Entertaining Fabulously on a budget

"Fabulous Entertaining is made up of four parts; Great Planning, Great Guests, Great Staging and Great food and wine."

The idea, of course, comes first and the research and planning follows.  Amazingly, the research part for many of us entertaining at home comes at the point about two weeks before we are about to host the party. For some it may be the day before!

However, if it's a big event (lets say more than 20 guests), the planning will definitely need to be a little more in advance than a couple of weeks.  Perhaps you have an annual Summer party, a Eurovision gathering or perhaps you host a regular coffee morning that is growing a little out of proportion.  There's always that annual sports event that's screaming for a barbecue or a big screen celebration (or commiseration). There's a fabulous party in all of us.

My list for a 20+ event is something like:

1. Budget, for the food, the drink
2. extra chairs
3. more glasses
4. if outside, think marquee, just in case the weather is against yuu
5. if inside, think aftermath and cleaning
6. if a "Television" event, sports, euro vision or film night, think projector unit rather than TV, especially if you can rig it for outside against a wall
7. remember ice, and about two to three times the amount you think you need
8. food, keep it simple, unless the event itself is supposed to revolve around food and do things that are really easy, new potatoes roasted in the oven can be done by the kilo and large amounts of dips bought or made in advance can done in bulk.  It's only bread, crisps and crudités that need to be done on the day
9. Think of a theme or a colour to emphasis the event...

My list for under 20, and ideally no more than a dozen, means a little more variety in the food department and perhaps a few games to help people relax early on wouldn't go amiss if not everyone knows each other well.  The latter can be a little strained if the group is too large so remember your project management course from work and designate champions to help out.

This all assumes that you are the only, or one of only two people, organising the event.  If you have an extra few hundred pounds, a couple of paid helpers on the day can ensure drinks are served and extra food is prepared with only the planning and the last minute rush to a supermarket in the morning to be worried about.

The best deals for both food and wine are hardly ever in the same place.  Do think of making dips yourself if you have invited more than a dozen people, it does make the difference.  Bread from a discount supermarket or your favourite deli, you choose, but French style loaves from one supermarket is pretty much the same as any other.  For speed, don't toast slices but simply put the slices on a large tray (in multiple layers) on medium to high heat in the oven, tossing them after 10 minutes and then taking them out another 10 minutes later.  It's quicker and you aren't waiting for the bread to burn under a grill.

For drinks, go big, if you have a major discounter in your neighbourhood, go there, if not, shop online as well as you may get end of line bargains and if you're planning in advance, you  have more chance of getting those bargains in time for your party.

For ideas see:

http://blubx.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/my-early-summer-bruschetta-tapas-and.html
http://blubx.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/kitchen-diary-party-secrets.html
http://blubx.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/three-best-dips.html

Drinks receptions - a private view

"A little wine and a new painting is good for the soul", Adrianna, circa 1992

Adrianna was a lady who loved her art, she would go to Bayswater Road or to Battersea to watch the artists at play and selling their art and she got into the habit of inviting her friends to see her new purchases on a very regular basis.

It was late Summer in 1990 when I first met her, through a friend I had met whilst temping in Pimlico.  My friend was a secretary by day and an artist by night.  I visited her on one of my latest scrounging efforts for cheap antiques at the Portobello Road market. 

It was the week before the annual Notting Hill Carnival and my friend had completed some large, brightly coloured canvases and being the person I was I had arrived early, before 8am, and had helped to set up and had made my first sale within an hour.  My friend was congratulating me as this willowy, tall woman, probably in her early sixties, came by and smiled.  She enquired about a painting she had seen the previous week and was mockingly appalled that it was the painting I had just sold.  She smiled and laughed at my response, and invited us both to her flat for drinks later that day.

Adrianna had been a creative executive for an ad agency in the sixties and seventies and had "retired" in her forties to travel and finally ended up in a rather large flat in Marylebone, a maze of a place although the living and dining rooms were huge and crammed with art pieces, sunburst and round cabin style mirrors.  In later years I would find out that she rotated her collection and had bought a garage a few streets away to store the rest of her treasures.

Adrianna had been running out of time that month and when we met later that day, she asked my friend to help with a drinks evening she was hosting.  She wondered if my friend would like to contribute some paintings as well with a view to selling a few if the opportunity arose.  I was already a very enthusiastic home entertainer and not being shy I offered to bring some snacks with me if I could come too. 

Adrianna agreed and for the next few years, a simple agreement evolved and I always brought a few platters of delicacies with me or prepared them in her kitchen whilst she and whoever was her helper on the evening buzzed around the flat cleaning and fluffing cushions.

She introduced me to a way of formal entertaining I hadn't experienced before.  For example, Adrianna insisted on attending to the door herself.  Later, I found out she had been born into a rather well heeled family and the maid had always answered the door to a party and sometimes her mother or father wouldn't know the names of the guests.  She firmly believed that if you invited someone to your home they should be greeted personally by the host or hosts.  It's a custom I've adopted to this day and at corporate receptions I normally ensure that at least three or four of the sponsoring hosts are at the door to meet and greet.

Adrianna also taught me how to work a room, whether helping with drinks or food or simply introducing people if they were new to her home.  She would also never assume I would help beyond preparing the food, so would always ask if I "minded" helping.  This is something else I have also brought forward into the way I entertain, never assume your friends will help, ask them each time.

Taking small platters of food around with you, platters in one hand and napkins in the other, is also a good way of managing a room.  For smaller private occasions you can easily see who's about to run out of wine or who is a little shy to talk, but in larger gatherings a good way of ensuring your guests are happy is to feed them and introduce them to people and help them break the ice.  You can also simply pop back to the kitchen to get more wine to top people's glasses up once the scouting of the room is complete.

This was also before email was the norm and Adrianna had the habit of getting a printer to create post cards for her.  If I remember rightly, it was normally a split image of her in front of the door to the grand entrance of her mansion building, flowers in her hands or a particular emblem of the time of year.  One year I think she posed in front of a friend's barn with two ducklings in her arms, grinning broadly for Easter... The other image was normally of something she had bought to show.  The cards would go out in envelopes with her regular invitation label on the back and a flourished signature and personal message.    On her invites however she had a red caveat, "RSVP essential" stamped in red wax, and by golly did you!

Presentation is everything

Presenting food is sometimes just as hard as preparing it. 
(reproduced from my previous blog, Life, Friends, Food and Good Times)

We all cook, not only for ourselves and the pleasure of it, but also for friends, family and, for some, for clients.

In many ways, its just as important to take time to present your food as prepare it.  And of course, if its for clients, we want them to come back to us!

I'll admit, I am one of those annoying people who go to charity shops and flea markets buying pretty single or dual pieces of china, just because I may need it "sometime".  But of course there are always the "bargains" for 3 plates or for 5 cups without saucers, and I do refrain, most of the time.

I've only a few pieces readily available at any one time because you need space to put the regular china as well but displaying my recent recipes I have found a new lease of life for the collecting bug and then it occurred to me what do other cooks or chefs use?

Many chefs in 4 and 5* restaurants and hotels (and those who aspire to be them) will use white, but looking through my not insubstantial number of cookery books, I seem to have found at least a few themes.

If its a country style recipe (read French, Spanish or Italian country cooking etc) these seem to be brightly coloured small bowls of gorgeousness or large white platters and serving dishes of stews and baked fare.  Although the more we venture to the east of the mediterranean or to North Africa, the bowls seem to come in three varieties, silver servers, brightly coloured terracotta and beautiful white china with elaborate edging.

The more sophisticated the dishes, it would seem, would invite a layered approach with a base plate of a colour or with pretty edging and then a simple white serving plate on top.  Plain or coloured clothes are used to dress the table and, in some cases, the amount of silver out numbers the china and the food.

But it doesn't stop there, serving bowls can be anything at all, pieces of moulded metal, pressed glass or carved wood.  I have been inspired, but what to do, without space to store it all?

And then there is the question of the shape of the bowl/plate/server, oval, circular, square or something different still?

My own thought is to present food as well as it can be.  If at a dinner party, especially an informal one where the party is all about the food, at least one main part of each course should be presented on a platter or large bowl.  Or if not at a table, then in an array of baskets, servers, bowls and plates.

For a more formal setting, white tablecloths are a must, but that doesn't mean smooth and starched, and you know that antique lace one that your great aunt, grandmother, or next door neighbour gave you all those years ago, well it was made to be used.   I've seen crape paper and crushed velvet used on tables before, and I must admit, having a white base tablecloth along a plane oak table with a roll of gold wall paper down the middle as runner, may sound cheap, but add your candles, your flowers and your place settings and funnily, it can look fantastic.

Park Life - an alternative venue

"Fresh air, brilliant company, a picnic and a show!"

We've all watched groups of friends in the park before now, from simply gossiping in the sunshine, having a game of old fashioned rounders (soft ball to my US readers) to having a full blown sports day.  But if you stay and watch the comings and goings in our cities and towns, you'll see other groups of friends doing other activities which made me think that with a little tweaking this could be a real alternative way to entertain, extend your network of friends and perhaps to have some fun along the way.



St Paul's Church yard
City of London

I've seen a trio of musicians on Hampstead Heath and a pair of actors practicing their lines in Soho Square.  The musicians obviously needed practice but with the hoots of encouragement from the sunbathers, they soon hit their stride and their confidence grew in the 40 minutes or so I was watching.   The actors practicing their lines were so focussed on the moment, they weren't aware of the number of people who simply stopped, sat and enjoyed their lunches and before you knew it, they had finished to a very loud round of applause.  Blushes aside, they left very pleased with themselves.  I hope they got the parts they were working towards.

On a weekday lunch time, a group of friends were enjoying the sunshine in the little park next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London.  One of them had a Spanish guitar and the other two were just singing descant.  It was an enchanting moment and the business people having coffee or wine in the nearby establishments came away from their bars and were completely enraptured.

When I was visiting New York and Barcelona in the 1990s, the parks, and the beaches for that matter, were used for a lot of different purposes.  Impromptu, what we would call today "pop-up", performances were, and still are, common.  

I've seen a makeshift stage made out of a tent and some brightly covered shawls in Central Park with a group of actors practicing a script that was terrible, but they were having fun and they had brought along friends and family to be their audience.  The show still attracted dozens of strangers, some would stay a few minutes and others (myself included) watched for a couple of hours.

Barcelona in the mid-90s was amazing, it was vibrant and edgy whilst still full of traditions.  One of the relatively new attractions were its beaches.  Before Barcelona had hosted the Olympics, the beaches were ports and so with this new facility on their doorstep the locals and the tourists alike, used them to their full potential.  One visit I watched and listened for over an hour a group of opera students.  I asked my friend why they were performing on beach and she laughed, "they are practicing for their exams!" was explanation and then proceeded to take me for a walk to show off other's doing the same thing.  The term for their exams were coming to a head and there were a number of groups and individuals practicing different forms of music along the beach in front of friends, family and strangers alike.

So the idea is this, if you're a musician, actor, poet, writer, what's to stop you arranging a picnic with a group of friends one Saturday afternoon to practice a performance, read your latest verse or sing your practice piece for your next audition and have some fun too.   Maybe connecting friends that haven't met before?  And if you live in a flat that doesn't have a garden and is too small to entertain, then a park or the grounds of nearby stately home or a beach surely would be the next best thing?  Probably not so convenient in the Winter, but on a dry and ice cold Winter's morning, with a backdrop of a city or pocket park, a few friends gathering to help practice lines over donuts and coffee or read through a script on the roof or a balcony of your office building in a lunch hour, the possibilities are endless.  It could simply be another way to connect to work colleagues or neighbours and have a break from the day to day chores we all need to do.  Isn't it wonderful how entertaining reveals itself in so many different forms.

Angela, a good friend of mine who was a make-up artist turned puppeteer took my suggestion and ran with it last Summer.  She invited a group of friends and friends of friends and neighbours as she wanted to practice a mini-show she was designing for a art festival in the South of France.  She had three new puppets and needed to practice the transport of them, the makeshift stage and her own belongings (it was only her that was going to France).  Two cases with wheels and a rucksack was diluted down to one case and one rucksack with a long drum attached to the latter which held poles for her "stage".  All in all she had about a dozen people to watch her show and after practicing three variations, she had a crowd of a hundred surrounding her.  A great success!

Entertaining this way may need a little forethought, perhaps your friends, family, work colleagues, neighbours and contacts could bring their favourite tipple and you and your closest circle could bring the food.  Then its blankets at the ready, instruments, vocal cords, verse or prose at the ready and off you go. 

Could it be that simple?

Well, sort of...

An open garden square
in Chelsea

Just check that your park, stately home or beach doesn't have any byelaws or rules that would restrict you performing, even for free.  Remember to check to make sure you are allowed to drink alcohol there too, there may be restrictions for the park as a whole or certain parts of it. 

If you are going to a stately home which is open to visitors, you are likely to pay an entry fee just to get in.  But also check if they mind you and your friends (especially if there is a large group of you) having your performance.  They may say yes so long as you sit in a particular area, or they might shrug and smile and forewarn you that you may have some additional listeners and watchers.

The idea is sound, and I'm sure not many grand old houses open to the public in the Summer would object, but check with the family who own the property, or perhaps with English Heritage who may manage it, in advance.

Entertaining - professional networking event

"Networking isn't simply exchanging contact details"



Networking has come a long way
over the past 30 years.

Networking in the 1980s was seen as sign of being upwardly mobile, people who had already established themselves in their field, were used to being invited but weren't so used to holding the events themselves.

That all changed in the 1990s when business needed boosting and contacts were key.

Of course today, networking events come in many different forms.  A reception with a speaker, perhaps with an introduction by a senior internal expert, is probably the most common.  Depending upon your corporate aspirations as company or as a leader within it, you may hold roundtable dinners or sponsor charitable events where the organisation is done by your marketing department or an external person or team.

Networking events aren't all businesses wanting to increase market share or promoting corporate or professional expertise however.  I've helped a number of friends organise events at their home, above a pub or in a park over a picnic when all they want to do is bring contacts together to exchange ideas or to try a new act or performance in front of a friendly audience.  Cards are exchanged for all kinds of reasons but I'll explore personal networking in a later article.

What they all have in common, however, is a way of bringing people together, from highlighting expertise so that you can generate new business or to extending your own or your company's contacts by hosting or sponsoring large professional networking receptions.  Whatever you decide, set goals for the result you want and remember to follow-up those contacts after the event itself.  If you're sponsoring an event, ensure you have access to the full list of attendees after the event, you still need to say thank you for attending even if you didn't manage to speak to them individually.

Depending upon the size of the event, you may use a venue finder or a consultant to do the running and sorting out so you can ensure that the venue has the correct credentials.  Any search will flag availability, limitations on numbers and technology (do you want to record the introduction and the speaker for later publicity perhaps) and this process should also give you an idea of costs and what onsite help you will have.

Chief Commoner's Dining Room
Guildhall, City of London

For smaller events, perhaps you want to introduce clients to new colleagues or for them to introduce new clients of their own, a private dining room or drinks in your own offices maybe more suitable, but don't let that restrict the impact of the meeting.  If there are less than twenty of you, try a little wine tasting or mixology to break the ice for those who don't already know one another.  If more formal, perhaps for an expert roundtable, inviting them to a beautiful venue with some lovely food will ensure your guests' seniority is respected but also ensure there is a business structure to the dinner, perhaps by nominating a Chair as well as inviting a neutral external expert to speak on a related subject to enhance your own specialities in your chosen area.

Depending upon the number of people coming to your event, remember to give yourself time to organise it.  Six weeks is probably the minimum lead time you will need but for something that will coincide with a particular time of year or a particular trade event, you may need to plan six months or more in advance.  For annual events, you may start organising the next year's event before you have thanked the guests of the current year's event for attending!

For a smaller event, one you intend to do on a regular basis, allow eight to ten weeks preparation for your initial launch but as each one passes the time you will need will become shorter.  Whilst you may have rolling arrangements, perhaps you develop relationships with three favourite venues or have a slick communications team who ensure your guest list is refreshed and have some expert speakers in reserve, this will all help in reducing the time you need beforehand.

However, with all that said about lead times, I've organised a sales networking event in just two weeks.  The audience and the date and time had already been agreed.  The objective was to announce a new way advertising via a website and both journalists and industry experts were identified.   The event itself simply hadn't been organised and I walked into the task by shortlisting venues that had a large screen and which could accommodate fifty to a hundred people.  There were a few other objectives to the event.  The Sales and Advertising Director wanted to meet his peers and to scout for talent for his team so additional invitees would include relevant peer group companies, agencies and third parties.  The production team wanted to observe the reactions to new methodology amongst the experts and peers in the room and the Communications team needed to witness and connect with the journalists.  Hence the broad remit for attendees.  We found the venue in two days (I sourced a multi-media gallery in central London who were between shows and who were willing to hand over the space in question for a mention on the corporate website and any relevant press releases).  The caterer fell into place a day later and emails went out to all invitees who had so far accepted with the venue details on the same day.

Budget is something we must always remember.  Last minute arrangements have the potential to be the most expensive, as do last minute changes.  Also remember that even if money is no object, a budget is still a good idea, even if its to simply reassure yourself that the money was well spent.

I would also recommend creating a project timeline or at the very least a task list of all the things you need for your event and tick them off as you go.  A project timeline can be in the form of a physical diary or an electronic one.  Perhaps you prefer a spread sheet or a word document, whatever you decide, keep to same format, save and record notes, contacts, telephone numbers, menu options, all in the same place.  If there is more than one of you organising it, make sure it is accessible to all.  For the event itself, bringing the event details together in a briefing document is also helpful.  As a matter of course, this briefing document could have biographies of attendees (if a small to medium sized event), a table plan (if a dinner or formal lunch), a list of contact names (for both hosts and venue as well as any technical support) with relevant contact numbers and email addresses.  This final document should also have any special dietary requirements for dinner/lunch attendees so that the venue can ensure discretion at all times.  This briefing document is not for the eyes of any invitees, although if dignitaries are expected to attend, you may give them a copy if special security arrangements have been made.

If you are a smaller organisation, you may not have the resources to lend to large event, so the goals and objectives will need to be even more concise and on the mark.  Perhaps, at least initially, keep it small and simple.  Some private rooms can be reserved on a consumption only basis and will easily host a reception of between 30 and 40 people.  If you limit the networking event to simply last two hours, the budget will be kept in check and any food to be served could be limited to just the middle hour.  

A good example of this would be client/new starters event already mentioned above.  For the price of taking out the different clients to lunch to introduce new senior managers or executives separately, which may cost anywhere from £50 to £100 per head.  By reserving a private room, the introductions could be made all together, the clients get the same messages at the same time and you also have the chance to bring in your up and coming managers to meet and greet as well, so cementing any relationships even further.  Depending upon the general theme of the event, there may also be opportunities to invite other people who may enhance the experience for your existing clients or perhaps you want to introduce someone who isn't a client yet but may become one in future especially if your existing clients are waxing lyrical about you over a few drinks.

Focused events may attract partnerships or publicity in unexpected ways.  Your top three venues may see the success you have over time and their relationship with you may evolve more into a partnership where they reciprocate by suggesting some of their clients to you.

Finally, even though mentioned first of all, no matter how small or large, follow up your events with a thank you note.  If certain contacts were invited by certain colleagues, ensure they can say thank you as easily as possible, whether its a pre-prepared/pre-designed email to be sent the following working day, or if its simply a branded thank you card to be signed and inserted into a prepaid, pre-addressed envelope.

To recap:

1. establish the date of your event
2. identify your guests
3. find an appropriate venue with the relevant facilities, remembering accessibility and asking about support on the day
4. keep a timeline with notes or a task list which keeps all the facets of your event in one place and make sure if someone is helping you that they have access to any electronic or paper file you hold - a few suggestions for your list:
1. if organising enough in advance, send a request to hold the date especially if your event is at a busy time of year
2. once timings and venue are confirmed, send a formal invite, whether by email or post
3. once you have found your venue, ensuring it is appropriate for your event, find out what you get for your money, e.g. if its a paying bar, the bar staff will be free, if you have a fixed budget, you may find you don't have them at all or just for a limited time
4. if your budget is tight, restrict the length of time your event will be last, a good length for a pure networking session is 2 hours
5. food, will the venue supply food with drink.  Remember some venues may overestimate how much you will need, not because they are trying to make more money out of you, but if you are the restricting the length of time for event, you need to ask specifically how they have calculated their portions.
6. be sure your host(s) is fully briefed with any key people attending being flagged and biographies printed
7. if your guests ask who will be attending, say a list will be circulated after the event as privacy is key, however you will be happy to give them a copy with the final attendees permission after the event
8. if you are going to have an open invitation, perhaps a seminar followed by a networking event, ensure you have a communications professional on hand to assist with whatever medium you use, whether through post, advertising or social media
5. give yourself sufficient time (and be realistic) to organise and facilitate the event
6. set a budget, even if you go over it, it will be useful and sometimes reassuring, to know what your money was spent on (you can estimate to begin with, but remember last minute events or changes cost more)
7. remember to say thank you and make contact to all who attended as soon as possible

If you have any questions or would like a chat about any of the content in this blog, please contact me via email or via twitter (@anyone4nibbles @blubx).

Entertaining, enjoy it!

"Entertaining is one of the things I enjoy most of all."

Entertaining has been one of the most consistent aspects of my life, whether as part of my work or privately, with friends or with my partner.  The main thing is to enjoy it.

Serpentine Pavilion 2015 designed by Selgascano

For work it can be as simple as booking a restaurant for a business meeting or letting your receptionist know that you will need sandwiches for a working lunch or booking drinks for a reception in the evening.   You will already know the client, whether they like formality or not and you naturally adjust your approach (and your bookings) accordingly.

At home it could be inviting neighbours over for drinks or for Sunday lunch.  Perhaps you have been meaning to have friends around and have not quite got to the point of organising something.  Most of us entertain without really thinking about it, a few friends or family over on a Saturday evening is second nature.  It's when the numbers start creeping up and all of sudden the invitees are in double figures and climbing that we start to check ourselves.  But just remember, the basic plan of action remains the same. 

However, when most of us think of entertaining, we imagine, professionally anyway, formal drinks with anything between 10 and a 100 guests or more or celebratory dinners for a similar number.  The basics are the same, you need a space, you need to know your audience and you need to know what would be appropriate refreshments to give them.

Domestically, dinners of eight and above are normally harder to coordinate at home (table size and oven space aside, how many of us borrow chairs once it gets to this number), especially if you are planning on formal courses during the evening, but these is easily simplified.  For example, try platters which instead of separate starters and pre-dinner nibbles can be sorted out well in advance.

I think it's more the Summer or Birthday parties that most people dread.  All those people in your home, what happens if it rains, will I be able to cope.

Again, you can take a leaf out of the professional aspect of organising and simply break it down to space, audience and refreshments.  Timing, staging and hosting will fall into place once you have fixed your date when everyone, or almost everyone, can come.  Agreeing a space, agreeing a formal invite (probably a good idea for larger events), agreeing a budget for refreshments, will follow and then the real fun begins.

For example, at my partner's birthday last year, we hired a room above a gastro pub and a friend dressed it with flowers and other friends also helped with other aspects.  One sourcing live music for a couple of sets, another put together a play list for the rest of the evening and others contributed cake.  The in-house kitchen organised food and wine. 

If you do plan on going down this route, simply making an appointment to look at private dining rooms will give you ideas, if not about the room or venue itself, simply how to set it up for what you want to.  Once you've seen a few, you will get an idea of the quality of venue you would like.  Some have some very good wines and choices of menu, but if some of your guests are elderly or disabled, remember to ask about step free access and whether the toilets are on the same floor as the room you are hiring. 


private dining room, City of London

By default a corporate venue will dress a room formally with neutral colours.  If you actually want a more flamboyant or casual version, ask them what they can do for you and if not to your taste, ask them if they would be willing for you to do this yourself.   Some will only let approved suppliers do any third party contributions.  This could mean flowers, decorations, cake (if they don't offer to make one for you themselves), special wines - perhaps they don't have a favourite champagne or whiskey, or serving staff - not all private venues will have additional staff in-house and may hire in agency staff to assist.

Venues need not be restaurants or pubs, art installations, like the Serpentine Pavilion 2015 designed by Selgascano which had a café in the middle of it, how would you use the space?  We visited in September last year (2015) and the light and the space was very impressive. 

Of course, if you had a friendly art studio, this may be an option for you as well.  Private art studio's are used to hosting drinks/launch parties for their artists, so may be open to suggestions for a private networking party.  They will have the facilities to support such a gathering and, so long as it isn't too wild, it will likely be centrally placed within your town or city so your guests will find it accessible.