Archive for the ‘Party Tips’ Category

I thought I would give you some information on Callas.  Everyone loves them so!  I think they must be one of the very most popular wedding blooms if not THE most popular! 

There is little doubt why the Calla is so popular.  It’s beautiful fluted shape, almost like a champagne glass, gives it a distinctive, elegant look. 

The Calla comes in several bright colors.  Notice it’s leaves and see that most are lance or heart shaped.  How coincidental for our special wedding flower!

Information courtesy of www.plantingflowerbulbs.com

Let our design team at Kim King Smith Events assist you with your florals.

By Kim

It’s that time of year again! The Fourth of July is almost here and time to get ready for some fun and entertaining. My intern, Susan, has been busy at work finding some fun food and drink to make your next evening “out”side explode with fun! Happy Fourth, Happy Summer!
photo courtesy of Cloth World

Things you’ll need for a successful & decorative July 4th celebration:
• Colorful side dishes
• Tables cloths in varying designs
• Cups and utensils in red, white and blue
• Patriotic napkins
• Red, white and blue potted plants
• Star confetti
(From Ehow.com)

Be festive with your Fourth of July essentials. Use red, white, and blue drinks to entertain your guests. For a snack, skip the flour tortilla chips and salsa for blue corn tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream. You can also make homemade potato salad. Simply, use red potatoes, white potatoes, and blue (purple) potatoes

Be creative with your tablecloth. You can use a red picnic table cloth. To make a more creative look, layer a red table cloth with a blue and a white table cloth.

For plastic essentials use the patriotic colors. You can purchase plates and cups with star designs. To save money, use variations of red, white, and blue for plastic utensils, plates, and cups.

For centerpieces, use flowers that are festive for the event. Potted plants that are red, white, and blue will help celebrate the patriotic occasion. For an extra touch, you can add matching pinwheels or sparklers.

Fun Fourth of July Drink Ideas:

Watermelon-Lemonade Cooler (From SouthernLiving.com)
Ingredients
15 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
2 (12-ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 mint sprigs
Ice
Garnishes: watermelon wedges, mint springs
Preparation
Process watermelon, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Combine concentrate and 2 mint sprigs, and cook in a saucepan over medium-high heat 10 minutes. Stir together watermelon puree and lemonade mixture; cover and chill 8 hours. Remove and discard mint. Stir and serve over ice. Garnish, if desired.
Makes about 14 cups

Directions
Blend watermelon, lime juice, sugar, ice and water in a blender until smooth.

Blackberry Iced Tea (From SouthernLiving.com)
Ingredients
3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Pinch of baking soda
4 cups boiling water
2 family-size tea bags
2 1/2 cups cold water
Garnishes: fresh blackberries, fresh mint sprigs
Preparation
Combine blackberries and sugar in large container. Crush blackberries with wooden spoon. Add mint and baking soda. Set aside.
Pour 4 cups boiling water over tea bags; cover and let stand 3 minutes. Discard tea bags.
Pour tea over blackberry mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Pour tea through a wire-mesh strainer into a large pitcher, discarding solids. Add 2 1/2 cups cold water, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Garnish, if desired.
Makes about 7 ½ cups

For a colorful dessert try a homemade ice cream cake seen on the Today Show and can be found at www.today.msnbc.msn.com:

INGREDIENTS
• One recipe Simply Strawberry Sorbet
• 4 cups of cookie crumbs (process 7 Newman’s Own Organic O’s — creamy fillings and all — in the food processor until finely ground) or finely chopped candied ginger
• One recipe Lemon Ice Cream with Candied Lemon Peel
• One recipe Simply Blueberry Sorbet
• Freshly whipped cream, fresh berries, and sprigs of mint, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Place a 9-inch springform pan in the freezer until very cold, at least 1 hour.
Make the strawberry sorbet (or beat premade, frozen sorbet until smooth in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Remove the springform pan from the freezer and immediately scoop in the sorbet. Working quickly, use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to smooth the sorbet into an even layer, approximately 1-inch high. Sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup cookie crumbs or candied ginger, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour.
Repeat the process with the lemon ice cream and another 1/4 cup of crumbs or candied ginger, freezing 1 hour. Finish with the blueberry sorbet, topping with the last 1/4 cup of crumbs or candied ginger. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until set, at least two hours or overnight.
Chill a serving plate or cake stand in the freezer.
Just before serving, unmold the cake: Warm the blade of an offset spatula or knife in hot tap water, then wipe it dry. Run the blade around the inside edge of the pan, then unlock and remove the sides. Place the chilled plate or cake stand upside-down on top of the cake pan and flip everything over so the cake is resting on the plate. Rewarm the knife and gently edge it between the bottom of the pan and the cake to remove the bottom of the pan. Garnish with a mint sprig and serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.
If the entire cake is not eaten in one sitting, immediately after slicing, wrap it well with plastic wrap and put it back in the freezer. This will help prevent melting and refreezing, which can ruin the texture.
Makes a 9 inch cake.

Here are some table scape ideas from Crate and Barrel. This could give you a few ideas for your next BBQ or how about your Fourth of July party? Create a fun time with friends.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BRIDAL CONSULTANTS CONVENTION
I just returned from the National Association of Bridal Consultants convention and have so much to share with you. I attended the Sandals Resort seminar and discovered how truly amazing the resorts can be for your honeymoon or next getaway. They have so many options to choose, and all are inclusive. Check out my Sandals link for more info.

DAVID TUTERA Celebrity Event Planner and Wedding Designer
SPEAKING OF AMAZING… the bridal convention’s featured speaker was the one and only, DAVID TUTERA. David had so many fabulous ideas and is blessed with endless creativity. No wonder he is the host of “get married” and “The Party Planner” along with featured guest on so many television shows. He now does Disney couture weddings and took attendees on a private tour of the Disney wedding venue. His entertaining and design skills are phenomenal! Make sure to check out his website at http://www.davidtutera.com/. What an honor to be able to meet with him…he shared so many wonderful ways to make your next event better than you ever dreamed!

LINENS
NEW COLORS FOR SPRING… Raspberry, eggplant and rose will be hot colors this spring and summer. Toss in a little coral and you have colors that will pop! Check out BBJ Linens Azra Sheer and Carlisle Lamour.
Chocolate is here to stay with BBJ Linens Brown Niko, Cocoa Blue Rhapsody, Abstract Lamour and Brown Crocodile. Add a splash of Burnt Orange Bengaline and wow! Look at Black Orleans Damask too. It is reversible!

NEW COCKTAIL RECIPE… Recently I returned from the National Association of Bridal Consultants convention. I returned with sooo many new trends and ideas to make your wedding amazing! At the farewell gala we had a great signature drink. It was called,
“Girl’s Night Out”. I renamed it “Pomegranate Punch” for a recent event I did for an energy company’s holiday party. They loved it! Try the recipe, and see what you think:
1 part pomegrantae schnapps
1 part orange juice
2 parts Sprite
Garnish with orange

NEED A GIFT?…for yourself or a friend?? Checkout the new Mac Cosmetics ROYAL ASSETS ( Remember,I just love “Royal” products!) line. The cases are truly gorgeous and the colors will make you look like a queen…..

INDY STAR ARTICLE
Kim King Smith Events, LLC was so proud to be featured in the December 29th Indianapolis Star, Home and Garden section. We made the front page with holiday tablescapes that you can use in January and February too! Julie Saetre, from the Star, was kind enough to ask me to coordinate some tablescapes for her that would be able to go from the holidays to early spring. No need to put up your beautiful pieces after the holidays, transform them into a stunning tablescape for the entire winter. Thanks to my friends from CRATE AND BARREL, TWIGS in Fishers, CHARLES MAYER and CO. at 56th and Illinois and RITA’S BACKYARD floral design. Special thanks to my friends at THE MANSION AT OAK HILL, the Zehrs, for providing the facility for the photo shoot and for displaying their wonderful tablescape too.

More….Erin Barriento, THE MANSION’S coordinator, and floral designer, Julie Acheson, ROYAL CREATIONS designed a phenomenally gorgeous table that will be featured too. Their table will promote the Association of Bridal Consultants, “ART OF THE TABLE”, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th from 12:00-4:00 P.M. at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. This event is a must! Tickets are only $10 each and may be purchased at the door or from any Association of Bridal Consultants member. All proceeds will benefit scholarship and the American Cancer Society. Bring your friends,have brunch at the museum and then view the beautiful tablescapes designed by the best floral and bridal professionals in central Indiana!
It will be a feast for your eyes. Never will you see so many gorgeous tables and creative ideas! Make sure to look me up. I will be the day of event coordinator and would love to meet you.

SPEAKING OF TABLESCAPES…my friends and I will have two tables at the Art of the Table. The first one will be themed “WEDDING IN PARIS” Ooh la la!! It will be wonderful. CardInk, Flowers by Tiffany, Morgan Matters Photography, Anna Godar’s Special Occasions by Anna, Charles Mayer and Company and Kim King Smith Events, LLC will design a table that will be all the inspiration you need to escape to Paris for a romantic wedding or let us recreate it for you here in central Indiana. Our second table will be a BIRTHDAY PARTY theme. Who doesn’t love a birthday party, anyway?? It will be fun, colorful and delicious……??? Lots of surprises and fun!!

NO TIME TO ENTERTAIN during the holidays? Consider having a party in January or February. This is a perfect time to gather with friends and entertain. Create a theme and add color that pops. Call me for ideas…317-512-0172.

I HAD THE VERY BEST TIME…at the December ISES (International Special Event Society) meeting, a professional organization for event specialists. It was held at The Mansion at Oak Hill on 116th and Hazel Dell. Guest speaker was OPRAH’S EVENT PLANNER, DEBI LILY who has worked extensively with Colin Cowie and Preston Bailey on events. Debi gave us education and insight into the very latest trends in event and wedding design. She told us all about how she planned Oprah’s 50th birthday bash and other fab events for the star.

DISCOVER… befizzy.com and inkbox.com for bride and bridesmaid’s fun attire. Nothing with rhinestones, just fun, fab apparel for the bride and her attendants!

Now is the time to start planning your high school and college graduation parties. Starting your planning early will lead to the best party. Why not let our team help you make this day spectacular? We can design a celebration that will be fun and memorable.