to the details.   Use this check list so you don’t forget  anything.  If a section doesn’t apply to your event, cross it off!

Theme

• Having one makes the planning easier
• Choose a color scheme

Invitations

• Formal, professionally printed invitations
• Buy ready made invitations where you fill in the blanks
• Make your own
• Send invitations by e-mail
• Invite by phone

Menu

• Will it be catered
• Make everything yourself
• Pot luck

Food and Drinks

• How many courses
• Gather your recipes
• Shopping
• What can be made ahead of time
• Who will serve
• Guests help themselves
• Hire waiters, bar-tenders
• Hosts serve guests

The Table

• Tables and chairs
• Dishes, glassware, flatware, etc
• Tablecloth and napkins
• Will you use real dishes/napkins or disposable
• Sit down meal:
• Plan a seating chart
• Place card holders
• Informal or buffet
• Where will guests sit

Centerpiece

• Flowers
• Order an arrangement
• Flowers from the garden
• Candles
• Other ideas

Entertainment

• Music
• Live or recorded
• Games
• Party favors or gifts

Timing

• What time will guests arrive
• What time will food be served
• If party has a specific purpose:
• What time will the guest of honor open gifts
• When will speeches or toasts be made
• If it’s a surprise:
• What time will the guest of honor arrive
• What time will everyone leave

Clean-Up

It may seem like I’m planning this bridal shower a bit backward.  I did the party favors/place card idea first and now I’m doing the invitation.  As with any party planning, it doesn’t matter the order in which you do something, as long as you first:

• decide on a theme
• make a list of what needs to be done
• give yourself enough time to get everything finished

The invitation sets the tone for the any party.  If you choose to have a formal, engraved announcement, your guests will know what to expect (and how to dress).  If you send out something fun and flirty, they will look forward to a different atmosphere.

Bridal showers should fun, festive and personal.  After all, you’re celebrating a big event for a friend or relative.  Since  initials are the theme, I’m using the first letter of the bride’s name.

I created three  invitations; all of them very easy. You just need a computer and printer.  The third one involves some cutting and pasting and a bit of glue.  Get some friends together to help.  The more the merrier!

Make your own invitations to coordinate with the party theme

You can buy blank stationary or purchase card stock in your color theme and make your own.  Be sure to buy envelopes first so the cards will fit.  Also pay attention to size and weight.  Check with the post office before you begin.  A square envelope requires extra postage.  If it’s too thick, you will pay more too.

The bride's initial in a great font is simple and elegant

Choose a font that reflects your theme or style, enlarge it and print the first initial of the bride-to-be.  S for Sarah.

Go green! The invitation becomes a bookmark!

If you want to go the “green” route, make the invitation useful.  Print the info vertically and it becomes a bookmark. You should be able to get 2 or 3 per page and it will fit in a business size envelope.

Gather colored paper or paint chips and cut-outs of the initial you are using.

If you are more artistic, forget the basic stationary and try shipping tags.
The info goes on the back.  The front is where you can get creative.  Look for decorative papers in the scrapbook section at the local craft store.  Tissue paper works too.  Use the same color you will use in your table decorations.

This invite takes a bit more time and some creative energy!

I recycled old paint chips.  Then printed the “S” on white paper, cut it out and glued it all together.  Use your imagination.  It will be a little work of art.   No one will toss this in the landfill!

All the vital information is on the back. This style becomes a keeper too!

You could send invitations by e-mail, but getting them the old fashion way is such a treat these days.  You can even design your own stamps!

Tip # 6
Tea light candles are the perfect size for little egg cups.  Set one at each place setting at your dinner table or make them part of the centerpiece.  Every interior design scheme should include candle light!

Here's another tip: leave the tea lights in the metal case. You won't have to clean out melted wax!

Tip 4
If your children are young, you color eggs before Easter Sunday.  If your family is all grown up, bring back the tradition.  Boil eggs ahead of time and have  food coloring ready along with markers, chalk, paint,  glue, bits and pieces of ribbon and any other art supplies you have on hand.  Grown kids can have just as much fun as little ones creating their own work of egg-art!

Write names on your decorated eggs to use as place settings at dinner!

Tip 5
Display your decorated eggs in egg cups and use as place cards at dinner.

Pastels With Punch

Pink and grey are perfect for an Easter meal.

An easy way to introduce retro into your home decorating is at the dinner table.  Unpack grandma’s good china and use it every day.  Sets of dishes from the 50s and 60s can be found for a song at flea markets, resale stores and antique shops.  Make an investment before the market realizes their popularity and their value sky rockets.

Check out the little handle on this bowl. It's a perfect dish for kids.

Speaking of bargains, I love this set of pink and grey dishes I found at Goodwill.  Although they are unmarked, the hand drawn lines are reminiscent of a few decades past.  The best part of collecting dishes, it doesn’t matter if they coordinate with your interior design, dishes do not have to match anything!

The touch of grey keeps the place setting from being too feminine.

What could be more perfect for an Easter luncheon?  The square salad plate offers a nice contrast to the round dishes.  Even if I don’t serve a meal with multiple courses, I still use lots of dishes just to make the setting more interesting.  If you aren’t having a salad, save the plate for dessert.

The most interesting tables have layers and contrast. The square salad plate gives an edginess to all the curves.

If your dining room table has a beautiful finish, no need to cover it up with a table cloth.  These pink linen napkins are big enough to serve as place mats and offer a nice contrast.

The napkins almost looks like bunny ears!

There are dozens of ways to fold napkins.   Tucking a grey cotton napkin into a frosted polka dot glass keeps the table from being too serious.

Instead of the usual Easter basket, serve candy in old-fashion apothecary jars.

Have fun with your centerpiece.  Instead of flowers, fill apothecary jars with jelly beans, chocolate eggs and Easter grass.

Plastic Easter eggs can hold love sentiments, notes of thanks or even gift cards.

Hide little surprises in the plastic eggs for your family to discover while you’re dining.

Celebrate the season the old-fashion way with Retro dishes.

Celebrate the season!

This week  Room Service will have Interior Design tips every day for your Easter celebration.

Tip 2
You can’t possibly update your home in a week, so buy a new tablecloth or napkins and instantly transform your dining room decor!

Brighten your holiday table with a lime green table cloth. The grosgrain napkin ring keeps utensils neatly tucked into the folded napkin. A perfect solution for an Easter brunch.

Tip 3
Buy a horseradish root and serve fresh shavings with your ham or sausage.  Be careful, this is hot stuff!

Check back every day for decorating ideas!

The 14th of February is a day devoted to celebrating love.  You can express your affection to that special person in the usual way (go out to dinner, box of candy, over priced flowers) or with a little imagination and for a lot less cash, celebrate at home.

Create a romantic dinner for two.

It doesn’t matter if you are planning dinner or a leisurely breakfast, make it cozy and intimate.  Food in front of a roaring fire is always romantic especially if you are seated at a low table with floor pillows.  You can use a coffee table or in this instance an old wood trunk.  Cover it with a table cloth or a piece of red fabric.

Pull up an old trunk for a cozy table for two

I fell in love with this bold red and white print at IKEA. It's perfect for a Valentine's Day tablecloth.

There isn’t a single heart or flower in this setting.  Instead of placemats, I pulled out old Scrabble board games  Write a message or spell out your feelings for each other with the tiles.

You can use almost anything as a placemat or charger. Have fun with Scrabble boards.

An old muffin tin is the perfect size for extra letters, votive candles and candy (no expensive and fattening box of chocolates here!).

You know you will want extra Scrabble pieces with this dinner. Use a vintage muffin tin for candles and letters.

The valentine card is vintage, but the XOXO says it all.  Use dinnerware you have left over from Christmas.  Square red plates set “on point” complement the square game boards.

You could buy a new valentine, but I love the sappy sentiments on old, vintage cards!

XOXO equals 18 points!

Little copper napkin rings surround softly folded white napkins.  Dinner should be simple.  After all, the emphasis should be on dining, not cooking.  Chinese take-out allows you both to share.

Tuck a pair of chop sticks in the napkin ring.

Add a couple of floor pillows and you have a romantic evening ready to surprise someone you love.

Tell your love how you feel.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning said,

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”

I say spell it out!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean you have to pack away all your decorations.  Snowmen and snowflakes are great for the holidays, but they can also brighten your home during the long winter months.  I live in a northern climate  where we get lots of snow, cold weather and more dark than daylight.   Snowmen are the perfect indulgence for this endless season.

• Take them off your mantle and tuck them into little nooks and crannies.  Just by moving them around the house, you’ve created a something new.

Don't pack the snowmen away just yet, move your collection to the bathroom or guest bedroom

When grouping the snow people together, vary heights, sizes and texture for a more interesting display.

• Move part of your collection to the bathroom or bedroom.

This snowman candy dish is perfect for fancy soap in a guest bathroom.

• If you’re expecting guests this winter, display them in the guest room for an unexpected touch.

• Set the table with snow friends.  Position one at each place setting at a winter party.

• Gather your men with a little quilters batting or fake snow on a tray for a centerpiece.

JI just love this snowflake plate my kids gave me for Christmas. I can use it all winter long.

Group your snowman collection on a pretty plate

• Make paper snowflakes (or have your kids do it) to hang in the window.  Line the snowmen on the window sill.

• Fill the empty corner in your kitchen with snowmen.
  

• Don’t pack away the snowmen dishes you used at Christmas time.  Fill them with appetizers at your next football party.

You can’t fight winter, might as well enjoy it!

Here’s a simple last minute napkin ring project you can do in a snap and your kids can help too.

Set a festive table with this quick and easy craft project.

• Start with a paper towel tube and cut into 1 ½” pieces.

• Cut a plaid or other pretty ribbon to fit.

Be sure to add ribbon to the inside for a professional finish!

• Glue the ribbon to the tube.
  
• You can either wrap it around so the inside is covered or simply apply a piece to the front and the inside.

• Glue sticks work best.  If you use spray glue, be sure to spray in a paper bag to avoid getting glue everywhere.

• Tie a bow around a little bell with 1/8” ribbon and glue to the front.

Select matching ribbon and a bell to embellish the front.

Voila!  You have an instant festive touch to your Christmas table.

Red and green may be the traditional colors of Christmas, but why not try something different?  Blue and white are perfect for a Hanukkah meal or New Year’s Eve late night dinner as well as Christmas brunch.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas right at my table.

This would be a fun setting for a Hanukkah table.

Start with at pale blue snow flake table cloth.  Add snowflake dinner plates and a salad plate or soup bowl in a coordinating pattern.

Snowflake plates were a lucky find at Goodwill

Keep the monochromatic scheme going with blue glasses.

Let your guests take home the snowflake and little ornament as a memento.

The napkin is an ikat design tied with a snowflake and little ornament.  I love to incorporate little gifts for my guests at the table.  They can take them home as a remembrance of a lovely time.

Or you can set the napkin on the plate for a different look.

The centerpiece has white pine and poinsettias, but giant snowflakes or paper whites would work too.  Just stick with blue and white.  A sparkly garland looks just as festive on the table as it would on a tree.

An all white centerpiece keeps the monochromatic color theme going

Enjoy your holiday by sharing your time, your table and a meal with family and friends.  It doesn’t get any better than that!

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”

Burton Hillis