Thanksgiving is traditionally a day filled with food, family, and football. We take the time to celebrate what we are thankful for most and appreciate what we have. The care and preparation that goes into Thanksgiving dinner is enormous. We want to help make your day a little easier by helping you plan an epic Thanksgiving menu! Continue reading "How To Plan An Epic Thanksgiving Dinner Menu" »
How to Choose the Right Recruitment Food
When it comes to sorority recruitment, it’s easy to get caught up in impressing the PNMs (potential new members) and forget to make them comfortable. One of the easiest areas to make this mistake is in the food layout. PNMs enter the room afraid of embarrassing themselves and the wrong food choice is an embarrassment waiting to happen. So whether you are whipping up your own treats or hiring a caterer to organize your perfect recruitment menu, Wedding & Party Network would like to share how to get what you want – and need – out of your recruitment food.
1. Limit the size of your treats. You should have them in a medium range – averaging about 1 to 2 bites. If your recruitment food is too large, full mouths will stall conversation and PNMs will be fighting to take ladylike bites. Too small and you have to deal with the mess of utensils and spills.
2. Watch the food’s consistency. Soups and other liquid foods should be out of the picture simply because of the hassle, but you should also avoid foods with thin sauces or gravy. These are way too easy to spill and will leave stains on all the pretty PNMs. Sticky foods are also danger zones, as well as anything which typically remains in teeth.
3. Make sure you are serving something light. Every girl wants to look and feel her best and she won’t feel at the top of her game if your delicious spread leaves her feeling stuffed.
4. Take care of the pearly whites and reject any treat which will give your girls a colorful grin. The biggest trouble makers in this area would be icing and dark-colored drinks. Anything which has food coloring is sure to leave its mark, so opt for foods which have natural or light coloring.
5. Consider how the food will taste. Don't choose anything that is too spicy, sour, or salty. These will leave a heavy taste in everyone's mouth and people will worry that their breath has lost its freshness.
6. Think about the special diets of PNMs. Always avoid peanuts and check with your Panhellenic delegate to see if any PNMs have reported an allergy. Keep in mind the vegetarian and vegan girls. Fruit platters are always a good side dish to keep handy for them.
Some helpful tips:
- Use mirrors in your decorations so PNMs and sisters can check their smiles.
- Have bowls of mints set up around the room for fresh breath.
- Have napkins at tables if someone forgets to grab their own.
- Include a cheese platter. Cheese helps clean teeth after meals.
- Be courteous and empathetic if a PNM does have a messy bite or spill.
Whoever is preparing your food should keep in mind these precautions. If you are hiring a local caterer, they should be more than happy to discuss these details and make sure your recruitment food is delicious, affordable,and impressive. So, don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy preparing that perfect recruitment event.
Wanna Throw a 4th of July Party?
What better way to celebrate our freedom than with a get together with friends and family? There are plenty of ways to decorate your home in order to invite guests over and Wedding and Party Network has a few tips on throwing together a great 4th of July party.
- The easiest thing to start with would be the staple 4th of July decoration: you guessed it, the flag! You can find little flag replicas all over stores, like your local party store. Start with placing a flag in your yard, or hang it from your porch.Throughout your house, you could use them as part of table centerpieces. There are endless options. You could also buy streamers and ribbons in red, white, and blue throughout the house. What about a decorative, festive 4th of July wreath? It's a great way to welcome guests into your home. There are such fun ways to decorate for this red, white and blue holiday!
- Food! Food is important at any party, and the best thing about this kind of party is that you can theme it! Try making star shaped cookies with cookie cutouts, cover them in red or blue frosting and use white sprinkles. (This could be a fun family craft for the kids to enjoy, too!)Also, have red and blue popsicles around: not only is it festive, but it's hot outside! The popsicles will help everyone to cool off. Food is such a fun way to display your patriotism.
- If you really want to spice things up, make some refreshing cocktails for the adults, or keep them alcohol free for the kids to enjoy, as well! Mix up some red punch and throw in some blue colored ice-packed stars. You can easily incorporate the theme of any part in with drinks and they keep everyone cool.
With our simple tips, you'll throw an amazing party with festive decorations! Everyone will want to be back at your place next year, and maybe even the next!
Plan a Christmas Brunch
There are many traditions and celebrations during the holidays. Some people host various parties, fix different recipes, or open gifts on Christmas eve. Some families have dinner on Christmas, but what do you do for breakfast or lunch? Why not start a new tradition on Christmas by planning a Christmas brunch? Wedding and Party Network has a few tips on planning a brunch that your family and friends will love.
Perfect timing – Who do you plan on inviting? Close friends and family members are great guests to invite. Since most families open their gifts that morning or even on Christmas eve, a brunch is great. It gives everyone time to open gifts and get ready.
Holiday decorations – Since your house will already be decked out for the holidays, no decorations required. The only thing you might decorate is the table and the food table. Come up with a festive table centerpiece for your dining table and food table. Don't forget the table linens, tableware, and servingware. A fun accent is to have place settings made of Christmas ornaments. It can serve as a party favor as well and your guests will want to put them on their tree as soon as they get home.
What's on the menu – Think about serving various pastries, such as cinnamon rolls, scones, and muffins. Even have doughnuts for brunch. Make sure to display them as a doughnut tower to create depth for your table. Plus, it's a fun way to serve doughnuts. Also, serve fruit kabobs, casseroles, gingerbread waffles, french toast, or a candy cane coffee cake. There are many recipes to try out for your Christmas day brunch. For drinks, set up a mimosa bar, hot chocolate bar, and have all your juices ready to go.
Start a new Christmas day tradition with a brunch. It's a great time to spend with close friends and family.
This post is brought to you by Houston Party Caterers
Not in Houston, TX? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find party caterers near you!
Photo via Celebrate!
Inspirational Friday – Wedding & Party Food
Here at Wedding and Party Network we want to give you inspiration for your wedding and party details. The details are what sets your wedding and party apart from anyone else. The colors, theme, detailing and style all creates your wedding day style and conveys your party theme. So, today's Inspirational Friday will focus on wedding and party food.
Wedding and party food are such important details of any event. If the food is absolutely delicious, it will make your special event even more memorable. However, if your food isn't that tasty, that's the one thing that guests will remember. Food is very important, especially the way you display it as well. Make sure your wedding or party caterer uses fresh ingredients, knows your vision for your food and you of course do a tasting for the food. Also, research ways to display your food and see if your caterer can achieve that. Remember, food is important.
Plan a Kid Friendly Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks and celebrate this country, as well as family. Adults understand the importance of Thanksgiving, however, children may not fully understand it. Plan a Thanksgiving that is kid friendly where they can understand this holiday while having a fun time. Wedding and Party Network has a few tips to achieve this.
Keep Them Entertained
To keep them entertained while the food is being prepared, lay out some crafts. They can create felt Thanksgiving food, toilet paper tube turkey, colorful Thanksgiving trees, turkey hand prints, Thanksgiving hats or even bake up some cookies beforehand and let them create their own desserts.There's also a few games that the children can play. One is called the table game where the family can play. It's a conversation starter game. You can include conversation questions such as what are you thankful for and if you could invite one person to Thanksgiving dinner, who would it be. It's just a fun conversation starter and for everyone to learn a little more about each other.
Kid Friendly Recipes
Some kids may shy away from some Thanksgiving food since they may be a little unfamiliar with it. Create turkey meatballs with some vegetables mixed in, stuffing that features croutons, apples & cranberries, cranberry sauce shaped into fun shapes by using cookie cutters, mashed potato sundaes, sweet potato souffle and maybe a pumpkin pie milkshake and their cookies that they decorated from earlier.
You can easily make Thanksgiving dinner kid friendly where they enjoy the food and learn more about the history of this holiday. Fun crafts and tasty food are definitely the elements for a kid Thanksgiving.
This post is brought to you by Miami Party Caterers
Not in Miami FL? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find party caterers near you!
Corn wreath photo via Rea Life, One Day at a Time
Labor Day White Party
Labor Day weekend is coming up. Have you made plans yet? Not going out-of-town? Well, host a little get together to celebrate Labor Day. What type of party do you host over Labor Day weekend? Well, one that comes to mind is an all white party. So, Wedding and Party Network has a few tips for your Labor Day white party.
Why a white party? – Everyone knows that you shouldn't wear white after Labor Day, however, the fashion trend is going towards a winter white now. Anyways, if you're not supposed to wear it, why not go out with a bang for the end of the summer and do what you're not supposed to do after this day, which is wear white.
It's in the details – For this party, it's all about the color white, which is captured through each little detail that you have at your party. Make sure your guests get the sense of a lavish white party through the details. Here are a few tips:
- White party invitations – Make it known that this is a white party and they must wear white. You can be strict with this rule, or be lenient in letting your guests wear color in their shoes and accessories. It's all up to you. Just make sure you set the ground rules and let them know through the invitation.
- White party decorations – When you think of a white party, you think of it being a lavish party. So, create that. However, it doesn't have to be expensive. Create elegant flower arrangements. Just sit down with your local florist and tell them exactly the look you are going after with your party. Also, think about using white linens, draping them throughout your party and using back lighting, white balloons or white lanterns.
- White party food – Think about featuring canapés, which are seen as elegant food. Think about serving lighter colored vegetables, white dips, white doughnuts, white cakes and cupcakes. However, if you're stumped talk with your local caterer in finding the appropriate food for your party. They will have a variety of ideas that will be absolutely divine.
When hosting a white party, just make sure it's all white. If you want to go with a few lighter color options as well, that works too. Just make sure you stick with the theme and style of your party throughout the details and your party will be a huge success.
This post is brought to you by Miami Party Decorations.
Not in Miami, FL? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find party decorations near you!
Top 5 Best Picnic Foods
The sun is shining brightly, the weather is warm and you are looking for something wonderful to do on a Saturday afternoon. However, what do you want to do in this beautiful weather? Well, only one thing comes to mind and it's a picnic with your family. This is a wonderful time to head out to the park and spend quality time with everyone. The main thing that comes to mind when planning a picnic is what do I pack. So, Wedding and Party Network has our top 5 best picnic foods to pack.
First off, when packing for your picnic, remember that the foods needs to be easy to transport, the recipes should be simple to prepare and your picnic food needs to be fresh, simple and fun that's infused with seasonal flavors.1. Drink it up. Create a unique drink to carry with you to your picnic. Of course, stick with the basics like water, lemonade or soda. However, mix it up a bit with a refreshing punch or sangria. Try a punch recipe with some refreshing fruits that will quench your thirst. This is definitely appealing since it can be made a day or so ahead of time and really the longer it sits the better so the flavors have time to combine.
2. A refreshing salad. No picnic is complete without a salad. There are so many salads that you can fix and all are simple to create. You can go with a potato salad, dill potato salad, German potato salad, Asian inspired salad, Caesar salad or even create little salad singles. For a no plate, eat with your hand salad, use a leaf of lettuce and wrap the toppings inside, like a lettuce wrap. Simple to make and easy to transport with various ways to prepare.
3. Finger sandwiches are a given. Sandwiches are so simple to create and can be prepared several ways. You can either bring a variety of bread, meats, cheeses and condiments so everyone can create their own sandwich or you can make one big sandwich to bring at home. There are so many sandwiches you can come up with like, egg salad, chicken salad, avocado and tomato sandwich, Italian sandwiches, mini grilled cheese sandwiches and even meatball subs. You can even let everyone pick out their favorite sandwiches and make sure to bring all the supplies so they can create it. Sandwiches are a definite must.
4. Fruit is a great snack. Of course, you're going to need snacks. Again, there is so much you can do with fruit. You can soak various fruit in wine, create fruit kabobs or just serve it on its own with a refreshing fruit dip. You can even do cut outs with fruits and stick it on a popsicle stick to create a unique fruit popsicle. Just slice off pieces of fruit and use cookie cutters to make different shapes. Fruit is just a great treat to snack on throughout the day.
5. Dessert in a jar. Right now, the trend is all about food in a jar. So, why not jump on the bandwagon? It's simple and creative. You can create cupcakes in a jar, brownie trifle in a jar, banana pudding in a jar or even cookies in a jar. This is just an easy dessert to transport and everyone gets their own personal serving.
These 5 picnic foods are all simple to transport and you have various ways in which you can prepare them. With so many options, everyone will be satisfied. However, if you're still unsure or have no idea or you just don't want to hassle with packing a picnic, you can always talk with your local caterer and they'll have plenty of food ideas. So, spend your Saturday with a delicious and eventful picnic.
This post is brought to you by Cambridge Caterer.
Not in Cambridge, MA? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find a caterer near you!
Tips For Your Next BBQ
It's that time of year again. The warm weather is upon us, flowers are blooming and the sun is beaming down. This can only mean wonderful weather for all your outdoor parties. This is the time to get outdoors and get creative with your backyard and host some amazing BBQs. You may sometimes think hosting a big bash BBQ is a big event to plan and you don't want to have one every weekend. However, it's not that hard at all. Wedding and Party Network has a few tips for your next backyard barbeque.
One Week Before The BBQ
- Plan out a guest list. You can either send out invitations if you want a more formal affair or just make a phone call if it's more of an informal event.
- Plan the menu. There are so many different options for food. You can serve different appetizers, create hamburgers & hot dogs, have Mexican food or anything else you may enjoy. There are multiple barbeques that can be planned throughout the year, so it's nice to switch it up a bit. Don't forget to consider your guests when planning the menu, some may be vegetarian.
- Go grocery shopping. Once you have a menu, write down everything that you will need and how much of it. This will help streamline your grocery shopping trip.
- If you have close friends and family coming, ask them to help if you're cooking for a bigger crowd. It can be a potluck party.
- Don't forget about the rental items. If this is for a bigger crowd, see if you need to rent tables or chairs for your outdoor space.
2-3 Days Before The BBQ
- Start preparing all the essentials. Lay out all the platters, dinnerware, flatware and glasses that you need.
- Now is the time to go grocery shopping with your list. It's not too early or late so your food won't get spoiled.
- Lay out all your party decorations. Decide what you're going to do or if you're doing any DIY crafts, now is the time to start creating them.
- It isn't too early to start preparing some dishes that can be made ahead. If you're creating some type of chilled dips, pasta salad, chex mix or other snack items, you can go ahead and start making these dishes, which will save you time the day of the BBQ.
The Day Before The BBQ
- Pick up the ice for all the drinks. It's always good to get more ice than you think you'll need because some melts and it can definitely be used later. You never know how many drinks your guests will make.
- Pick up the few last minute perishable items that you were afraid to get at the store. Don't forget the condiments either. You never know what everyone likes so make sure and get a variety of condiments.
- Start decorating and planning the layout. If it calls for no rain, you can go ahead and set-up the tables if you would like.
- Thaw out any frozen items.
The Day Of The BBQ
- In the morning, set out the rest of the decor and utensils. Even start setting up how you would like your food table to look. It just depends on what type of BBQ you are hosting and what you need to do.
- Start preparing the food. If you have any vegetables, start seasoning them. An hour or so before, you can get your meat ready.
- Start setting on the drinks and set up a drink table. About 10 minutes or so before your guests start arriving, lay out the ice. Make sure the glasses, drinks and ice are all together.
- About an hour or so before, start setting out the appetizers and side dishes. The meat and any warm dishes should be prepared last.
- Once guests start arriving, throw on any meat or any casseroles or hot dishes you may need to prepare. There should be enough appetizers and starters to keep your guests satisfied.
- Now, it's time to have fun!
Planning a BBQ is a cinch. You just have to be organized and party ready. This checklist will help with all future parties and will make everything truly easy for you.
This post is brought to you by Houston Caterers
Not in Houston, TX? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find a caterer near you!
Inspirational Friday – Displaying Your Food
Here at Wedding and Party Network we want to give you inspiration for your wedding details. The details are what sets your wedding apart from anyone else. The colors, theme, detailing and style all creates your wedding day style. So, today's Inspirational Friday will focus on how to display food for your wedding or special event. Of course, if you hire a caterer they will take care of all your needs and do an exquisite job at it. However, if you are planning a special party or event at your own home where you are doing the cooking, you want to make sure it's presented in a beautiful way.
When it comes to planning a party, there are many ways that you can make it stand out. Creating various heights, mixing and matching patterns and using different platters will create a beautiful presentation for your food. Also, look at some photos to see how they displayed food on the actual platter. You've spent all that time in the kitchen creating mouth-watering food, so make sure your guests take notice.