Throwing a Party, Part 2

If you didn't read Part 1, which contains a lot of general tips on throwing a party, I have included it here: Throwing a Party, Part 1



Throwing a Party, Part 2



I wanted to give the particulars of my wife's surprise party. Hopefully going through the actual party will give you some ideas for hosting your own party.



Advance Prep- I ordered the invitations (from VistaPrint.com) a month before the party and mailed them 2 weeks before the party. A great way to personalize the invitation is to get find a great picture (especially of the birthday person) and put it on the stamp. This is done so easily through Photo Stamps.



Food- I did all of the shopping the day before the party to ensure the freshness of all ingredients. I started at Sam's Club, the perfect place for all of those bulk items needed for a large party. I found incredible deals on fresh mozzarella, grape tomatoes, huge frozen shrimp, flank steak, decorative dinner plates, pistachios and a bunch of other items. Since I was doing an antipasto platter, I needed some Italian deli meats so I headed to Publix. Publix has Boar's Head meat, which are incredible. I also bought some arugula, espresso and a couple of other items I didn't need in bulk. I then headed over to Fresh Market, a gourmet grocery store similar to Whole Foods, but not completely organic. This is where I bought the Prosciutto di Parma (probably the finest piece of deli meat in the world and certainly one of the most expensive at $20 per pound). I also found a nice selection of cheese here, including Fontal (a great Italian Sheep's milk cheese).

Drink- Keeping with my all Italian theme, all of my drinks were made from Italy. This included some Prosecco (Italy's version of sparkling wine, albeit more restrained), white & red wine, Panna water, San Pellegrino sparkling sodas (I love the Aranciata and Limonata flavors), Italian beer (Peroni & Moretti) some homemade limoncello and some espresso. I found most of these items (including the water and Italian sodas) from Total Wine & More. This is like Toys 'R Us for alcoholics. They have some great prices and an expansive selection.

Decorations- This definitely isn't my strong point so I went with fresh flowers. Here is a great hint, instead of searching for florists in your area look for floral supply. These are wholesalers to florists and offer a huge discount over your local retailer. My wife loves the color pink, so I decorated the house with peonies (her favorite, they look like huge roses) and roses. I also love to use candles everywhere, but since there were going to be tons of kids running around, I opted out of this. Finally, I decided to go with paper plates and utensils that I found from Sam's Club (believe it or not they had paper plates that matched the invitation-circles in pastels with a pink background). For background music, I simply put on a digital music station (instrumental) that can be found on most cable and satellite providers). Although the plates and utensils were disposable, I used porcelain platters. Most of them were from Deruta in Italy. These are beautiful hand painted pieces. I love using different shapes and heights to make the appearance interesting. I also purchased stemless wine glasses from Linens 'N Things. These were only $19 for a set of 12 and were a great buy and great quality.

I know this seems to be the never ending post, but next time I am going to talk specifics about the food and drinks that were served. I have some great recipes that were quick and easy to make, a key point so you can enjoy the party instead of slaving over the stove.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!