Event Extras: Pimp Your Powder Room

Pop quiz: What's the one space that many but not all of your event guests will use; but usually gets left out of the event decor plan? Think about it. The bathroom is probably one of the few other areas in your home or venue that a large portion of your guests will visit. Why not tie it in with the rest of the festivities?

The Bride Scouts show us how to do just that with a photoshoot they did for Style Me Pretty. Check out their post here for a few more tips on how they customized the display. It's a great take on the dessert buffet craze, don't you think?

I am a huge believer in providing bathroom baskets for any gathering. But if you have a venue that will accomodate it; a display like this is a lovely way to let your guests know how much you appreciate them. Mints, handtowels, soaps and cotton swabs are wonderful to have in the bathroom. Since you won't be worried about minimizing things for photo purposes; you'll want to include a few more basics. I recommend including:

Bobby pins
Ponytail holders
Safety pins
Shout wipes
Lint Roller
Feminine products
Spray deodorant (choose whatever brand is best suited to your color palette, naturally)
Band-aids
Hairspray
Tylenol/Ibuprofen
Antacid
Contact Solution
Floss
Nail Clippers

The list can go on but these items will help people survive most situations that they may not be prepared for (blisters from new shoes, sauce spilled on their shirt, etc.). And if you don't have a whole vanity to dedicated to the amenities; use a smaller basket and one stand for a more limited display. I'm willing to bet that at least one of your guests will find something that saves the day for them!

An Oktoberfest of Your Own

Considering some of the stats from Germany's Oktoberfest, it may not be something you can replicate exactly in your own backyard. But here are a few ideas on how you could do it on a *slightly* smaller scale.

• If you don't want to rent and set-up a tent; take a cue from some of the building/tent roofs at Oktoberfest. This look can be replicated fairly easily with a little rope or wire and streamers a la the blogosphere darling Max & Margaux wedding.

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• Finding some authentic Oktoberfest tables like these might be a little tough unless you have someone who wants to build them (or drop some cash on one here). But to get that bier hall feeling, a wooden picnic table will do the trick. For centerpieces, fill a few beer steins with flowers or wheat/hops and line them down the center of the table. 

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And although I couldn't find a photo from Oktoberfest that actually shows this runner on a table; it does add to the Bavarian theme and can be ordered from quite a few websites including partycheap.com.

• Even if you don't have an Oom Pah Band, you'll still need Polka music. My personal favorites are The Beer Barrel Polka and In Heaven There is No Beer. 

• For the food, how about some Bratwurst with Apple Sauerkraut, German Potato Salad and pretzels (you can always cheat and find these in the freezer section of the grocery store too!) Although some 58,000 pork knuckles are consumed at the Munich festival; we won't get that authentic.

• To add just a little more fun, give everyone a Tyrolean hat and set up a photo booth. Beer steins, aprons, talk bubbles with German phrases (Wilkommen! Prost! Danke Schon) and lederhosen could make for some great props. You could also go the route of the Hessen Haus in Des Moines which hosts the local Oktoberfest that I'll be joining:

• It should go without saying that you'll also want to have some German beer on hand. Add custom labels with names like Smithsteiner. And to drink it, you'll need

DAS BOOT!!!!

Or at the very least, some large steins for all.

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Prost!

Oktoberfest by the Numbers

For 200 years; ze Germans have been doing it right with an annual festival in Munich known around the world. Of course, we're talking Oktoberfest. This year, the beerfest will be held from September 18th through October 3rd. But Oktoberfest is more than beer right? It's all about sauerkraut, pretzels, wursts, polka and well, mostly beer.
Approximately six million people attend the event over those 16 days. That calls for some massive production skills just for set-up to house all those people. Think about all of the food and beer you would need! Here are some 2007 stats from Wikipedia:

Oktoberfest figures (2007)

• Area: 0.42 km² (103.78 acres)
• Seats in the festival halls: approx. 100,000
• Visitors: 6.2 million
• Beer: appr. 6,940,600 litres (1,833,512.55 US gallons)
• Wine: 79,624 liters (21,034 US gallons)
• Sparkling wine: 32,047 litres (8,465.9 US gallons)
• Coffee and tea: 222,725 litres (58,837.7 US gallons)
• Water and lemonade: 909,765½ litres (240,334.6 US gallons)
• Chicken: 521,872 units
• Pork sausages: 142,253 pairs
• Fish: 38,650 kg
• Pork knuckles: 58,446 units
• Oxen: 104 units
• Expenditure of electricity: 2.8 million kWh (as much as 14% of Munich's daily need or as much as a four person family will need in 560 years)
• Expenditure of gas: about 205,000 m³
• Expenditure of water: about 90,000 m³ (as much as 27% of Munich's daily need)
• Waste: 678 t (2004)
• Toilets: about 980 seats, more than 878 meters of urinals and 17 for disabled persons
• Phone booths: 83, also for international credit cards
• Lost property: about 4000 items, among them 260 pairs of glasses, 200 mobile phones, wedding rings, and even crutches.
• Nearly 1,000 tons of garbage result annually from the Oktoberfest. 

To give you an idea of where all of those people and pork knuckles go; here are some shots of the set-up of the Hofbräu-Festzelt tent. It is the largest of 14 tents at the festival, holding 9,992 people (FYI - that's five times the size of the town I grew up in).

Materials are delivered from storage and construction begins on July 15th:

On September 5th about 1300 pounds of hops are delivered to be used as the main decor of the tents interior (see last two photos). After training the 280 people who will staff the tent during Oktoberfest, the Hofbräu-Festzelt party is ready to go!

Check back tomorrow and we'll share some ideas on how to throw your own Oktoberfest party - hopefully without generating 1,000 pounds of garbage.

Prost!

Event Envy: Guac Off!

This event is so...so...Fiestalicious!
OK - not really what I'm looking for but I don't think one word can describe it. When looking at the pictures from Mindy Weiss's Guac-off event all I could think about was how much I would like to be there. In fact, all I could think about all day was how much I wanted to be there!
Take a look. Can't you feel the sun on your face; hear the mariachi band in the background and taste the delicious guacamole?

 There are few tables I have seen that are casual and amazing at the same time. These strike the perfect balance.

Anyone hungry yet?

 

 Love how this display uses wood containers of all types!

 There were 75!! guacamole entries.

All photos via Mindy Weiss

For more photos of all the fun check out the Mindy Weiss blog.

What a perfect event for summer or the transition of seasons - when you can't really do beachy/tropical anymore and autumn/harvest-y just isn't quite right yet. Don't forget about it as a potential Cinco de Mayo party either!

Sweets & Champagne (the abbreviated version!)

Last Wednesday I hosted an Arbonne party for a friend who just became a rep. She was eager to get started so when she contacted me, we scheduled the event for about two weeks before the date. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for me. But it just so happens that July was one of the wackiest months I've had at work in a long time. So I really had to do everything at the last minute!
I did leave work a little early that day (yes, with permission) so I could get things ready. I had already decided to do desserts because we were kicking things of at 7:00 pm. What goes well with sweets? Champagne, naturally!
With the limited time I had, I knew that most things would have to be from the store and not from my own two hands. I hit the jackpot with some specials one of the local grocery store chains was having!

My dessert table consisted of cherry and chocolate donut holes (10 cents each!!), some chocolate/cheesecake treats that were in the bakery case and a pudding/pound cake/strawberry/Cool whip dessert I made up. For as easy as it was the pudding and pound cake dessert looked impressive. I'll add the super-simple directions at the end. But first, I want to let you know why this easy menu impressed my guests.

It's all about the basics. Basic serveware, that is! Nice trays and bowls make an enormous difference in the presentation of food - no matter how easy the food was to make. If you enjoy entertaining, I believe serveware is essential to have in your party planning pantry. A couple platters and bowls will go a long way. Throw in a cake platter and a tiered buffet server and you'll add some nice dimension to your table as well. If you're just starting your collection, go with white and/or glass (clear). I like to use a mix of both. Later on, you can always purchase and add in pieces with a little more flair. Here are some great places to get started without breaking the bank:

Bed Bath & Beyond
CB2 (these are so on my wish list!)
Target 

Now onto that A-mazing dessert of mine! Here's what I used:
Bakery fresh pound cake
Instant chocolate pudding mix (and the skim milk you would use to make it)
Strawberries
Cool whip

First, I made the pudding according to those handy directions on the package. I divided the finished product between five dessert cups and put those in the refrigerator to let the pudding set.
While waiting for the pudding to be ready, I sliced the pound cake into about 3/4 inch slices.
Then, I washed and sliced up most of the strawberries. I held a few back for garnish.
Out came the chilled and set pudding cups!
I put two slices of the pound cake in each cup, threw in some strawberries and topped with Cool Whip. I made a small cut in the remaining full strawberries and added one to the rim of each cup (you'll see in the picture that I have a little bit to learn about the proper placement of garnishing cuts!).
Voila!

The compliments I received for the dessert were completely disproportionate for the amount of work it took me. I hope you get the same results!

Talk Derby to Me!

I am so sorry! I have been a bad bad blogger. It's been a busy month (or so) personally and professionally. I've been bursting with ideas to share the whole time but have also been too exhausted to sit down at night and write. That's no excuse though - I promise will try to get my head back in the game!

So let's kick things back off with a bang! May 1st was one of my favorite days of the year; the Kentucky Derby! Last year I held my first Derby party and decided to make it an annual event. 

For the 2010 race, my inspiration was a mix of Millionaire's row and garden party with a few Derby touches. The paper I found for the invites sealed the deal: 

Disclaimer: excuse the poor photography. I'm using a simple Canon SD1100 - so you won't see anything fancy from me. I also need to make better choices on WHAT I photograph. 

A little bit of folding, Cricut-ing and double-sided-taping later; the invites were ready to send:

When guests entered (or left), they could take their official Kentucky Derby 136 plastic cup. Everyone was encouraged to pull out their best Derby hats and gear so throughout the party, they had an opportunity to vote for the best hat and the best overall outfit. If you squint, (just one photo oversight!) you can see the Derby-branded julep glasses at the back of the table that the winners got to take home as a prize.

The appetizer buffet included Derby favorites like Kentucky Hot Browns (mini-size) and Benedictine Dip along with grilled asparagus, cheesy garlic biscuits, fruit salad and cocktail weenies (my husband's request).

My new Cricut was a huge time-saver! Last year, my sister and I traced and cut out horseshoes by hand to make a garland. Pushing a few buttons makes paper-crafting so much easier! I used the horse, from the My World cartridge, and flower, from Home Decor Solutions, shapes for garlands and tags.

We moved our dining room table out from the center of the room to open things up. The chandelier that usually hangs over the table at right about forehead level (ouch!) so I wanted to be sure people didn't miss it!

At the Mint Julep station, pre-mixed Mint Juleps were in a pitcher and extra Early Times whiskey and mint syrup on hand for guests to make adjustments.

One more thing that I didn't photograph very well was the betting window. Some friendly, $2 wagers were allowed before the race. A photo booth was also set up for some post-race fun. However, by the time those pictures started, a few too many mint juleps had been consumed - so I won't subject you to our "silliness."

Everyone had a blast and I had far too much fun planning it.

If you're thinking about holding a bash for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, check out  http://www.kentuckyderby.com/party for guidance and Caufields Novelty for supplies and super-fast shipping.

Awards Season

It's that time of year! The Golden Globes, Grammys, the Academy Awards and the like are happening. The production of the award ceremonies are grand enough but how about the fabulous after-parties that go along with them? These past Golden Globe parties are shining examples of fabulousness:

InStyle's 2009 bash created by (the!) Tom Ford. Photo credits

HBO's party this year. Ummm, custom sculptures to fit your theme? Yes, please! Photo credit

Classic Hollywood glamour at NBC Universal's 2009 party. Photo credit

HBO's 2009 party. Think about the person who had to anchor the "floating" tables in the pool; and then swim around and light all the candles. Photo credit.

The use of lighting, the color saturation and the custom decor pieces make these parties a visual experience. Can you imagine having the budgets and resources that go along with creating these visions? Coming up next, I'll show you my version of an awards ceremony!