How to organise a cocktail party in 5 steps
You’re back home after your summer holiday but not quite back at work just yet, so why not get together with friends for a fun evening and share your holiday stories? It’s the perfect excuse to organise a cocktail party with family, friends and/or colleagues - keeping in mind the appropriate distances in the current climate, of course! If you’d like to host a cocktail party or have been invited to attend one, we have lots of great advice for you! Read below for our simple steps to organizing and/or attending a cocktail party that everyone will remember, without breaking the bank.
1) Think about your invites:
Create cool, unique invitations by adding the photo, logo and text of your choice, as they will not only feel more fun and exciting to your guests than a simple Whatsapp group message, they will also make a fun keepsake of a great party. You could choose to go with a theme for the party, such as a Caribbean or 20’s theme, allowing you to design your invites accordingly! Of course, you could always arrange a cocktail party for a birthday or to wave off a colleague leaving for a new job; you can personalise your invite to fit whichever theme or style you wish.
2) Creating the right atmosphere:
Think about where your guests will sit, where to position and how to set your table and how to create an inviting, festive setting. Decorate with personalised balloons featuring your very own photo and text, and set the table with personalised placemats, napkins and plates. Add atmosphere, style and lovely soft lighting to your party with personalised scented candles, especially during those wonderful cool summer evenings. The perfect finishing touch is a photo booth, including fun props such as sunglasses and personalised bubbles. A practical tip that we can offer is to ensure that each guest has their own glass, to save everyone from losing track of which glass is theirs and to save you from lots of washing up! There are two ways to do this: either have each guest’s name engraved into their very own glass, or create personalised coasters featuring the guest’s names. These personalised items will not only make the party easier to manage, it will also make it memorable and offer each guest a fun keepsake to take home with them and set the right mood.
3) Food & drinks:
Your selection of cocktails will depend on your guests, theme and the amount of preparation time you have available. If you’d like to host an easy-going party or pre-dinner drinks, we would advise you to go with wine or bubbly such as prosecco or sparkling wine. If your party or the party you are attending is more of a fancy affair, go for champagne! You can’t go wrong with a bottle of Moët & Chandon in a luxurious, personalised wooden case. After dinner, you’ll need some classic cocktails. Whiskey, gin, vodka and rum are the base for many well-known cocktails that are widely appreciated, so make sure these aren’t missing from your drinks menu. To make things easier, here are a few recipes:
How to make a Bellini cocktail
The Bellini cocktail is a real Italian cocktail, made with Prosecco and peach. It tastes wonderfully fresh and sweet.
Ingredients for your own Bellini cocktail: • 50 ml peach juice • 100 ml prosecco • 50 ml of peach juice. You can create this delicious drink per glass or per decanter, just keep in mind that you should always add twice as much sparkling wine or champagne as peach juice. We would advise serving this cocktail in flute glasses, and adding a slice of peach to the edge of the glass for an extra flourish.
How to make your own Whysky Sour
Sour cocktails come in many types and flavors. You can use different types of drinks with this cocktail. For example, the Daguiri is a sour cocktail, but also the Margarita and the Cosmopolitan are examples of sour cocktails. In this recipe we make it with whiskey!
The best Sour cocktail you create with whiskey!
Ingredients for your whiskey sour cocktail: • 50 ml of Jack Daniel’s • 20 ml of lemon juice • 15 ml of sugar syrup • 4 ice cubes.
Mix all of the ingredients together in a shaker until the ice dissolves and serve in a whiskey glass, garnished with an orange peel.
How to make Mojito cocktail
The mojito is a very popular Cuban cocktail based on rum. You can recognize it immediately by the mint leaves.
Ingredients for a Mojito: • 2 teaspoons of brown sugar • 12 mint leaves • 15 ml lime juice • 45 ml of white rum • 40 ml of soda water. Crush the sugar, mint leaves and lime juice together and add to your shaker. Add the rum, soda water and ice and shake until mixed. Serve in a highball glass with a festive straw.
Receipt for an authentic Gin tonic cocktail
Perhaps more popular than the Mojito is the Gin-Tonic, also shortened to GT by the real fans. A cocktail with a slightly bitter taste due to the Tonic, but very tasty!
Ingredients for your own Gin-Tonic: • 150 ml of tonic water • 50 ml of gin (we recommend Bombay Sapphire gin) • Ice cubes • Lemon wedge. Fill the glass with ice cubes, pour in the gin and top off with the tonic water. Gently stir to combine, garnish with your lemon wedge and serve in a gin and tonic glass.
How to prepare a Moscow mule cocktail
One the most trendy Cocktail, this spicy cocktail with a fresh taste is highly recommended for your cocktail party. You can easily make it yourself.
Ingredients for a Moscow mule: • 40 ml of vodka • 135 ml of ginger beer • ⅓ of a lime • Slice of cucumber • Ginger. This cocktail is traditionally served in a metal mug, and we have the perfect stainless steel mugs with an edgy, retro feel to serve this delicious drink in. Fill your mug with ice and add your vodka and ginger beer. Add your lime juice, gently stir together and add your garnishes.
Remember to always offer an alternative to the alcoholic drinks, such as soft drinks, mocktails or alcohol-free wine and beer. You can even go with a non-alcoholic bubbly for children, so that they feel included. Place your drinks on pretty trays, use wine coolers to keep your drinks nice and cool and serve nice, fresh water in beautiful decanters with some ice, mint leaves, lemon slices and red fruits. For the food, we would recommend sticking to finger foods: delicious, easy to prepare and perfect to enjoy with a drink. More great ideas are pasta or rice salads, which can be prepared beforehand and to your guest’s tastes. Add some fun fruit skewers and a cheese board to go with your tasty drinks, too. These can be served on beautiful engraved boards, either rectangular or round. You can even add a cool pizza board to the mix.
4) Entertaining your guests
The most important aspects of a party are, of course, spending time relaxing with loved ones and sharing the lovely summer evening while enjoying cocktails and food. Think about your guests; do you know everyone? Will any children be attending? These questions can help you to determine the right atmosphere for your get-together. Select your music and, if suitable, think about planning a group activity such as a drinking game (with mocktails for those who don’t drink, of course!). You can also play a board game, we have a different game like Chess or a Family board game.
5) Spread a little happiness
Before the party, gather up all of your favourite photos of those attending and have them printed on retro photo prints as decor. You can even write a little personal message or the date under each photo and can hand them out as favours at the end of the night. Another great option is to create personalised t-shirts featuring photos taken at your party and send these out as gifts to thank your guests for attending. Both options are wonderful ways to spread a little happiness, make your loved ones smile and create an unforgettable summer memory together.
