Friday, September 30, 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Serving Drinks in Style at Your Party

Why not make the way you serve drinks at your party this fall, or anytime, more fun and stylish than the usual way?

Below, 4 ideas for serving drinks at your party in fun, unusual ways that will wow your guests.  The best part is that none of these ideas require much effort!

  • Put poured drinks on a couple of trays--round or square, traditional or mod, trays holding poured drinks look great, dress up your bar area (whether an actual bar area, a counter, a kitchen island, or a table), catch any drips/condensation, and, by preparing some drinks before your guests arrive, save you time and effort.  Guests can get a drink as soon as they arrive if they want.
  • If you find all-purpose wineglasses boring--rent or buy coupe glasses (they look like martini glasses but are a little taller and sturdier) for martinis, cocktails, and champagne and some old fashioneds for everything else and you're set to serve any type of drink stylishly.
  • Buy a large stainless mixing bowl (no handles) at a department store or restaurant supply store--You can use this as an ice bucket if the look of galvanized metal or rubber/plastic/silicone beverage tubs is not for you and it works especially well for larger parties or parties where there will be a lot of beverages, say, many bottles of wine or craft beer. Plus it looks cool.
  • Use drink napkins in a color or print that complements your decor--Colored drink napkins add zip to your bar area and can even be recycled (we like the new Party Pop Up Bins for recycling at parties, www.sustyparty.com ).  Colored drink napkins add special impact to bar or party areas where everything is black, white, gray, and/or chrome.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com
Great article on why use biodegradable disposables at events:
http://bit.ly/pNzt3e

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Take a moment! Just saw Southern Living Casa Rio Dlux Dinner w 9 items $8.95 reg dinnr $6.95-KRL homesick 4 SA tx-mx:
http//ww.casa-rio.com

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

6 More Ways to Add Pizzaz to Your Party

To help you add that special something to your fall or anytime parties and gatherings, today we offer 6 more ideas on this topic.

With just a simple purchase or an easy step or two, you can easily transform your gathering into one of the best, if not the best, in your group this fall or whenever.

More simple ideas to add pizzaz to your party:
  • Mix fruit and seasonal flower blooms on a mirror, mirrored tray, or ceramic or glass tray as one or more centerpieces or room decorations.  If as a centerpiece, make sure you leave at least one inch space around the centerpiece as centerpieces don't look good if food or plates are pushed too near them.
  • Set out a trio of spiced nuts (the better ones are available at gourmet supermarkets, not liquor stores) next to the drinks on your bar, or as part of an hors d'oeuvres or tapas spread
  • Bake a cake in the Kaiser La Forme Plus Flan Pan and it will have a pretty ridged edge www.kaiserbakeware.com --use a cake mix if you're not a baker, or ask a caterer to do it :)
  • Along the same lines, use the Bundt Brownie pan to transform brownies into decorative bundt shapes.  Or you can also use another cake batter in this pan and fill the little holes in the mini bundts with regular or chocolate whipped cream or lemon curd mixed with whipped cream and top off with a berry www.nordicware.com
  • If you're good at making omelets or frittatas, make a few types ahead of time and serve, cut into small pieces, as a frittata bar with interesting purchased dipping sauces (see http://startcooking.com/blog/389/Five-Ways-to-Make-a-Frittata and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icCqE_ai_au  Or set out three varieties of any foods you're good at making, such as meat loaf (bake in muffin pans), mac n' cheese, or desserts, even French bread spread with three different spreads, purchased from a good food emporium if you have no time. Use interesting shaped or colored or small plates and people will think you're a gourmet!
  • Buy a stone urn at a craft or garden store, fill with flowers, and use as a centerpiece.  Or even easier, buy one or more tall candle bases, any style you like from mod to traditional, and buy pillar candles to set on top of the bases--use these as centerpieces.  You don't even need to light the candles for this to look good and you can use these as centerpieces or room decor at your gatherings for years.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Monday, September 26, 2011

Working on setup/table design for Ars Lyrica home recital catering 10/2/11

Saturday, September 24, 2011

5 Ways to Add Fun to Your Fall Gathering

In our recent meetings with clients we've heard a common theme: How can we make our event unusual and fun?

Some folks want or need their event to be more formal while for others the fun/unusual factor is key.  There's no right or wrong here; it's about what's important to the host(s) or guest(s) of honor.

Today we offer 5 ideas to make your fall gathering unusual and fun.

  • Have fun food--For example, an ice cream or popcorn station/cart or a cones table (fill the cones with sweet or savory bites; cone makers and stands are available at department stores and large retailers as well as online).  These fun foods can be served with more traditional food fare--just watch how people smile at these foods!
  • Use the new cool eco-friendly disposables designs to advantage--There are dozens of online companies selling the most amazing range of eco-friendly biodegradable disposables, with designs made of bamboo, bagasse (sugarcane), resin (corn-based), wood, and palm leaf and in colors from off-white to tan to colored to animal print.  And the shapes of this eco-disposable serveware are cool too, including cones, cups, coupelles (small shallow bowls for serving light bites), little boats, and spoons.  Our favorite company is www.restaurantware.com --check out their website for some great serving ideas for your gathering.  This type of serveware raises your gathering's cool factor, is good for the Earth, and is easier than china if real china isn't needed (if your event is not formal)
  • Print a menu to display on a small stand or easel or write the menu on a blackboard.  Or if you're artistic paint it with watercolors.
  • Use little square fabric coasters from India or Morocco under rows of pre-poured drinks.
  • Use cool name place cards--Check out Favors by Seredipity's (www.fbys.com ) name cards, including mini scrollwork frames, silver and metal mini frames, mini tree branch frames, and mod mini black filigree frames.  Or for a really fun or lighthearted group, mini Etch-a-Sketches (www.world-of-toys.com ) can be used as place cards or favors and can even be left out in a basket for guests to amuse themselves with during your party.
  • Also available at Favors by Serendipity: a huge variety of decorative cupcake wrappers in every style and design from mod to traditional--this makes your cupcakes (even bought or ordered ones) look much cooler and more decorative than the traditional wrappers that cupcakes generally come in.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Friday, September 23, 2011

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Cool Stephen Johnson Wonderland candlesticks made from stacks of figurines for ur parties:
http://ping.fm/fkccy

How to Choose Hors d'Oeuvres for Your Party

When deciding on hors d'oeuvres for a party, a few things can help you arrive at the best selection of types of hors d'oeuvres.

Hors d'oeuvres (or finger foods, or appetizers-but they should be called appetizers only if they precede a meal) fall into different types.  The basic types are:

  • canapés or "bases"--these have dough or vegetable flat bases and a topping on the bases; also mini pizzas and savory galette bites (layered potato or vegetable gratin bites similar to pizza bites)
  • crostini-these are slices of baguette or other artisan bread topped with a spread, vegetables, or meats (sometimes called bruschetta, but bruschetta bread tends to be larger and thicker)
  • tartlets and cups--tartlet shells and savory or sweet cups (like chocolate or taco cups) are filled
  • skewers--kebobs, brochettes, satays, etc
  • empanadas, turnovers, pasties--puff or dough pastry small turnovers filled with meats, cheese, vegetables, or some combination of these
  • wraps, pinwheels, and rollups--Asian wraps such as summer rolls and filled tortillas or cold cuts sliced into pinwheels or rollups
  • meatballs, meat cakes, and sliders--mini meatballs; crab, tuna, or salmon cakes; and mini burger sliders of every type from beef to turkey to mushroom
  • purses and dumplings--puff pastry or crepes are filled, then the ends gathered and tied with a strip of leek or something else to look like a "purse"; Asian, Central European, or Slavic meat, cheese, or other filled dumplings
  • shooters--soup or shake sips in small glasses or small sake or other cups, such as demitasse cups

The important things to remember about choosing hors d'oeuvres for your party are:
  1. Try to have several different types of hors d'oeuvers, such as empanadas, tartlets, rollups, and skewers--all-canapé parties are becoming increasingly rare.  Or embrace the beast and offer on different tables or in different areas at your party the different types of hors d'oeuvres by shape, one shape or type on each table.
  2. You don't want to have too much dough and bread--Review your menu--Is everything made with dough or bread? If so, make changes in your selection by type.
  3. If the occasion is more casual, to cut down on work and/or expense, serve one or no hot hors d'oeuvres, as these require chafing dishes or to come straight from the oven and are more work.
  4. One way to start your menu selection is to decide something like one meat or chicken hors d'oeuvres, one seafood hors d'oeuvres, and two vegetarian hors d'oeuvres.  Then look over your possibilities/recipes or your caterer's or restaurant's menu suggestions and choose the meat or chicken, seafood, and vegetarian hors d'oeuvres options from the list of possible hors d'oeuvres.
  5. If you pass trays of hors d'oeuvres at your party, your guests will take longer to choose if the passed tray has more than one type of hors d'oeuvres--BUT if your party is small and you have only one person passing trays this probably won't matter and is probably necessary as you won't have extra help to pass trays.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Cool tool: Petite Cone Express savory and sweet cone maker for serving hors d'oeuvres or dessert cones Model 836:
http://ping.fm/ZoUCD

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New Pop-Up Party Bins: decorative cardboard recycling & trash bins 4 parties require less changing of bags:
http://ping.fm/UItze

Fall Botanicals for Decorating at Your Events

One of the things our event design team emphasizes is that some great event ideas, including decorating ideas, can be adapted from weddings.

Case in point: Botanicals for your event decor.  We use the term "botanicals" loosely to mean ferns, fronds, leaves, harvest fruits, etc.

For fall parties and gatherings, here are several ideas for using botanicals to decorate your event space and make your gathering pop:

Use foliage
Ferns or "foliage" can vary from feathery sprays to large single blades or leaves.  We don't care for the typical "fall foliage" fallen types of leaves because if they're real they'll fall apart/crumble when you try to use them to decorate with.  Instead, we like foliage that is more green and younger so it won't crumble as dry foliage can.  You can also tie bunches of ferns or single blades with ribbon in fall colors to decorate and/or to make the foliage look a little more fall-themed.

Fern Centerpieces
You can use ferns with just a few flowers to make a centerpiece if you use enough ferns (a lot) interspersed with just a few flowers, perhaps in fall colors.  Ferns are much less expensive than flowers.

Fruits of the Woods
Try mixing feathery-type ferns on tables with acorns, small Seckel pears, tiny apples, walnuts, or other "fruits of the woods."  This looks best if centered on a buffet table or as separate centerpieces on one or more dining tables.

Dried Herbs/Flower Trumpets
Wedding designers use tall trumpet-shaped vases with dried lavendar or other dried herbs or flowers.  The trick to avoid this looking like something from Granny's living room is to use TALL trumpet vases and TALL dried herb arrangements.  These tall dried herb trumpets can be used as a single centerpiece on a buffet or again, on one or more dining tables.  The trumpet(s) should be tall enough that seated guests, if that's the case, can see each other as the trumpets are tall enough to be over their eyeline when seated.

Fern Napkins
You can fold napkins into the type of fold in which you put a small menu and in that fold put a frond of fern or a single blade fern (with or without the menu tucked inside also, or the menu on top of the folded napkin and fern tucked in the fold of the napkin.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Food Centerpieces

The fall entertaining season is now here, and if you're looking for ways to make your event stand out, certain foods make unusual centerpieces, either on buffet tables or dining tables.

More traditional centerpieces are usually things like flowers, potted plants, topiaries, statures, ice sculptures, etc., and we love these too.

But in the past five years or so, the idea of food centerpieces has also been growing, and these offer great new possibilities, and not just for weddings, where they're increasingly popular.  Most events of any size can use the idea if well done.

By food centerpieces we mean things like baskets or decorative containers or stands of artisan bread displays, cheeses, chocolates, cheese and fruit, or fruit.  Or themed food centerpieces feature things like, for example, a basket, wooden cheese round, or other container filled with French pastries, brioches, croissants, small Bries, and other French foods.

Should we eat this?

Your guests WILL eventually eat from food centerpieces.  You can either make the food centerpiece part of the total guest food served or have it as an extra amount of guest food.

But don't stress if your cake stand or whatever holding your food centerpiece looks a little bare at the end of your party because guests ate from it--instead, look around and see how much everyone is enjoying themselves!

Food centerpieces are fun and unusual and in a way less wasteful--you can always give whatever's left from your food centerpiece to someone, or to a shelter.

Here are more ideas for food centerpieces.  Remember that a food centerpiece always looks better with a little height and a sort of "piled up" look:

  • Seedless grape bunches on a cake or tier stand, with our without flower blooms
  • For a smaller gathering, a cake or tier stand with finger foods or soup shooters as the centerpiece (in addition to other trays or platters of food)
  • Harvest or seasonal fruit "cornucopias" (piled-up display, but not in a basket cornucopia)
  • Berry "cornucopias"
  • Candied violets or other artisan candies
  • Mini brownies, mini lemon bars, mini rugelach, or other mini desserts that won't get smooshed when piled up
  • A layer cake on a cake stand--Put something on top such as one or several whole berries, an organic flower head, or a chocolate figurine

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Friday, September 16, 2011

Add elegance 2 dessert buffet: smal dishes of chocolates or almonds in interesting little dishes like Katobuki at:
http://ping.fm/NBKF9

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Cool and unique name cards and invitations printed on birch:
http://ping.fm/4MtLA

Fandango Catering and Events Launches Food Stations Menu

At the request of several clients and prospective clients we are happy to announce the launch of our new Food Stations Menu.

As many readers know I have blogged several times on the food stations trend, so, in collaboration with our chefs and event team, we have designed some great food stations that are unique to our market and our brand as an eco-friendly and eco-chic catering and event production company.

For example:
  • A REAL tapas station, designed and prepared by a REAL Spanish chef
  • An avocado station--we really love our avocado down here! And our Avocado Station features Avocado Lime-Cream Dip with House-Baked Tortilla Chips; Shrimp and Avocado Paté (it's a terrine, no liver, I promise); Guacamole Mousse Tartlets; and Avocado, Seasonal Fruit, and Shrimp Salad served in martini glasses--so it's a nice variety by type of food and by visual presentation
  • A seafood station--Made up of seafood finger foods, which is unique, and including Txangurro (Basque sherried deviled crab) Tartlets found nowhere else in the U.S. (or Spain/the Basque Country, for that matter); all shrimp wild caught
  • A shooter station--Featuring both savory soup sips AND smoothie and shake sips, so it's a lot more fun!
  • A skewers station--Featuring two kinds of Asian satays as well as our very popular Banderillas de Emparedados (Spanish ham and cheese French toast sandwich brochettes with cherry tomatoes) and some cool local fresh fruit brochettes with an amazing Sugar-Mascarpone Dip
  • An ORGANIC LOCAL crudités station--With trio of dips and presented in martini glasses
And just confirmed! We are proud to also be able to offer the wonderful specialty coffees and house-made artisan sodas and other artisan beverages from Café Luz, the delightful collaborative chefs' café at our kitchen facility in downtown Houston, with trained barista, as a station choice for our events!  So cool.

For more info:
info@fandango-catering.com

Warmly,

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

3 Easy Party Foods for Fall

As cooler weather approaches and we organize our fall gatherings, it's good to know a few easy foods that can be served to groups.

When we lived in Europe there was (and still is) a wonderful fall culture of grilling at country houses, and the cool bracing air out in the country really worked up people's appetites.  In the spirit of this fall grilling, here a few easy and delicious ideas you can adapt.

Escalivada
This is a Catalán dish of grilled vegetables (traditional for this dish are eggplants, peppers, and onions), but our Chef Jesús tweaks the traditional recipe by marinating the vegetables in olive oil and chopped fresh herbs and then mixing the finished grilled vegetables with roasted garlic, which can even be prepared ahead--the heat of the grilled vegetables will warm the roasted garlic enough for your guests.

From "Simply Recipes"--How to Roast Garlic:
Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
roasted-garlic-1.jpg roasted-garlic-2.jpg
roasted-garlic-3.jpg roasted-garlic-4.jpg
Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.
roasted-garlic-5.jpg
Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.

Mixed Sausage Grill
In Europe people often do a mixed sausage grill in the fall.  This is not hard if you stick with three or max four types of sausages and you know how many minutes to grill each type.  Just as with a cheese platter, try to have different types of sausages such as fresh and cured or more sweet and less sweet and maybe a spicy type. 

If you want to up the flavor you can marinade the sausages briefly with your favorite grilling marinade or use special woods or fresh herbs on the heat source, but this is not necessary.

Set out a nice chimichurri or salsa verde, an alioli, and a remoulade, or any three sauces you like for your guests--buy the sauces at a gourmet shop if you're pressed for time.  People love the interactive aspect of choosing their sausage type and trying each type with the different sauces.

Shrimp Platter with Trio of Sauces
Grill seasoned shrimp or boil it with shrimp boil.  Put a large amount of shrimp on a couple of large platters or in large bowls,  Set out next to this pile of shrimp a trio of sauces (amounts given make for about 4-6 guests; multiply accordingly):
Lime-Poblano Crema--One of our signature sauces/spreads.  Mix 1 cup Mexican crema or sour cream with 1-2 roasted poblanos, blended to a puree, and the juice of 2-3 limes
Red Pepper Mayo--Blend roasted red peppers (1/4 to 1/2 cup) with 1 to 1 1/2 cups mayo--depends on how much you like red peppers.  If too briny add a little fresh or dried dill or fresh basil
Asian Dipper--Mix wasabi mayo or miso and mayo with ginger and chopped chives

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Monday, September 12, 2011

4 parties Grilld Shrimp w trio of sauces: Crema blendd w rosted poblano lime juice Rosted rd pepp blendd w mayo Miso blendd w ginger, chives

Saturday, September 10, 2011

New from our blog: More cool ideas for your party:
http://bit.ly/9OepuP

More Cool Ideas for Your Party

This week we honor 9/11 by celebrating life, resilience, and joy,  so here are more cool ideas for your parties and gatherings this fall.

  • If your decor is more contemporary, casual, or mod and you are having a small group for dinner, print colorful menus on your printer and lay one on each napkin or each dinner plate.  Menu templates are available in many computers, or the easiest design ever is just to pick a font you like and bright or other colors you like; make the menu heading or name(s) of the guest(s) of honor in one color and the course names or dish names in another.  This will take you only a few minutes and you'll be surprised how it really perks up your party.
  • Buy gelato or sorbet and pack into a Bundt or other mold pan in the freezer, then unmold just before serving onto a platter or cake plate--looks cool. 
  • Make your party look elegant with little work by piling chocolate milk balls that you buy in a nice bowl like silver or clear glass and then setting on a cake stand--looks something like chocolate truffles but is easier.
  • Mix a Mexican or Latin tropical fruit nectar with cava, Prosecco, or a sparkling wine or champagne for a new twist on the mimosa.  Wet and then rim the glass with sugar--these look new and cool in martini glasses.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Thursday, September 8, 2011

More Cool Fall Entertaining Ideas

Today we bring you even more cool ideas for fall entertaining.  As we often say, it's the little details that count, and just one cool detail can really make your event a success.

Here are 4 more cool entertaining ideas that you can use at your gatherings this fall, or whenever.

  • Buy three stackable tier stands to stack (available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and department stores) and stack them, or at least stack two of them, and put your hors d'oeuvres, soup or beverage shooters, or little desserts or candies on them.  Use as a centerpiece.  People serve themselves off of these stacked tiers. Refill as necessary.  Note: this idea is not appropriate for parties where kids might knock over the tier stands.
  • If you will be having a seated dinner or luncheon with several tables, you can decant white or rosé wines into clear glass bottles or carafes so people can serve themselves--often guests prefer this as it saves them waiting for a server or host/ess to serve them more wine as well as being a great icebreaker at the guest tables
  • An easy and harvest-y centerpiece is to fill a bowl, preferably footed, or an urn, with fall purple grapes and yellow fall fruits (if this complements your other decor, of course).
  • Even just one really cool bar accessory adds the wow factor to your party--A butler-shaped cocktail shaker (Lenox) or oversize martini or cocktail glasses (just one per bar, and available from companies like Royal Doulton or Oneida) make a cool, fun statement.  You can even fill an oversize martini or cocktail glass with candies or nuts.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

5 Cool Ideas for Fall Entertaining

Fall has begun to semi-officially creep up on us, and as we begin planning fall gatherings, we wanted to give you 5 cool ideas that will add pizzazz to your fall event.

With events, it's always the little details that count and that, added up, make for a successful event. So today we have some great ideas for easily adding that special touch to your event.  The emphasis is on easy!

Idea #1
Add cupcake toppers or mini flag banners to your desserts (or even to your hors d'oeuvres).  These are not just for weddings.  Two lines we like are:
www.millalove.etsy.com
www.mycreativesidekg.etsy.com

Idea #2
You can also buy great cool mod bunting, in very nice colors, at:
www.mycreativesidekg.etsy.com

This bunting is not the old-fashioned kind--it's very contemporary but the colors are soothing, so it doesn't look too cold (the danger with many contemporary designs is that they can look too cold).

Idea #3
You can create a wonderful and cool dessert with almost no effort by buying chocolate dessert cups and filling them with sweetened whipped cream or a mix of sweetened whipped cream and mascarpone or sour cream.  Then add a fresh berry to each cup, or chocolate sprinkles, or mini chocolate chips. 

Available at: www.langschocolates.com or www.thefind.com (Search "chocolate dessert cups" in The Find).

Idea #4
Create the coolest chips and salsa display (or station, as we events people now call them) in your 'hood by setting out unexpected types of bowls to hold the salsas, such as crystal or wide, low goblets, preferably clear or colored but clear glass.  Even better if the crystal bowl has a pedestal! That mix of more traditional design in the bowl type and more casual in the salsas is unexpected and will dazzle your guests without being stuffy. Use small spoons in each salsa bowl or goblet for guests to spoon the salsa on their chips.

Idea #5
Put small organic flower blooms on your desserts, even cookies, one small bloom per cookie/cupcake/mini dessert/cake or pie slice.  No time for even that? Put the blooms on the tray where you're serving the dessert from.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Creating Food Stations at Your Labor Day Party

As the Labor Day weekend approaches many are thinking of gatherings they're planning to celebrate Labor Day.  Today we offer ideas for adding pizzazz to your Labor Day outdoor party (works for indoor parties too) by using food stations.

If you live in an area that has not been either hit by a hurricane or burned under the merciless sun this summer and can still have an outdoor event this Labor Day, rejoice! And take note of how to make your gathering the most interesting in your neighborood.

Food stations continue to be trendy and can be elaborate, but it's not difficult to add the same interest factor to your Labor Day gathering by using the idea adapted to a more casual setting.

Here's all you need to know:

  • Find or borrow (or buy) tables to equal at least three.  Can be any shape, really, and best if not very small.  If you want to make the tables look harmonious, cover them with the same type of tablecloths; or embrace their differentness as part of your decor (maybe using the same centerpiece or decorations on each of the tables to somewhat unify without dealing with tablecloths).
  • Look over your outdoor (or indoor) space for your Labor Day gathering--where can you set these three tables so they aren't too close together? A triangle configuration works well.  Don't put more than one table close to the house or you defeat the whole idea. And keep the beverage table or bar as a separate thing.
  • When you have your three tables (or more configured), divide up the food so that there is food on each table.  Yes, that's all there is to it, essentially.  You can make this work best by keeping the same types of food on one table.  For example, the appetizers or snacks on one table, the main course and sides on another, and the desserts on another. 
  • Tell guests as they arrive something like: "Appetizers over by the X tree, main course will be over by the deck, and the dessert will be over next to the pool," or something like that, identifying by some marker or identifier and even pointing out each table.

What's the point of this?

Well, guests love this as it gives them something to do and they can "investigate" the yard, so to speak, which gives them something else to do, and they see and socialize with people coming and going from this or that station in the yard, so that's another thing to do, and it reminds people of childhood treasure or Easter egg hunts, which makes most people feel good. 

Some guests will even say, "Oh, I never realized how nice your  flowers/bushes/trees/lawn/pergola/gazebo is/are," even if they've been there before, because they never really looked at it in the way that food stations promote exploring a space.

We can almost guarantee that it will make for a more interesting Labor Day gathering.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com