Another guest blogger to help with your party planning needs! Today we have Alex from Silver Spoon, a posh NYC party planning company that specializes in fresh, fun, and fancy children's birthday parties.
Silver Spoon’s 5 Sterling Party Planning Tips
1) Plan ahead: It is polite to send out invitations at least a month in advance, because it gives your guests ample time to make arrangements to attend your event. It also gives you more options to secure your venue, activity, or child’s favorite character for an appearance. Entertainers book up quickly for weekend parties as do your child’s playmates. Keep in mind there are usually about 30 kids in your child’s class, so talking to parents and staying abreast of other birthday parties is a smart idea.
2) Indulge you child’s imagination and let him be involved in the theme planning. There is nothing better than seeing your child’s face light up and truly enjoy his special Incredible Hulk-themed birthday party. That’s not to say that a surprise aspect is not always appreciated such as a fun cake or mystery guest. (hint, hint)
3) Guest List: It’s important to have a precise list of guests you would like to invite to your party and leave plenty of room for plus ones and accompanying parents. It is also a good idea to have a “grown ups area” with finger food and light cocktails so parents can mingle while the party goes on.
4) Budget: You don’t have to dig into your child’s piggy bank to pay for her party. Venues and all-inclusive packages can be pricey, so if you have the space, why not plan to have your fete at home! There are many inventive ways to create themed parties with inexpensive activities and games.
5) Extra Eyes: It's often a good idea to have extra help on the day of your party. Whether it’s your babysitter or favorite cousin, having extra hands in the kitchen and eyes on the kids is a very good idea especially for toddlers and tweens. There are also professional event sitters available for hire.
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Need help planning your child's party? Email Silver Spoon NYC at alex[AT]silverspoonnyc.com (replace AT with @) with "SilverSummer" in the subject line to receive a special 10% off your next event! Offer good through 9/30/08.
www.silverspoonnyc.com
Monday, July 7, 2008
Music Marketing Maven Blog On Her Most Rockin' Drink Recipe
A note from Ms.Paperlicious... I invited my good friend Nikki, a music marketing genius and all around fantastic party host, to tell us about her favorite drink recipe for a little summer fun!
There are two very important lessons one learns while working 12-hour days for a major record label: 1) How to trade promo CDs with employees of other record labels so you never actually have to shell out the 10 bucks you’re trying to get the public to spend and 2) How to make a bad-ass cocktail after said 12-hour day is done.
Sure, there are other interesting things that came out of my 9-year stint in the biz, things you might even enjoy reading. But narcissistic rock stars and indentured servitude don’t really go with party planning, and my therapist gets jealous when I blog about our private time. So instead, for you, dear rockin’ Paperlicious reader, I present my most favorite cocktail recipe!!
Say-My-Name Sangria
Alright so everybody and their grandmother (particularly if Grandma is Spanish) seem to have a recipe for sangria. I went through a big sangria phase back in ’01 where I pretty much made all of them. (Well, not all, but a lot). There were all kinds of recipes with crazy flavored liquors, different varieties of rums… local fruit, tropical fruit, fruit roll-ups… it was dizzying. But then finally, on one hot summer night that July, I invented the following. This is my very own Holy Grail sangria recipe that until now I wouldn’t even share with my friends. (Or I would, but I’d leave out an ingredient. But that can’t be good for my karma). So for the first time in print, ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Say-My-Name Sangria! I’ve named it that because after you drink a few glasses, you most likely won’t be able to.
• 1 Bottle (750 ml) Dry, Red Wine (Most people grab a cheap bottle of swill and call it a party. That never made any sense to me. The wine is the main ingredient- it should be decent. I’m not saying splurge on a ’94 Amarone, but rather, choose something that’s actually drinkable on its own). I like a nice California Cabernet. Bold, flavorful, intense. (You are what you eat).
• 2 Cups Light Rum (Yea, that’s right, 2 cups. I don’t mess around).
• 1 Cup Peach Flavored Liquor (Schnapps is fine. Trust me, you’ll love it).
• 1 Red Fuji or Pink Lady Apple cored and sliced (I like these apple because they’re firm, tart, and they won’t get mushy in your brew).
• 1 Pint Strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Cups Flavored Club Soda (I like Raspberry or Cherry Canada Dry)
Combine all of the above into a large pitcher. Giggle a few times while pouring in the peach flavored liquor because nobody will know that this is your secret ingredient, and by the time they think they do, they’ll forget what they were trying to figure out. Stir gently for a couple seconds. Grab a spoon. Taste it. Declare aloud: I am the bullgod. Refrigerate overnight if possible. (The sangria, not you). Something happens in the mixture overnight that even science can’t quite explain. Perhaps it’s the marinating. Maybe it’s the change in molecular structure. All I know is that the next day it’s almost twice as good, as if that’s possible.
Serve over ice in obnoxiously large goblets with a side of long decorative toothpicks so you and your guests can eat the rum and liquor-soaked fruit while you drink. I have no idea how many servings this yields. Depends on who comes over, I guess.
So, there you have it. Now go get crackin’ and always remember… Rock-stardom is neither innate nor learned. Rock-stardom is a state of mind.
Drink up, buttercup.
***
Ms.Paperlicious would like to add that if we had a legal department, they would make us say something like... please drink responsibly and for goodness sakes, don't be a ninny and drink and drive. Cheers!
There are two very important lessons one learns while working 12-hour days for a major record label: 1) How to trade promo CDs with employees of other record labels so you never actually have to shell out the 10 bucks you’re trying to get the public to spend and 2) How to make a bad-ass cocktail after said 12-hour day is done.
Sure, there are other interesting things that came out of my 9-year stint in the biz, things you might even enjoy reading. But narcissistic rock stars and indentured servitude don’t really go with party planning, and my therapist gets jealous when I blog about our private time. So instead, for you, dear rockin’ Paperlicious reader, I present my most favorite cocktail recipe!!
Say-My-Name Sangria
Alright so everybody and their grandmother (particularly if Grandma is Spanish) seem to have a recipe for sangria. I went through a big sangria phase back in ’01 where I pretty much made all of them. (Well, not all, but a lot). There were all kinds of recipes with crazy flavored liquors, different varieties of rums… local fruit, tropical fruit, fruit roll-ups… it was dizzying. But then finally, on one hot summer night that July, I invented the following. This is my very own Holy Grail sangria recipe that until now I wouldn’t even share with my friends. (Or I would, but I’d leave out an ingredient. But that can’t be good for my karma). So for the first time in print, ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Say-My-Name Sangria! I’ve named it that because after you drink a few glasses, you most likely won’t be able to.
• 1 Bottle (750 ml) Dry, Red Wine (Most people grab a cheap bottle of swill and call it a party. That never made any sense to me. The wine is the main ingredient- it should be decent. I’m not saying splurge on a ’94 Amarone, but rather, choose something that’s actually drinkable on its own). I like a nice California Cabernet. Bold, flavorful, intense. (You are what you eat).
• 2 Cups Light Rum (Yea, that’s right, 2 cups. I don’t mess around).
• 1 Cup Peach Flavored Liquor (Schnapps is fine. Trust me, you’ll love it).
• 1 Red Fuji or Pink Lady Apple cored and sliced (I like these apple because they’re firm, tart, and they won’t get mushy in your brew).
• 1 Pint Strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Cups Flavored Club Soda (I like Raspberry or Cherry Canada Dry)
Combine all of the above into a large pitcher. Giggle a few times while pouring in the peach flavored liquor because nobody will know that this is your secret ingredient, and by the time they think they do, they’ll forget what they were trying to figure out. Stir gently for a couple seconds. Grab a spoon. Taste it. Declare aloud: I am the bullgod. Refrigerate overnight if possible. (The sangria, not you). Something happens in the mixture overnight that even science can’t quite explain. Perhaps it’s the marinating. Maybe it’s the change in molecular structure. All I know is that the next day it’s almost twice as good, as if that’s possible.
Serve over ice in obnoxiously large goblets with a side of long decorative toothpicks so you and your guests can eat the rum and liquor-soaked fruit while you drink. I have no idea how many servings this yields. Depends on who comes over, I guess.
So, there you have it. Now go get crackin’ and always remember… Rock-stardom is neither innate nor learned. Rock-stardom is a state of mind.
Drink up, buttercup.
***
Ms.Paperlicious would like to add that if we had a legal department, they would make us say something like... please drink responsibly and for goodness sakes, don't be a ninny and drink and drive. Cheers!
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