Kitchen Essential

Some of the most successful parties that are fun to organize are theme parties. These are variations on the fancy dress party. The idea is to choose a theme, for example: black and white; red and gold; hats; characters from musical shows; a desert island. Send out appropriate invitations in plenty of time so that your guests have the opportunity to dream up a costume, and then plan the decorations, food and drink so that the entire event follows the theme through.

Invitations can be home-made or, if commercially produced ones fit the theme, use them. For a stylish black and white party, all sorts of design ideas are possible: a silhouette cut-out of Fred Astaire in Top Hat and Tails; a chessboard with the words written in the white squares; two masks cut out side by side, one black, one white, with the details of the party on the back. Do state clearly whether the event is to be a dinner party or a larger, informal gathering, and insist on fancy dress.

On the day or evening of the party organize the table and room decorations. For a dinner party spread the table with a black cloth and white napkins or white cloth and black napkins; or you may be able to find printed patterned fabrics that offer a contrasting mixture. The flowers for the centre of the table could be fresh white flowers in a black vase or artificial black flowers, or even very deep red or purple fresh flowers in a white vase. Candles can be black in white candlesticks or the reverse. If you have black- or white-handled cutlery this will add to the effect and you may find among the range of glasses now available frosted white or dark grey wine glasses. If you are using place cards use black ink on white cards or white spirit pen on black card and decorate the cards accordingly.

For a buffet gathering, cover the table with a black cloth, or black crepe paper, and decorate with twists of white crepe paper with garlands in the two colours at each corner. Decorate the room with strands of black and white twisted crepe paper. Use black and white dishes for the food. Place vases of white flowers around the room and have candles burning in safe places. Once all the guests have arrived in costume the overall effect will be stunning.

Christmas

The traditional colours for Christmas decorations are red, green and white with touches of silver and glitter to set a festive tone. Most people decorate the house with special Christmas effects and the Christmas dinner-table should fit in with the decorations used in the dining room. The simplicity of red is very effective, linking naturally with evergreens such as holly, poinsettias, mistletoe, Christmas roses and other greenery that is traditionally used to decorate the house. Scandinavian wooden figures in red, green and white look very pretty on the tree, and wooden candle holders in green and red with matching candles look really attractive, both around the room and on the dinner-table. Just a touch of narrow crinkly tinsel draped over the tree, over plants and picture frames is enough to give the whole room a seasonal glow.

For the centre of the Christmas dinner-table, fix bright red candles firmly into plasticine or oasis and surround the candles with clusters of greenery — ivy, holly, mistletoe and sprays of evergreen leaves. Use silver or red gift-wrap ribbon which can be curled and arranged to lie gently among the leaves and on to the table-cloth. Depending on the size of the table, either make one large centre decoration with four or five candles and plenty of foliage, or several smaller decorations with a single candle in amongst the greenery, to place at intervals along a long table. The table-cloth should be white in order to set off the red and green of the decorations, and choose napkins that complement the red and green theme — either paper napkins covered with Christmas designs or linen napkins in bright red or green. Tie linen napkins in a loose neat roll with curled silver, green or red ribbon, or secure lightly with a simple napkin ring and a sprig of mistletoe. Place silver or gold paper dishes full of Christmas bon-bons at intervals around the table. Crackers are usually too big and clumsy for the table, so either buy tiny ones for decoration or keep the big ones for later in the meal, when nuts, dates and other goodies appear. Before the meal begins, switch on the Christmas tree lights, light the candles and turn off the electric lights.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Fun to Organize Successful Parties, Costume, Decorations, food

• Elegance and Romance: how o use Candles and Holders to Decorate Tables
• New Year Dinner Party Table Decoration, Fun and Entertainment
• The finest Savoy cabbage Table Decoration
• The Perfect Finishing Touches Setting the Table
• Colours — spoilt for choice
• Place cards and menu cards — just etiquette Table Decoration
• Where would we be without crockery?
• Lunch at Easter
• After the opera Table Decoration
• Finishing touches

Trackback URI | Comments RSS