Entertaining Ideas
TarHeels&Rebels
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Special touches
What do you do to impress for super special events? It can be decor or how you plate the food, anything. I'm beginning to feel all my parties are the same, so I'm looking to take it up a notch for a special dinner party.
Re: Special touches
I usually pick a special food and build a theme around it...
Like new years eve was a mashed potato bar
I had a fall party with apple cake and white chicken chili and cornbread
I also try to buy special flowers to coordinate with it!
I do something that takes me back or that's vintage like ( I made old fashioned punch in a bowl for NYE and everyone loved it).
Something else I do is make decorated sugar cookies or home made cupcakes/cake.
I never have the money for real flowers, but try to add decor I can DIY that will "match" the event.
Im thinking about doing a classic movie night with a few close friends, and depending on the movie or decade I will build a menu and decor around it.
I have a chalkboard I made for our entry on a wall that I change for any occasion or gathering as well. Guests really like it
We have an Apple tv (one of the coolest gadgets that some people have never heard of) When good friends/out of town family come over, we make sure to load up some pictures of them or their kids so when we listen to music the tv slide show will show familiar faces. People LOVE it, especially older guests.
I also keep fresh flowers around the house. I buy the manager's special @ Kroger and split the bouquet in half so I can get two flower arrangements for under $10.
I know every group is different and are impressed by different things, but in my parties, personalized seating arrangements are a big hit. For Christmas we gave everyone a little bag with chocolates and their name written on the outside. It was super cute and who doesnt love chocolate?
I love to do theme parties, especially ones where I can send out invitations with dress suggestions to my friends. Then again, my friends are a bunch of theater nerds who enjoy playing dress-up
But I like to coordinate menu, decor, and costume when I can. Lots of themes can be done without getting too expensive on the decor side, and a lot of the fanciness of the food can just be in the presentation. I've invested in a couple of serving pieces (pretty cake stands, multiple small glass jars and bowls) that let me make a pretty picture without actually doing a whole lot more work.
Some themes we've done in the past are Nifty '50s, Silver Screen, and Under the Tuscan Sun -- we were able to get guests to dress, and had movies, music, decor, drinks and food that all coordinated.
ETA: this is a helpful link that I found!
http://www.ehow.com/throw-a-theme-party
I do like theme parties. It doesn't have to be a blatant theme (I've done a pink pajama party, a luau, a retro ski lodge themed parties), but it could just simply be a seasonal dinner (fall dinner, spring brunch, etc).
I also like giving small favors. Even if it's just a piece of chocolate, I think it adds a nice touch.