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A party for every season

  • March 27, 2010 9:21 am
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There was time when getting together – for harvest parties, raisings, cocktail soirees, backyard picnics – wasn’t something people had to think about. It was a part of life’s natural ebb and flow.

Entertaining doesn’t have to mean a weeklong cleaning frenzy and serving up fancy Frenchified food. It’s about people – reconnecting and staying connected to the people in your life, or discovering fascinating new ones to enrich it.

2010 is the year to bring the dormant partier in you back to life, and we asked four local event planners to lead the way with ideas for inviting people into your home.

Throw a spring fling

For a flower-filled, welcome-to-spring get-together idea, we turned to floral designers and event planners Libby Becker and Breaca Lozier. Becker and Lozier turned their thoughts to May and planned a spring-scented book club meeting to exchange members’ most beloved reads and share a few hours of biblio-centric fun. to these planners, the most important thing you can do for your party is set a beautiful table. “Even if you serve Chinese takeout,” Lozier says, “your guests will be wowed.” (For information about Becker and Lozier’s services, e-mail specialarrangements@ mchsi.com.)

Theme: May Day Beloved Book Club Luncheon. Share your favorite book with people who will appreciate it for the treasure it is. Guests bring a pre-owned, pre-read (and still loved) book to tuck into flower-filled May baskets – either provided by the host or brought by each guest. Wrap the books for an element of surprise, or leave unwrapped so people can choose what appeals.

Food: As Becker notes, “It’s hard to beat a good chicken salad,” and a strawberry soup not only tastes springy and refreshing, “it’s the most beautiful color!” Plate the salad on top of a frilly lettuce leaf and sprinkle with edible pansies. Accompany with mini croissants or high-end crackers. for dessert, Becker suggests a dainty petit four topped with another one of those pretty pansies.

Drinks: Think refreshing, like Prosecco or Champagne with a raspberry dropped in each glass, cranberry juice and vodka (or sparkling water) or limeade – with vodka or without.

Decor: Blue and white is a no-fail option, Lozier says. “Almost everyone has some things that are blue and white.” and accented with yellow or pink or green, and garden-y touches, it doesn’t get much springier. Invest in anchoring the table with a big, beautiful flower arrangement; if you go all out on that, you can use smaller, inexpensive touches around it. Bring vintage or stylized garden seating inside for the occasion; use Grandma’s china teacups for the soup and your nicest linen napkins.

Hot summer theme

Melinda Toyne, owner of in Any Event planners, encourages you to channel Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, despite Iowa’s dearth of beaches.

Toyne says all you need for summer party inspiration is to think about what fond summer memories you have and what equals summer fun for you. “Likely it’s carefree, colorful and playful that comes to mind,” Toyne says. so bust out the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka-dot bikini and invite the crew over for a beach party, Iowa style. (In Any Event, 371-4742; melinda@in-any-event.com; in-any-event.com)

Theme: Think like a Kid Beach Party. Incorporate bright colors into pool and beach themes for a summer shindig. Put on some Beach Boys CDs or hire a steel drum player or Caribbean-style entertainer if budget permits. Set up yard games such as bocce ball, croquet, lawn darts or volleyball, depending on how much space you have.

Food: Beach party food should be light, because Iowa summers can be really toasty. Avoid grilling and prepare any cooked menu items ahead. Offer a variety of cold salads (green, pasta, vegetable, chicken) and soups (vichyssoise, fruit soups, gazpacho). Dessert, Toyne says, is the perfect opportunity to relive your childhood. have an old-fashioned sundae bar with all the fixings or hire an ice-cream truck or vendor to come to the party. Keep the food area inside to minimize chances for spoilage.

Drinks: Keep cold drinks on ice in a canoe, kayak or blow-up pool. to keep the kiddie theme going, Toyne suggests making adult versions of Popsicles in the mold kits you can buy (make sure there are more non-alcoholic ingredients than alcohol or they won’t freeze). or, just make drink versions of Popsicle or ice-cream-treat flavors.

Decor: Channel sand down the center of tables and dot with candles and shells. use bright plastic beach buckets or galvanized metal buckets for whimsical floral arrangements of fresh flowers. Hang bright paper globe lights or fairy lights to create a festive feel. for centerpieces, Toyne likes the idea of using a variety of glass jars and containers layered with brightly colored candy and gumballs.

Cool themes for cool days

At the end of a long, hot, Iowa summer, everyone will be ready for favorite sweaters, the warm oranges and golds of fall leaves and anything made with apples and pumpkins.

Autumn is event planner Beau Fodor’s favorite season for entertaining. “The colors, the scents, harvest produce, the sense of settling back in to the hearth and home…love it!” Fodor exclaims. (Beaux Panache, beaufodor@yahoo.com; beauxpanache.com)

Theme: Pumpkin carving and harvest dinner party. Fodor says concentrate on the season, rather than the iconic October holiday. “I’ve chosen to celebrate Halloween as a harvest fest, not so much as the pagan holiday for bewitching and spooking.”

Food: you should take advantage of fall produce, Fodor says. he suggests for a starter, serving up Cajun cornbread and praline-pumpkin soup, followed by maple-bacon-wrapped scallops over radicchio and field greens. A main course of grilled pork tenderloin with roasted-pear-and-pistachio chutney is simple and seasonal. Dessert should also evoke autumnal flavors. Fodor suggests a pumpkin crme brule served with a good port. Producers’ Web sites (e.g. Iowa Pork Producers, pumpkin growers’ sites etc.) are a great place to look for recipes.

Drinks: for a festive signature drink, serve apple cider martinis with a brown-sugared rim.

Decor: Fodor says it’s easy to be cost-effective with your finishing touches. use seasonal produce from a farmer’s market. Decorate with bittersweet, cabbage and lettuce leaves, chrysanthemums and dahlias. Raid your yard for maple and oak leaves and sculptural twigs. Hollowed-out pumpkins and squashes make great containers for your centerpieces. Lanterns, candles and some carved pumpkins will fill the room with warm light. after dessert, have each guest carve a (gooey stuff already removed) pumpkin to take home with them.

Warm up with retro fun

All the holiday bling is packed away and the warm fuzzies of having loved ones near are gone. All that remains is a forgotten piece of tinsel, a couple of Champagne corks and piles of dirty snow. It must be late winter.

Melodee Pomerantz, an event planner and lifestyle expert, took on our challenge to light a figurative fire under what must surely be Iowa’s most unloved – and unlovely – time of year with a blast-from-the-past retro party theme. (Pomerantz Events, 224.4932; mpomerantz@pomerantzevents.com; pomerantzevents.com)

Theme: Mad Men/Retro Potluck (based on the hit AMC show “Mad Men,” set in a 50s-era ad agency). Pomerantz describes it as “a vintage-style party minus the sexism and racism. if you don’t want to go the ‘Mad Men’ route, you can still do a retro party – guests can come dressed in fashions from the year they were born. This is the time to get out all your mom’s old stuff and look chic instead of behind the times.” so put a little Frank Sinatra on the hi-fi and have at it.

Attire: Dressing up is optional, but it adds a layer to the fun. Check out the Mad Men Fashion File for ideas: blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/fashion-file. Borrow duds from an older relative or check out Atomic Garage in Valley Junction and Dorothea’s Closet Vintage (1733 Grand Ave.) to rent or buy.

Food: Assign everyone to bring a specific item and have them give you the recipes in advance; create small commemorative cookbooks for take-home treats. Processed food should figure in – canned soups, frozen vegetables, Jell-O. Tuna-noodle casserole (topped with potato chips of course), consomm and anything pseudo-Polynesian are also naturals.

Drinks: Manhattans, martinis, Pink Squirrels premixed in pitchers. have plenty of swizzle sticks on hand. Stock up on Miller High Life and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. buy pop in glass bottles; Tang, Yoo-hoo for the nondrinkers.

Decor: If you’re lucky, you can scrounge up an old TV and a set of rabbit ears. use it as your bar (it’s even better if the TVs guts are out). use white tablecloths and deck them out with some really bad centerpieces of fake flowers and plastic fruit. Load some little boxes with candy cigarettes and chocolate cigars. Start saving up your “TV dinner” trays (from frozen dinners) to serve dinner on. Play episodes of “Mad Men” on your TV or laptop.

A party for every season