I love giving parties, do you need some ideas?

[ShirleyKnot]

Hello!

If you don't know me I'm Shirley and I'm a great lover of planning parties. I do a blog about it (which I'm not going to link here, but if you look on the bloggers network for PartySpanner you'll find me)

ANYWAY

If you're chucking a do, I might be able to help - I'm not a business, I don't charge for my ideas or owt, I just love to trawl the internet find good invite ideas, games and food.

Jump in and I'll see if I can help.

Thank you! You've made me feel soooooo much better!

You can tell this is the first year i've done this can't you?!?

Giddly - You could just buy a plain cake and stick it on the top.

Evian - You'll be FINE. Trust me, and enjoy it all because it goes so quick and then they want teenage grunting parties.

Shirley - you're needed - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food/1305911-Your-foolproof-kids-party-food-ideas-for-thirty-x-reception-year-one-children

I know my party is ages away but I've been looking for red gingham picnic blankets while they're in season and cannot find one anywhere. Red gingham tablecloths seem to be easy to get but wouldn't be very comfy to sit on so I was thinking I could maybe get some green blankets instead and lay out a "lawn" to put my gingham tablecloth on?

Good idea or way too much faff?

Better link

she's got terrific advice! I cannot do any better.

I think that would be lovely. Nice warm green blankets, cosy and soft with the tablecloths laid out will be not only visually effective, but also lovely and comfortable for the kids.

Ooh good. I've got a pale green blanket with little pink flowers on that I thought might work and I've found some pale green polka dot fleece blankets that would match nicely to make the area a bit bigger.

I guess a more grass green would be better but I'd like to use what I've got and save some money. Polka dots might look like more little flowers I thought...

Oh yes, definitely use what you've got. Daft to pay out if you don't need to IMO.

Because it's December the floor might be a bit cold so it's PERFECT!

giddly - I did a (3D) mystery machine cake once for scoobydoo mad little girl - it would have been a lot easier without my pedantic DH saying "no, you've got that bit wrong" at every turn, but the recipient loved it.

in fact, here it is (I just depressed myself by googling and finding lots of vastly superior ones)

blatherskite whereabouts are you? I have a v. long piece of red gingham oilcloth which will be pressed into service for cooking party...

Bucks. I was thinking I might go for fabric tablecloths though as they'll be nicer to sit on.

Using red gingham for the cooking party is genius, especially for doing pizza. Very Italian.

DS began asking for a Pizza party for his birthday yesterday so that's a good option of reusing any I buy. He might change his mind between now and March though...

Hello, can you help me please?

Double christening in November, food sorted- hurrah!
Cake- needs to feed about 50-60 as traditional as possible. White square or round blue writing yada yada.

Cards- need about 30-40 I want nice but erm budget! Help!

I don't suppose you do outfits as well? Just DS2- he'll be 4 months. A gown do we think? I think so. DS1 will be in smart trousers, shirt and tank top.

That is a tall order! Any help is muchly appreciated!

PWB - Cake. Have you thought about getting some idea's on prices from a local bakery? I presume you're not wanting to make the cake yourself? (though if you are you might be able to rent a cake tin from somewhere. I know my local cake porn shop does tin rental)

I know that there are cake makers/deliverererers on the internet but they can be quite spendy. Links to follow (plus, I'm not sure where exactly in the UK you are...)

Cakes in Lancashire. They do deliver around the country though

M&S. You would probably need two of these, but that might be nice

This one is in the South of England

What do you mean by Cards? Invitations or is there some unknown cardy thing I am unaware of relating to Christenings (I am Godless heathen - no christening for my children so at a bit of a loss!)

Outfits - think a traditional gown would be LOVELY

Look here for lovely ones if a little bit pricey

Cheaper options here

Hopefully someone will be along soon with a bit more experience! Hope some of these links are helpful.

Why thank you very much!
Invitations is what I meant sorry!
Cake- I have nor the time or skill sadly for cake baking.
I'm thinking cake and maybe cupcakes but they are so fashionable I'm just not sure it's us :(

I'm also a godless heathen so no help with planning either I'm afraid. I made a Christening cake for my niece and have a pic on my profile if that's any help?

Snapfish do Christening invites where you can add a photo which might be nice. They're not the cheapest way of doing it but some of them are reasonable. notonthehighstreet also have some nice ones. Cheapest way would probably be to pop into Clintons I would think as they do packs I think. It depends on how individual you'd like them to be.

We've had cakes from M&S before and they were nice. They do some pre-designed christening ones too - like www.marksandspencer.com/Marks-and-Spencer-Blue-Christening/dp/B002DVWO0Ithis. I think Costco might even do one in their super-yummy, massive cake range (see above ) if you have one nearby and have/know someone with a card.

Mothercare do christening/wedding outfits so you might be able to get similar gowns and trousers/shirt combos from there. Notonthehighstreet as mentioned above might have something too.

Shirley - please do tell me to f-off if I'm treading on toes.

M&S cake Sorry, miss the space

Mothercare Christening outfits

Blathers - please don't be so DAFT! This isn't "my thread" it's just a thread and I LOVE your ideas (and everyone else who is contributing) Honestly!

I agree with Blathers about the invitations - if you're trying to keep costs down just have a look in the large high street shops for packs. Having said that there are some sweet ones Here

Alternatively you could run something up on the computer (this will REALLY keep costs down) Have a look here

Going back to the cake - I do know that Asda and such like often do plain iced cakes (don't they also do that photo printing as well?) which you could customise yourself?

There are loads of places on the net where you can buy toppers for plain cakes - look here for example.

Phew. I had visions of walking into the meet-up and getting lamped

Ah - nowhere close then, blatherskite.

Red gingham oilcloth is serendipity - I bought the cheapest oilcloth I could find to protect the table I was using as a temporary kitchen while ours was done a few years - but handy to re-use now as a "cooking" (cupcake decorating) surface. Have you considered buying red gingham fabric (I got some blue stuff for the tea table from ebay which is really nice) and cutting it into table-cloth sized chunks - it should/could be cheaper than ready-made tablecloths?

OH, kept meaning to come back to this thread and get you all to help! As posted ages ago - me & dh are having a 40th - have now decided it's going to be 40s themed - a mix of WW2 make-do-&-mend and 40s Hollywood glam, if we can pull both off....

Ideas/suggestions...?

kitchen was done a few years ago [duh] - it might have felt like years, but it actually only took months weeks.

cool idea, funnypeculiar - you could decorate with lots of the "keep calm and carry on" type posters (there are a lot more interesting ones out there) and crepe paper streamers. I am guessing not wartime food, though - lots of glam cocktails would be my favoured option, I think.

Yes, we have access to yards of bunting so plan to use that & get some old posters.
Foodwise I thought we'd try and go with a garden party looking buffet - lots of retro china and/or those fancy doilies (sp?) you can get now - but not egg-free, sugar-free courgette muffins and potato pancakes (nice as I'm sure both are). I was hoping people would say cocktails - does that still fit ok? Dh is making ginger beer too...