Fine Dining and Culture

I did a dinner party for the girls age 14-16 in my church's youth group as a way to help enrich their summer experience in a small way.

I coordinated the table setting to match with the peacock feather invitations and RSVP cards I designed. I liked how the navy linens echoed a peacock tail configuration in the champagne flutes, topped off by a single feather. The centerpiece was an eiffel vase filled with water I tinted blue-green, and placed two bird of paradise leaves at differing heights. I wanted something simple but that had a big impact, so I decided to go with more saturated colors, and less "things". There was a simple runner of green tulle, and the place settings were my white plates, layered, with navy name tags. I used a gold satin sheet I had on top of a white tablecloth for thickness and sheen. The repeating colors were: navy, green, gold, and touches of teal.

Fonts used in the stationery were Scriptina and Arabic Typesetting in all caps.

Menu: (which I would highly recommend to anyone who is in a major rush, and on a budget- which I was on both counts)

~ penne and chicken alfredo with carrots, peas, and broccoli from the pre-made freezer section
~ baby spinach salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and dried cranberries (also pre-made in bags, and I just tossed together the dressing)
~ french bread and butter (from the bakery)

The drink options were sparkling waters in:
~ mandarin orange
~ peach
~ cherry
~ raspberry

And for dessert we had a blueberry tart from Trader Joe's with a vanilla ice cream option.

Menu by numbers:
~ dinner for eight
~ $30 (plus a little of what I had on hand like butter, dressing, and Craisins)
~ 20 minutes from the freezer to the table
~ leftovers for one more night- success!

After dinner we went to the Phoenix Art Museum where we appreciated some interactive exhibits, paintings, fashion, and photography. Wednesday nights are voluntary donation which was perfect for our church group. All in all, a nice evening was had.

New Happenings

Yesterday I was honored to be showcased on Stem, one of my absolute favorite event blogs. Check out the post as well as the rest of her site which is near and dear to my own heart

http://stemparties.blogspot.com/2010/06/fabulous-feather-fete.html

Also, this is what I've been working on this morning:




I am surprising the girls in my church's youth group that I am in charge of (age 14-16) with an elegant dinner (a la Costco) and then a trip to the Phoenix Art Museum to hopefully enrich their summer and provide good memories.

I've decided to go with a peacock- gold, green, blue theme because my dining room walls are a golden yellow, and I have peacock feathers already. Plus, it was just fun stationery to design. We'll see where it goes from there.

Mocktail Party

Retro inspired non-alcoholic martini party

Music:
~ Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble

Menu:
~ martini mixers and club soda
~ mini spinach green onion quiches
~ lemon curd tartlets in cream cheese dough shells
~ open face chicken salad sandwiches on toasted quinoa bread
~ dulce de leche popcorn
~ pita bites
~ hummus
~ pretzel rods
~ angel food cake squares
~ apples and bananas
~ chocolate dipping sauce

Decor:
~ front door sign letting guests know "Welcome to our swingin' pad, come on in!" in Fontdinerdotcom Sparkly font
~ custom made wine tags in matching font and colors
~ oversized martini glasses (can be found at Michael's)
~ martini plates (on clearance at Party City)
~ white tablecloth

Mission Possible

An awards dinner for an office team that had achieved what was once thought impossible in quality audits- hence, "Mission Possible"

Venue:
~ Challenger Space Center, Peoria, AZ. (Also image credit for the room panorama)

Catering:
~ Az U Wish Events (Arizona and Utah)

Music:
~ Themes from Star Wars, Star Trek, Mission Impossible, etc.

Invitations:
~ Inspired by NASA poster. Teaser invitations were printed on 5x7 glossy photographic paper and emails were sent periodically giving more information throughout the month beforehand.

Decor:
~ The room mostly spoke for itself. I set up a long table with white linens and silver organza over white lights that shone through.
~The centerpieces were branches painted metallic silver, in silver cans with glittered tips.
~The concept was icey, techno, outer space. I used white click lights and silver metallic shreds on the buffet, and the non-alcoholic martini bar.
~ The menus on each table were printed on diamond patterned pearlescent paper and mounted on black cardstock and presented in clear frames.
~ The place setting had name tags in coordinating fonts and papers.

Journey Party

Handmade dupioni silk tablecloth with chocolate brown satin runner

earth tones accented with candlelight

live fish in the river rock and onion grass centerpieces

hand cut bamboo napkin rings and custom menus that followed the "Journey" theme

invitations

This was a beautiful surprise company awards party where we put together a dvd welcome as the guests arrived at their work location then were transported to the dinner venue by a limousine with bar, and were given diamond necklaces, and framed artifact for awards. A violinist played during dinner, and everyone had a good time.