I guess because it took me and My Darling a long time – a very long time – to find each other, everyone was so excited when we got engaged!
And they kept asking us when we were going to have drinks to celebrate…
so we finally got organised and decided on a cocktail party which we held last weekend (and are still recovering from!). The idea was to make it a memorable event with a bit of sophistication so we hired a mixologist.
The venue was our stylish little townhouse and the bar was our kitchen/breakfast bar. We made sure we had enough generous portions of hors d’oeuvres and dessert which the mums made – yorkshire pudding with roast beef topping, vol au vents with all sorts of tasty fillings, ceviche shots, mini tortilla, muffins for dessert – I’m getting hungry thinking about how yummy they were.
Typically the whole day of the party it rained torrentially and we were never going to fill 50 guests in our lounge, so My Darling cleverly made an outdoor marquee McGuyver style out of tarpaulins. Luckily it stopped raining just in time for the start and our dirty smoker friends were able to go out front and socialise too. So with all that space and a bit of a furniture shuffle we had plenty of room for everyone.
Mark the mixologist from Professional Bar Resources was a big hit – not only because he was mixing cocktails non stop, friendly and professional – but he was pretty easy on the eye. I think my stepsister got his number! We asked everyone to bring a hip flask of their favourite spirit instead of a gift (we have enough stuff we can’t fit into our house already!). Our kitchen looked more well stocked than a professional bar! And we made sure we had all sorts of mixers, fruit, cocktail umbrellas and pretty straws. We did limit the cocktail list to four basic drinks, but the mixologist was happy to experiment with other options.
I wish we had hired wait staff though, me, My Darling and a few helpful friends were trying to heat and serve food as well as wash glasses – so we ended up being quite rushed for the first half of the night. Then we made the mistake of trying to catch up on our cocktails – and most of the night is a blur! When most of the guests had left which may have been around 1am – we both crashed in the worst possible way.
The next day wasn’t any better and I was dreading going downstairs and facing the aftermath carnage. When we eventually crawled out of bed at 3pm – I was amazed! We were lucky enough to have a few housekeeping fairies magically clean the entire area – clearing empties and washing and drying all the dishes. Thanks so much Ruth, Renee, Brett and Kerran xxx. You made my day!!
When I inspected the damage i.e. how much booze we had used – I realised why we were so coma’d – the bar guy hardly used any mixers – just straight alcohol. Lethal.
I think it was a night for everyone to remember – even though me and My Darling can’t!!
So, that’s my recipe for a successful cocktail party.
Here’s an easy yummy cocktail recipe that will transport you to a happy place:
Paradise Bliss
Pour in vodka & rum. Follow with pineapple juice. Top off with cranberry. stir and enjoy! Try Dole’s pineapple-banana juice for a great variation.
