Orange Party

Color Your Party Orange

A dear friend of Mrs. Swank’s recently hosted a milestone birthday party for her sister. Talk of “Over the Hill” and “Heavens, you’re old!” seemed quite inappropriate. Instead, the hostess decided to plan the entire party around the guest of honor’s favorite color, orange. A fitting testament to her vivacious outlook on life, I think.

The festivities started with the invitations, which were sent to guests on laminated orange-slice photo coasters. Guests were asked to wear orange. Most of them brought orange gifts, which added to the explosion of colorful decorations. There was one particular orange leather jacket presented to the birthday girl that effectively caused Mrs. Swank to swoon.

The hostess placed orange luminaries on the sidewalk and porch steps to light the way to the party. Inside, orange globes, orange twinkle lights, orange candles, and orange vases with flowers greeted the guests. The table was set with shimmering orange organdy goodie bags filled with orange items at each place. The bags were filled with orange sunglasses, orange beaded necklaces, orange gloves, orange lip balm, orange handbags filled with orange candy, and an individual orange-chocolate truffle wrapped in a sweet little box with orange thread. To top it off, there was an orange feather boa at each place. The guests modeled the accessories, of course, and posed for pictures.

The appetizers were orange, not surprisingly. Carrots, cheddar cheese, Cheez-its, Cheese Puffs, orange bell peppers, etc. The drinks were the show stopper, literally. Orange mango martini’s fit the bill perfectly, and added greatly to the party atmosphere. The dinner food was divine, as the hostess happens to be a gourmet cook. The orange cake from a specialty baker was stunning in appearance and flavor.

The guest of honor was thrilled with the gracious nod to her favorite color, and even more thrilled to be surrounded by the beautiful orange-spirited women on her special day.

Another job well done!

Delightful Children’s Tea Party:

Nothing says “charming childhood” like a delightful tea party for lucky little children in the garden. A perfect party for the under 6’s is easy enough to achieve with just a bit of advanced planning.

A few tips to make a truly memorable tea party:

• Tiny sandwiches: yes, they will eat them if the crusts are cut off, and white bread is preferable. For fillings, stick with the favorites, including PB&J and peanut butter and honey. Egg salad works too, and don’t forget a bit of curried chicken salad to enrich their little palates. It is nice to have a fun treats for their mothers to enjoy as well.

• Make the mothers and nannies stay for the party. It’s much easier than trying to keep track of all those little darlings on your own. Entice them with a bit of sangria if you must.

• Real tea in real cups: if you’re worried about breaking your grandmother’s china, pick up some cups and saucers at the second hand store, or take advantage of your local discount store’s children’s tiny tea sets. I’ve found the tikes will be extra careful when using “real” cups and it’s a great way for them to practice party manners. Really, the big treat for the young ones is to pour the cream from the little cream pitchers, and scoop several spoonfuls of sugar into their tea cups.

• Plan an outdoor party, on the lawn, if you can. I’ve been known to use my great aunt’s “Dessert Rose” china (much to my mother’s chagrin, as she points out that each cup and saucer is worth at least $40 now…not to mention the highly collectible ice-cream cups I like to use as mini jam dishes…) This way, if anything drops, it simply bounces on the grass.

• Ask the children to dress in white. It’s so sweet, and if you have wicker furniture, and use black and white film for the photos, the pictures will be keepsakes for years to come.

• Serve sweets…mini cupcakes with edible nasturtiums on top are an easy favorite. In fact, anything small is quite darling, and the mothers and nannies won’t feel so conspicuous eating a few of the cute little pastries. Bake extra, of course.

• Flowers, flowers everywhere! Cut fresh flowers from the garden and place in assorted tea cups and tea pots to add to the festivities!

Pour yourself a cup of herbal delight, and enjoy another job well done!

Grand ideas for Patriotic Celebrations!

Here's a lovely idea for the 4th of July:

Wine, Cheese and Lights at the Art Gallery

Julie Swank

I firmly believe in giving back to my community by volunteering my time and talent to support the causes I believe in. A lovely little non-profit art gallery asked me to arrange an evening of wine tasting and hors d’oeuvres to honor their donors. Of course, I accepted with a smile. Some of my dearest friends are artists.

The first order of business was to establish a theme. Upon finding a plethora of twinkle lights, floating candles, and snazzy yellow stringed globe lights stashed away at the gallery, my dear friend Sissy, who graciously offered her assistance at a mere moment’s notice, decided that “Thank You for Lighting Our Way” would be the theme. Well done Sissy!

A superb neighborhood bistro agreed to donate the wine and appetizers for the evening, and I focused on the decorations. Upon my banquet tables I laid, paisley patterned taupe cloths. Then I spread several strands of twinkle lights on top of the cloths. I placed blocks of wood, in a variety of sizes and heights, amongst the lights. I was careful to make sure the blocks were big enough to hold my serving dishes.

Next, I laid cream-colored cotton gauze-type fabric on top of the entire table, covering the blocks. The fabric was lightweight, but not entirely sheer. I set my serving dishes upon the blocks, and plugged in the lights. The effect was nearly breathtaking, especially at dusk.

Before the guests arrived, Sissy and I rushed around and lit all the floating candles that we’d placed in clear glass vases, half-filled with water, which we’d scattered about the gallery. A trio from the local music school provided live music on the porch, which was lit with the globe lights and additional candles.

A wine steward corked the wine and poured, while the guests helped themselves to the delicate morsels of delicious food. A fine time was had by all.

Another job, well done!

The Queen Throws a Party

The world's most proper party planner can really throw a delightful shindig.

Tuscan Themed Dinner

Recently I had the pleasure of throwing together a themed soiree for one of my favorite caterers. He was asked to cook dinner for Ben Harper, his darling wife, Laura Dern, their adorable children, and their crew before a large concert. My caterer can certainly cook exquisite eggplant parmesan, but he needed help with the décor and the ambience. Of course he called me. He’s a very smart man, with excellent taste.

I can only imagine the trials and tribulations of traveling on tour with a young family. My guess is even the most talented and fortunate have seen their share of white tables, oversized coffee urns, chaffing dishes, and industrial strength dinnerware. I decided to create a Tuscan oasis in the middle of the performance tour desert as a special treat for the weary band of traveling minstrels.

Over the standard white linen cloths that covered the banquet serving tables and six-top dinner rounders, I spread out new lemon yellow, twin-sized bed sheets. They are economical, an easy way to add color, washable, and reusable. I buy the solid colors in bulk, they are quite versatile.

On the banquet tables, I spread a 22” wide, 6” long piece of burlap as a runner, on top of the yellow sheets. The easiest way to do this is to fold 54” burlap in half (it comes this way at the fabric store, if you buy a bolt) and cut along the fold. Voila. On the round tables, I put 24” squares of burlap on top of the yellow fabric sheets.

Next, I started adding the fun accessories to really make the room festive. I placed several sizes of terracotta pots on top of the tables, and filled them with lemons. I put some pots on their sides, with lemons spilling out of them. Lemons, lemons everywhere. I made quite a statement with the lemons. Really, one can never have too many lemons.

Inside the smallest pots, I placed adorable nosegays of mixed flowers (daisies especially.) The easiest way to do this is to buy small clear plastic cups in the picnic section of your local grocery store. Place your sweet little bunches of flowers inside the cups, add water, and put the cup into the pots. This creates a tidy, easy to clean bouquet, and no messy water will leak out onto your burlap, which would certainly spoil the mood.

To add floral height and interest in the middle of the tables, I purchased tall, 18” cylinder clear glass vases. I filled the bottom of the vases with shiny pebbles. I placed a lemon over the pebbles. I filled each vase 1/3 of the way full with fresh water. I then added a single long-stemmed sunflower to each vase. The lemon added visual interest to the glass vase, and held the sunflower in place. Quite clever, I must admit. Quite.

I then cut lengths of shimmering gold and green wired ribbons and loosely wove them through the pots, the stray lemons, and vases of sunflowers to add a bit more dimension and interest.

The real show stopper, or icing on the proverbial cake, came from the last layer I added to the banquet tables. I strung specialty grape vine lights, complete with velvet leaves and faux vines, along the banquet tables. The grape clusters, which are green and purple, cast a pleasing glow at dusk, and are much safer than using real candles against burlap. Fire trucks and sprinklers can ruin an enchanted April evening faster than over-cooked eggplant.

Apparently, Mr. Harper, Mrs. Dern, and the crew were quite pleased with the décor and the effort. Due to a previous engagement which involved volunteering my services as a chaperone for a children’s zoo adventure, I wasn’t able to use my backstage passes to witness the positive reactions to the Tuscan dinner décor. I was assured that appreciative oohs! and ahhs! were uttered by all.

Another job well done.