Andrew and I are celebrating 10 years together this year and we decided we would have a party. No soppy romantic thing.. just a lil celebration to say.. 10 years.. and share with our friends. Many ideas have been kicked around on how to do this.. and then we decided to have it at home.
We have a gorgeous sandstone retaining wall running the entire back of the yard, with a generous outdoor area.. so it makes sense to use it. Our garden (shock) is quite minimalist..LOL so we thoguht it would be fun to fill the 'holes' in the retaining wall with candles to create the light.. We tested it and it looks beautiful throwing all that light up onto the wall...
The only problem being so many of our friends (and us) have younger children... for once (and gosh we hope we don't offend anyone) we decided to go child free... We have always included children but just this once.. i thought it might be nice to be grown ups only.
I tossed up hiring a waiter/butler for the evening so I wasn't running around with food but Andrew was less keen.. he thought it made it all a bit formal. Instead we are investing in really nice takeaway as the catering for the dinner portion (it will be better than it sounds)
We decided to go with an evening garden party - 5:30pm onwards.. and have canapes and finger foods .. with a light dinner of asian noodles at 7pm .. followed by mini desserts later...
I have just finished the invites... and we have a loose asian/green theme.. I find a theme.. even a loose one helps me heaps with planning these things...
These are the worlds simplest invitations... you get 3 per A4 cardstock and then you just mark a line 6cm in from the left... and centre the text. Print, and cut. The add 2cm of the plain card (ours has a silk texture) between 4 and 6 cm mark, and then a 5cm wide strip from the edge to the 5cm mark.. DONE. Double sided tape meant no glueing and a neat finish. I am no glue sniffer! LOL
Mm colour looks wonky here..(this carpet is dark grey.LOL) i promise they are nice in real life!
We are thinking easily prepared canapes..some warming in the oven and some ready from the fridge.. too easy and no running around from me! And then collect the main meal from our local store.. they do the NICEST noodles.. all home made and fabulous in flavour.. i really couldn't improve upon it. I ordered 50 mini noodle boxes today...so we can fill them with various noodles (will order some chicken, some beef, some vegetarian and some seafood.. and then everyone can stand about eating, chat and slurp noodles ;) and.. NO washing up and way classier than paper plates! We can also order prawn toasts, steam dim sims and the worlds best spring rolls.. (i am not even a big fan of spring rolls but these rock.. and.. some sushi... *dinner is served! LOL*
I bought some shot glasses this week to fill with mousse.. some mini pavlovas, some tim tams, some mini cheesecakes and mini tarts should round out the evening.
I also bought extra bamboo paper (the print from the invites) and will be able to line the platters etc with it.. super easy and a lil nicer than usual. Other than the candles in the wall, we will have some flowers, and .. i am completely in love with the idea of some oversized balloons, in either white or green... check out this site... www.amyatlas.com... adoring her work.. and loving these big balloons.. I have been trying to track some down for a photo-shoot but now i HAVE to have them. I am thinking white flowers and more candles would be a good touch too.. and .. platters and platters of food..
and besides... after 10 years.. we have some wonderful friends to join us.. and that is my favorite thing to fill the backyard with!
Sounds like a great party and a wonderful way to celebrate! We'll celebrate 30 years in June....probably very low key.
Posted by: Lisa B. | February 16, 2009 at 11:21 PM
I want to come!!!! It's very similar to what I want for my 30th this year!
Posted by: Alissa | February 19, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Congrats for completing 10 long years in your relationship with Andrew. It’s a good decision that you have taken to celebrate it. It’s a good idea that you have chosen to opt for catering service. It’s really the best thing. Make sure that you hire a good and experienced catering service.
Posted by: Preston | October 28, 2010 at 08:54 PM