For my last birthday, my dear husband threw me a swanky cocktail party in our front yard. We hired a couple of friends who wanted to try their hand at bartending and they came up with a great drink menu, added a few tables, white tablecloths, flowers and some appetizers. Add fun music and a great group of friends, stir and viola! Party success! It doesn’t hurt that we live on a street that simply requires you to turn on some music in the front yard and even the neighbors you didn’t invite are over in a heartbeat. But nonetheless, comments like “greatest party ever” were made as they made their way out the door.
The drink menu:
Classic Cocktails for our own Classic
The appetizer menu:
Raw Oysters with Champagne Mignonette
Sausage with mustard trio (just grill sausages, cut them into 1″ pieces and serve with different mustards)
Stuffed Mushrooms
Cheese Platter
Charcuterie
The music mix:
For music, I always like to do a bit of an eclectic mix of current and old school. If it’s just a dinner party or cocktail party, I try to keep the hip hop to a minimum and save that for the dance party. For cocktail parties where people are mingling, I like to keep it upbeat. For this party, I had a playlist that consisted of songs from bands like The Mowgli’s, Young the Giant, Imagine Dragons, Calvin Harris and Morning Parade to name a few.
