My G.R.L cocktail

With World Gin Day this week, I thought it would only be fitting I share with you my delicious G.R.L cocktail – a delicious mix of gin, with infused rosemary and fresh lemon juice. Perfect for winding down after a long day, or to serve to guests at your next party at home!

You’ll need:

60ml of Gin – a small batch gin like 78 degrees, Loch or Archie Rose is perfect for this

15ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice

10-15ml of rosemary infused simple syrup

Soda water

Large Rosemary sprig

And quite simply, shake the gin, syrup, lemon juice and a pinch of finely chopped rosemary until combined well. Pour into your favourite rocks glass, top with soda to taste and lastly, plunge in the rosemary sprig to garnish. Enjoy!

Planning parties for the kids.

These days, children’s birthday parties are becoming one of the most important events to plan for – from the entertainment, to the food and games! As a party planner and caterer with four kids, I’ve actually always dreaded when it came to planning each of their parties! The (self inflicted!) pressure of coming up with something amazing due to the industry I’m in, and secondly the effort required, made it such a task for me.

A unique idea, the costs involved, guest lists (who do you in invite – the whole class, grandparents, adults?!?) They are all a challenge in themselves let alone tackling the day!

So, how do you make sure your kid’s birthday goes to plan? And what can you to do make it fun for all (and a little easier for you!).

Lock in a theme. Whether it’s a colour theme or style. It gives you a good base and focus to work from for everything – the food, entertainment, decor, take home gifts for the kids, etc. If your child loves to cook, pair the invitations with a small whisk or wooden spoon. Then carry that through with all kids getting an apron on arrival. Make one of the games a cooking activity – and that becomes their take home gift. Colour themes are also a simple and effective way to theme a party – maybe it’s black and white with a pop of rainbow! Or if your daughter loves purple, make her birthday world purple tones for the day, and add a touch of silver in the decorations or on the cake for an extra special element. So as you can clearly see, a theme can make the whole party much more streamlined!

Have a solid running plan for the day.  This will give you an idea of how the day will run and help you get through it. Plan out everything from when the food will start to come out once all the kids arrive, to when the entertainment will begin, right through to when to serve the cake. It’ll give you a good idea of how the party will go and if you need to fill in any gaps or shuffle things around ahead of time.

Define your guest list and requirements. Make sure you define the age group who will be at the party, and make sure what you plan is appropriate for everyone. Will you be inviting the parents to be there the whole time? And if so, how are you going to look after them as well as the kids? It might be worth having a waiter there to serve refreshments so you’re not stretching yourself too thin. And if it’s a later afternoon/early evening party, do you think about serving alcohol? Also think about grandparents; they love to be there to celebrate but if the venue or general scene isn’t ideal for them, then think about having a separate afternoon tea. They’ll feel more comfortable and the kids can have their day to be kids!

Make sure you find out about any food allergies ahead of time. With so many kids having dietary requirements, make sure you find out with enough time to plan ahead. Perhaps include it on the invitation so when they RSVP, it’s noted.

Plan enough entertainment. Actually, over prepare if you can! An entertainer, whether it’s a clown, balloon twister, a face painter or someone who will simply run the games and reign in the kid troop, is a great idea and will take a little pressure of you! If you’re organising it yourself, then make sure you have enough planned, plus a few more up your sleeve. Kids get bored easily, so make sure you have more prepared than you think you’ll need. Boys are harder to wear out – think about more physical games which involve them keeping on the move like a sack race, basketball hoop challenge or even a mini game of touch football where each try scored means they get a small reward!

Avoid the sugar rush! And that’s not to say you need to deprive the kids of cake or yummy treats, just balance it out. Mix in some healthy options – a platter of vege skewers with dip, or fruit when the cake’s passed around won’t go astray! It’ll also go down well for any kids with allergies.

Have any other tips and tricks! Let us know in the comments below.

Gift registries with a twist

So it’s time to think about the types of gifts you would like from your guests. There are the traditional wedding registries, and of course the ever-popular wishing well. These days though, many couples have already lived together, long enough to collect their own pots and pans. And when it comes to money, a lot of people prefer to give a gift or other kind of contribution, so asking for money can sometimes be an uncomfortable option. I spoke to Tim Olsen from Olsen Irwin Gallery about the recent popularity of having an art gift registry, so I thought I’d share a handful of other unconventional ideas to ensure you aren’t stuck with 3 toasters!

Art Registry

Gorgeous pieces of art not only fill a space on the wall, but grows with your home and becomes part of your life. An art registry is a great idea for your guests to contribute to – and it will surely resonate with you through the years. Check out the Olsen Irwin Gallery website which has a registry section, or of course you can visit them at their stunning gallery in Paddington.

Honeymoon Registry

Who doesn’t want to go on a honeymoon! But after the costs of a wedding alone, finances can be tough! Having your guests gift a gesture of money towards your honeymoon is a great idea, and you’ll always be reminded of their generosity when you look through your photos and remember the experiences you had. Places like the Travel Registry offer a bunch of options your guests can contribute towards.

Charity Registry 

Feel strongly about a particular charity or not-for-profit? Well, why not ask your guests to gift towards something close to your heart. Check out Karma Currency.

Cellar Registry 

Yes, you can set up a registry of your beloved vino! Places like Wine Please have a registry section on their website, where you can select your drop(s!) of choice!

Online combination registry

So maybe you do need things for your home… But from more than one shop. Online combination registries like  Not Another Toaster offer you the choice of being able to select items from a range of different stores, so you can make sure all your wish items are on the list!

Approached the gift registry another way? Let us know in the comments below!

And make sure you take a listen to this week’s episode of Weddings, Parties, Celebrations on 2GB where I spoke to Tim Olsen from Olsen Irwin Gallery about how art makes an incredibly memorable wedding gift.

Long live the flowers

Blooms, glorious blooms!

The final touch that brings magic to your ceremony or reception, flowers are the heart and soul of wedding styling. And with such a focus on having the most beautiful blooms for your day, it usually comes with quite an investment attached. So after the wedding is done, it seems like such a shame to see the flowers binned or go to waste! I’ve got a few ideas on how you can make them live on a little longer.

Talk to your florist about buying a collection of small vases so you can give bunches to your guests to take home. Or perhaps something a little more cost effective, get a bunch of paper from your florist so bunches can be made and given out as bonbonnieres.

Traditionally, wedding bouquets are dried – but there are many ways they can live on in dried form! Hang them upside down and once dried, display them in a shadow box frame. Compress individual buds between the pages of a heavy book. Separate the petals, dry and add scent for a delicious smelling homemade potpourri . Or why not incorporate them into your thank you cards!

A lovely way to honour a loved one who couldn’t be there in your special day could be to lay them by their gravesite or scatter them across the ocean.

Hospitals, retirement villages and nursing homes alway love a bit of colour to brighten their patients’ day! So why not deliver them a few bunches so they can sit at the reception desks, in the kitchens, or even in individual rooms to add a splash of colour!

Other ideas becoming quite popular – turning them into pieces of jewellery or into the likes of a beautiful pashmina or silk scarf. The Wedding Scarf in Byron Bay can take your flowers and have them preserved forever in luxury fabrics or ceramics.

The limit is your imagination! Have another idea? Why not tell us about it below, or tag @Katering on Instagram so we can check it out.

Click here to listen to Sunday’s full episode of Weddings, Parties, Celebrations on 2GB – click hear for Sunday’s full episode.