Salt Fine Catering

I recently worked with a caterer I have never worked with before and I was blown away with is food!

Robby Melvin with SALT Fine Catering

This event was a pre-dinner cocktail at a home who is used to entertaining. Robby prepared a few pick up appetizers that were OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Menu:

Seared Tuna with Corriander Crust and Lemon-Caper Relish

Braised Harris Ranch Short Rib Croutes with Tangerine and Herb Salad

Wild Mushroom Tartlet with Truffle Butter

Fennel Marinated Feta and Olive Skewers

Red Onion Tatina with Thyme and Aged Balsamic

I wanted to get away from the holiday colors, but wanted to stay true to a dark color pallet for the flowers. I visited my friends at Davis Wholesale and pulled together two arrangements made of deep purples, fuchsias and green.

Happy Planning!

-NB

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you!!

I hope you have enjoyed 2009 as much as I have! It was great year for me...marriage, step-motherhood, the start of Gather, LLC., a happy and healthy family, 10 years since I was first diagnosed with cancer and 5 years cancer free!!

With the end of each year, a new year begins....what will 2010 bring?? I am hopeful you will have many, many reasons to GATHER and celebrate!

Below are a few photos from a New Year's Eve House Party Gather helped with. Why fight the crowd and pay the prices of the pre-set menu...when you can have fabulous food, festive decor, flowing champagne and all of your friends!

DIY Project: Jazz up your NYE decor by doing it yourself. A quick trip to Smith's Variety and $11.00 later, I put together some party hats that won't be seen anywhere else tonight. All you need is scrapbook paper, tinsel garland, a hot glue gun and and whatever you want to decorate your hat with.

Before you put up all of your Christmas decor, see if there is anything that can transition into New Year's. Gold or silver balls can be festive (see above), and they can even resemble champagne bubbles if poured in the right canister or vase.

Happy Planning!

-NB

Casual Home Holiday Gathering

As much as I love planning big events, an in-house gathering for a smaller crowd is always something I enjoy doing. This week I had the pleasure of planning a holiday party for board members and staff of a local organization.

The planning got off to a perfect start when a board member offered up her perfect party house as the venue. I knew I was in a great location when I bumped into my friends from Birmingham Home and Garden Magazine doing a profile of the house for an upcoming issue! This magazine always has great articles on the latest entertaining trends and styles.

I was so excited to work with a new caterer, In Good Taste, for this event. They offered an amazing menu for a great price. I got an email from a guest this morning who said her husband woke up still talking about how great the food was! Please remember that In Good Taste doesn't just do big parties. Next time you are having a small group of people over for dinner, they will be happy to take care of your meal.

(Tiffany and Mary, owners and chefs of In Good Taste)

The centerpiece was a simple arrangement of greenery, gladiolus and pomegranates. It only took me a few minutes to put together and really gave the table a festive holiday look.

I really enjoy helping with these types of smaller in-home events. Please let Gather take the stress of out your next event, whether it be a shower, supper club or just a fun dinner with friends!

Happy Planning!
-NB

New Rule for you party throwers!!!

There are not many rules when throwing a party. I think it is safe to say that I usually tell you to do whatever you want to do...it is your party. However, as my mother always said, rules are in place to protect you. So..................party throwers, you now have Gather's first rule to house parties!

Do NOT re-decorate your house for a dinner party

(well...at least not two days before the event)

You see, this rule is really hard for me. I tend to go a little overboard when I have ANYTHING at my house. It doesn't matter if it is a small dinner party or a blow out bash...I can't help it. However, I have gone too far this time and without this rule in place, I am afraid I will go here again.

I have been talking about painting my entrance hall, dining room and living room a neutral white for months....really for years, but life experiences have made my "dream of an all white house" a little impractical to say the least! Nest Egg must have known my what I had on my mind, because she posted the most beautiful photos of a neutral entrance hall, dinning room and living room last week.

(the walls in this dining room are not white......by the end of this post you will know that I am very happy about this)

This post was all I needed to get my painting project started.....unfortunately 48 hours before I was hosting a house party!

The reason for my rule is that you have so much more to be doing for a party than painting trim at 10:00 PM the night before your party. How about cooking the meal, cleaning your house, polishing the wine glasses, arranging flowers and blowing the driveway (yes..every party needs a blown driveway and fresh pine straw!)

At 11 pm last night, I found myself with the entrance hall painted (still needs one coat over the trim), the living room complete (but, still needs the windows scraped), the dining room untouched (THANK GOODNESS....the color is currently the same color as the dinning room above. Maybe I will just leave it alone!), two missing jars of Alfredo sauce, paint under my finger nails and the vacuum in the middle of the den.

Only 8 hours left....no worries! I will let you know if I pull it off. Good thing this party is just for my friends!!!

-Happy Planning!
NB

Champagne and Cupcakes

The garden party was a successful gathering and I could not have asked for a more beautiful back yard! While the evening started with me slipping down a flight of concrete steps, it ended with everyone having a great time. For those of you with a weak stomach, I decided not to post pictures of my arms and elbows (just think if your arms were filled with blue powerade!) For those of you who do not know me very well...falling comes with the party. No worries, I have my own insurance!

This lighting project could not have been done without Ricki, the yard man! We dug a hole, put up the post and strung the lights on Saturday morning. (I wish I had Ricki all the time, but I am afraid I would have to learn more than just Hola in Spanish).

I served a champagne punch (white rum, champagne, pomegranate juice and mint) as the signature drink out of tall frosted cylinders...... my Grey Goose vodka idea was too sweet!

For decoration, I hung blue ribbons from the table umbrella and glued hydrangea buds to the ribbon. I copied this idea from Carole Sullivan's Ball of Roses masterpiece.

I moved a table out of the Rhone's kitchen and used it as the bar as guests walked in. I love bringing inside furniture outside!

Since guests were to enter the party through the garden and not the front door of the house, I wanted to put an arrangement to lead everyone in the right direction. I paired up an artichoke and hydrangeas for each arrangement and put lights under each vase to give an illuminating effect.

**If you are having a house party and do not have time to get it all together, let GATHER do the work . I am offering a house party package that will allow you to rest, get your nails done and buy a new party dress instead of running around buying ice, picking up flowers and panicking about getting everything done! However, please give me advanced notice if you have concrete steps..I can always plan my wardrobe around a good pair of Nike Shocks!

Happy Planning!
-NB

The Morning After...

So, it is the Sunday morning after Jennifer's bachelorette party and I am hopeful my headache is a sign that everyone had good time! As I stated in my previous blog, I really wanted this "house" party to be more than just a gathering in my den. While there were still signs of a typical "house" party....girls dancing in the kitchen to Whitney Houston at 12:30 a.m., cabs pulling up to stumbling ladies in the front yard and new mom's looking through my four year old daughter's smocked dresses..., I am pretty sure I accomplished my "not yo average house party" goal.

Lets begin with the Chinese lantern that hung from the massive tree in my front yard. While Tom may be a brilliant lawyer and spell checker, he is NOT a handy man! Thank the lord for my soo, soo handy brother-in-law, Andrew, and father who risked their lives climbing a 25-foot ladder and some how running electricity through the wall of my house, across my yard and up into the tree for my little project. Tom has been wondering why our downstairs computer isn't working. Little does he know, but I stole the power strip and it is now up in the tree...oops.







Hint: every party planner needs to have a handy man on speed dial!







Everyone is strapped for cash these days and parties can get really expensive if you are not careful. While every party needs flowers, this little detail can blow a budget. Take a look at your yard before heading down to the flower store! Hint: Flowers are kind of like bra and panties. They have to match! Start by trying to find flowers that are all in the same color family. You want your flowers to be consistent throughout your venue. If your yard looks like mine, you may not have enough flowers that match. Don't force it....either clip a few and buy the rest, or find a yard you can steal from!

Everyone, meet Maw. She is my green-thumbed grandmother who has an amazing yard! The plan was for me to go to her house on Saturday morning and begin clipping. Due to the rain storm that was threatening the life of my lanterns......I drug my feet getting over to her house. I pulled up only to find my 84 year-old grandmother soaking wet with buckets and buckets of fresh cut flowers. She demanded I needed more, so Tom and I followed behind her with our umbrellas as she clipped away. This party was a true "family affair."

After clipping your free flowers, you may need to fill in the gaps of your arrangement with a few store bought blooms. Hint: You need to be familiar with a wholesale florist in your city. Davis Wholesale in Birmingham is literally my favorite place....my flower heaven! Saturday was a quick trip picking up a few pieces of oasis and the most exotic blooms I could find (didn't want my yard clippings to look to matronly).

Not bad for a $14 flower bill!

Last, but definitely not least....The Bar! I had a feeling this would be a champagne drinking crowd, but I wanted the bar to look enticing and fun. You want your guest to walk up and think...wow, what should I have. Think of it this way, an ice cream sundae bar with just vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce is hardly any fun. Why not pull out the nuts, sprinkles, whipped cream, cherries, etc... You get my drift!

Five bottles of champagne, two bottles of Pinot Noir and a shot of Sambuca later....the bar did not look like this for long. If you haven't tried Sambuca before, don't let the overwhelming smell of black licorice scare you off. This stuff is awesome, but very well may be the reason why my head hurts.

Well, the bachelorette party is over and my mission was accomplished....A special night for our beautiful bride, Jennifer, and many surprises for her lucky groom, Ethan!

Happy Planning!

-NB