More Blue Christmas

Last night we shared with you the fun red and blue desert station we styled last weekend for a fabulous client. You can read all about it here, but to remind you, here's what inside looked like....

The client was keen to ensure the kids had a separate and special place to dine, that was still within eyesight of the adults table. Luckily the weather was on our side and we were able to use the tiered backyard to our advantage; placing the adults on the top tier (with the under 3's table) and the older kids on the bottom tier.

It worked really well and met the clients needs perfectly, although it meant we had 4 tables (including the desert station) to style! It was a big set up, but we were so prepared and even had a lovely little helper to assist, which made it all go super smoothly.

Now, the photos...

First up, the adults table. Like the inside, we used the printables we designed for Catch My Party blog to tie it all together. We also had silver/blue or silver/red trees on each of the tables and the same runners that we used inside, which gave the whole party a coordinated look.

We loved being able to use a combination of a large umbrella and the overhead hanging trees to create a canopy of pom poms and lanterns. It looked so festive and fun and it really 'popped' against the green of the trees.

Next up is the small table that we put together for the 'under-3' guests. We wanted them to be close to their parents, and to be honest, I think the older kids wanted them out of the way!!

We used a blue ikea table, which was the perfect size - and of course, the blue colour matched the theme! We added a small silver tree, some cute red stripy candy dishes, a runner and then a smaller version of the big kids table setting.

Finally, the big kids table. We used a similar set up to the other tables (no one could accuse us of not following through with a theme!) but added some small touches like little treat bags as well as some baby sized ribbon wands for the kids to play with (customised to match).

The treat bags contained some bubbles (wrapped in the same paper), some lollies, crayons and other assorted treats. They were a hit with the kids and certainly kept them entertained while the adults enjoyed their bubbles!

We have two quick thank you's before we sign off....

- Niki from Candy Soirees for the fabulous colour coded candy, the cute little red and white candy dishes and your laughter!
- Jillian from Catch My Party for inspiring our printables and your lovely support and very kind feedback!

And thats it! Hope you enjoyed our Red and Blue Christmas function. It was so much fun to style and we have already been re-booked for next year! Can't wait!

Cheers,

(Red and) Blue Christmas...

Every year, a group of school friends get's together, with their families and celebrates Christmas with a big lunch, good wine and lots of laughs. This year, they decided to make it easier on themselves and ask us to do the theming and deserts for them...

We were so excited and our client was an absolute delight. Her only request.. lots of chocolate! We were more than happy to help out. Knowing that the lunch was taking place at a beach house, we wanted something fun, something modern and something that would transport well and pack up easily.

Alex created a fabulous menu that included....

- Rich fruit puddings, soaked in Cointreau and served with cream and custard
- Pavlova with mixed berries and chocolate shavings
- Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream icing and jaffa 'berries'
- Christmas shortbreads
- White chocolate dipped strawberries
- Assorted home-made truffles in white, milk and dark chocolate
- Christmas mince tarts
- White chocolate dipped vanilla wafers, rolled in crushed candy canes

Along with a mix of colour coded candy (thanks Candy Soirees), the host couldn't have asked for any more chocolate!

As you can imagine, we took a heap of photo's, so tonight I will share the desert station with you all - as I know you love them - and will share the rest of the set up, which included 2 children's tables and a separate adults table, with you all tomorrow night... enjoy the photo's!

One final photo... we love that the family dog got in on the blue theme!

Tomorrow night we will bring you the adult and children's tables.....

Cheers,

Jean-ius style

So last week was all about girls and their tights. I felt a bit bad about being so girl focused, so this week I'm going to take on something a bit more boyish, or at least unisex.

The inspiration for this post goes like this. The other day I was walking home from a lunch meeting through some parkland quite close to our apartment. The canal was frozen over and covered with snow, like icing on a big cake. The trees were completely bare of leaves and the sky was a steely gray - creating the impression of a rather naff Christmas card. As I came over the final hill- thanking the lord for my gumboots and anticipating a nice warm cocoa- I almost fell upon a group of boys using the slope for some afternoon sledding! 

All bundled up with their mittens and scarves the children were tossing themselves down the hill with the energy of small, pink faced bolts of lightening and then running back up with little breaths choofing out of them like steam trains. It was a truly exhausting sight. And yet I was also more than a little jealous. (PS I am going to find my own sled this week.)

Needless to say, no one was wearing tights. For sledding you need something much sturdier. Something like jeans. They don't tear, they're nice and warm and they don't absorb water (too) quickly.

 Ok, I know that last week I was all down on jeans, but sometimes there is nothing better than a good pair of jeans to get you through an afternoon of raucous outdoor fun. And even though they can feel a bit like a uniform in winter, the wonderful thing about jeans is that they are so darn versatile. They can be for slopping around the house, or getting good and dirty outside or even making a high fashion statement.

And if you do it right then your little sledding monsters can look stylish as well. But remember, we're after comfort and style, not K-Fed.

To illustrate my point you can start with the basics from somewhere like H&M Kids. In Australia Cotton On Kids is a good equivalent, they produce all the latest styles cheap as chips for the kids to run, in, sled in and in not such a long time from now, grow out of.

But jeans can also make a statement if you want to have fun with them. Check out these pimped up Levi's with acid wash that looks like something from The Wedding Singer. Warning: these are only for people 14 and under. If you're conceivably old enough to have worn acid wash jeans on the first trip around the fashion merry go round then they are not for you. They are also not for taking your child to lunch with grandma in, or meetings with prospective schools etc etc. These are the birthday party and disco material.

Finally, we have the classy jeans. The investment piece, if you will. There are no trends or tricks with these. They're just nicely cut and finished with no embellishment. You know you can bring your little man out to dinner wearing these ones from Stella McCartney and, if he does not drop spaghetti sauce on them, he will look just like one of Brangelina's brood. 

If you're lucky and your kids don't grow too fast they may last a couple of years before you need to invest in a new pair...

Next week... Some Danish Christmas cheer!

Take care,
Claire

A birthday picnic in yellow & grey

It's been a busy few days in the Inspired Occasion headquarters with two fun events last weekend, styled by us.

We promise to share both of these with you over the coming weeks, but for tonight, we are showcasing a stylish picnic that we styled on Sunday. This one was special, as it was for my birthday and being the client for once, was super fun!

I really wanted something simple, yet stylish. Relaxed, but pretty. Lots of good food, that had to be easy to eat and transport to a local park. We settled on a yellow and grey theme, with lots of fresh flowers thrown in.

We set the scene with a simple invite, encompassing all the details, which I cheated and emailed out to all our guests.

Given we are in Melbourne, we knew we would have to be wary of the weather. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, with sunshine one moment and pouring rain the next. So even though we chose a local park, we decided to purchase a marquee to protect us from the sunshine and/or rain.

As it turned out, it was a beautiful hot day - and we were very grateful for the marquee and the shade it provided. However, some of the photo's do have a slight green tinge to them due to this... please forgive this and enjoy the photo's!

I had a go at making string lanterns... so happy with how they turned out. 

Let me know if you are interested in a tutorial.

My fabulous Camberwell Market find table... with a lick of paint, it was perfect!

Lots and lots of food! Alex put together a fabulous table with; anti-pasto, some wonderful cheeses, smoked salmon, deli meats, chicken wings, mini quiches, lots of dips and some of Alex's famous home made meatloaf. All served with some crisp breads, lots of good champagne and even some of my favourite girly beers! 

We finished up with carrot cake (with extra cream cheese frosting!!), my mum's home made lemon slice and some chocolate dipped wafers...By that point though, we forgot to take any good photo's - so you will have to imagine how good it was!

It was a really lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon, surrounded by friends and family - who could want a nicer way to spend your birthday.

I have to do some special thank you's to my husband, Alex's husband, my mum and my step-dad for carrying all this set up to the park, putting up with my 'fussing' over the table, waiting until I had taken 500 photo's before they were allowed to eat and then helping us to pack it all up again at the end! And also to Kristy for amusing the kids while we set up - what a gem!

Another big thank you to Alex for all her help - she really does a great job, is so patient and is able to pull a clients vision into reality! Trust me - I can vouch for her!

Thanks for sticking with me - I know it's a long post tonight. We will be back tomorrow night with another fabulous Euro style post from Claire.

Cheers,

The Big Give - Some early Thanks

Well, the count down is really on now! I am sure I have said that (or something similar!!) before in other posts relating to The Big Give (here, here and possibly here), but now that the calendar has flicked over, and the little app at the bottom of my screen says DEC 2, we are starting to feel the excitement building!

We had a workshop today with our fabulous committee and are really pleased to be able to pass on some thank you's to the companies, individuals and families who have put up their hands to help out. So without further ado - some BIG thank you's.......

We have been able to secure a venue (thanks City of Yarra); we have chicken to roast (thanks Baiada Poultry); fresh fruit & veg (thanks Bungle Trading); yummy cupcakes (thanks Sweet Statements) and an amazing MC to host us (thanks BPCA). 

We will have presents for all of the kids attending (thanks St Bede's Primary School), a real Christmas tree (thanks Sage Building Services) and almost 100 volunteers to serve our 300+ guests on the day (thank you x 100!). We have even put a call in to Santa, who will be making a very special appearance this year!

Our partner organisations have also been very generous with their donations and we can now finalize the remaining items required for our Christmas table - ham, beef, plum pudding and custard, and of course, bon bons (big thank you to Our HR Company, Gour family, 4ward Consulting, CBA, Growhard Australia and St Vinnies Parkville). 

We also have some fabulous ladies working hard to create some wonderful decorations for the venue, which will add a wonderfully festive feel to the day.

So, as you can tell, it's all coming together!

We do have a final request... we really need your help to provide each of our adult guests with a gift. 

This year, we have decided to give each adult guest attending a $30 Safeway or Coles voucher - so that they can make their own choice about selection of grocery items. Hampers and gift packs are certainly lovely, but what our guests really value is the ability to choose items that they need from the supermarket.

When you next head to the supermarket to do your weekly grocery shopping, we would like to ask you to consider adding a $30 supermarket gift voucher to your list. If you are able to do this, please post your voucher to:

The Big Give 
St Mary's House of Welcome 165 - 169 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

We are also still accepting tax deductible cash donations via PayPal here if you would prefer this. Either way - we would love your support, in any way that you can.

Thank you all again for your kindness, generosity, support and kind wishes. We will give you all another update next week (after our volunteer information session, which we are really looking forward to). 

Cheers,

Renee and Alex