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The Celebrate with Style blog contains ideas and tips related to creating parties and events that are beautiful and affordable. Features on family celebrations, entertaining friends, creating wonderful business and social events, and holiday gatherin
Recent Posts Tagged With 'entertaining'
Your favorite course of the Thanksgiving meal
Holiday dinners are absolutely my favorite meals to prepare during the year. I make roast turkey dinners for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. So now, I’m having a great time stocking up on all of the holiday cooking essentials, from chicken br...
Tailgaiting (or backyard) party: Easy game plan
Whether you’re planning a pre-game tailgate with a crowd in a parking lot or with a few friends in your own backyard, barbecuing—or at least warming up hearty food that’s already cooked–is definitely part of the fun. Here are a few make...
Pretty, instant Halloween decorations
 It’s not too late to decorate for Halloween. If you just haven’t had the time to create intricate and labor intensive festive décor, we have a few simple ideas. Here are six very easy to assemble decorations you can put together in no time at...
Beautiful Fall wedding cakes to inspire your desserts
We are always inspired by beautiful creations, and these wedding cakes, created by some amazing bakers, are certainly among the prettiest! What these fabulous wedding cakes have in common is that through the use of icing color, flower sprays, or the ...
Autumn flowers and natural elements for rich centerpieces
Here’s a beautiful inspiration board to suggest great ideas for party decor for any dinner party or other upcoming celebration. All of these talented designers use the rich beautiful colors of fall, plus natural elements that add depth to th...
One can never have too many guacamole recipes
Just heard from a talented blogger and new Twitter friend, Maryan Aiken, whose TeacakeMartini blog is fun to read and whose tweets (she’s @WeddingCrush) are always so full of energy. I had invited Maryan to share a “Quick Tip” with...
Chilling red wine for guests, too
Neither Franny nor I drink red wine. And I must confess, I always thought red wine was supposed to be served at rom temperature. But the next time we have dinner guests, we’ll be sure that the red wine we serve is properly chilled–thanks...
Amazing sports-themed cakes
 1) Poker cake designed by Caryn’s Cakes 2) Yankee fan cake designed by It’s A Piece of Cake;    3) Pool billiard cupcakes designed by The Pink Cake Box 4) Spartan State stadium cake designed by A Piece O’ Cake 5) 3 tiered basketball c...
Free party printables from talented designers
Here’s a little bit of extra help for the end of the summer celebrations that you already may be planning. All of these adorable and free printables, created by talented designers, will make great additions to your dinner party, birthday celebr...
An invitation for wedding and event planners
You create beautiful weddings! But do your brides, their families and friends know that you can create beautiful parties and events of all types? We can help you show them. How? By putting our 20+ years of publishing success to work for YOU. Right ...
An unexpected cocktail party treat: Savoury mini-cupcakes
Here’s a great party food appetizer that I just saw in Toronto’s The Globe and Mail. It’s a delightfully different cocktail party appetizer created by columnist Sebastien Centner, director of Eatertainment Special Events, in Toron...
Louisiana-inspired barbecue menu
Almost all of us enjoy serving classic barbecue party fare, such as grilled juicy burgers and hot dogs, or grilled chicken or steak, served with potato salad and coleslaw. However, it’s also fun to excite your guests’ palates with unexpec...
Party easy: Sunny, yellow dinner party inspiration board
Photo credits: Yellow-themed floral arrangements (bottom left), by White Poppy florist, and Limonata lemonade bottles in footed trifle bowl (top right) both photographed by Darby Elizabeth photography and posted on Blue Orchid Designs.Â...
Easy patriotic decor: Festive, low-cost flower ideas
        Add fresh floral arrangements to your patriotic party décor—very easily and affordably. Last year, we showed you how to create a patriotic centerpiece of fruit, flowers, and mini American flags. This year, we’re making an e...
Eating out and entertaining: What we say vs. what we do
A new survey released by Mintel Menu Insights confirms what many of us know, or at least suspect. We say we want healthier choices in restaurants. But when faced with actual menus and mouth-watering descriptions of individual dishes, our commitment t...
Amazingly elegant recipe for a small shower or brunch
I just stumbled on the most wonderfully decadent and elegant recipe for a brunch or small shower.Watched the video on how to prepare Wild Mushroom and Brie Crispy Rolls, and wanted to make it NOW. (Will require a shopping trip, however.) The video, f...
Liven up any party with sunflowers
Just as recent clothing trends have shown brighter colors, party and home décor trends reflect the bright colors of the season–and particularly, bright yellow. Whether you’re having guests over for appetizers, cocktails, dinner, or g...
Better burgers for your Memorial Day barbecue
The New York Beef Industry is holding its third annual “Create the Perfect Burger Contest.” If you live in the New York area and have a great, original burger recipe, the deadline to enter is July 31st. Click here for more details. Even...
Celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
How could we have missed this one? Thanks to my brother, Bob, I’ve been reminded that today is, indeed, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Time to get the chocolate chips out of the cabinet and turn on the oven. Over the years, I’ve made...
Flowering branches add beauty to any dining area
 When Corinne and I went to the Dining by Design show several weeks ago, we both noticed that among the fresh ways designers created beautiful dining spaces was to include flowering branches in their displays. Often, flowers appeared on the tables,...
Instant, fun Kentucky Derby party
Here’s a great excuse for a spontaneous and easy party–the Kentucky Derby, which is always televised on the first Saturday of May. So call a few friends, have the women dig out their most ornate or floppy hats and invite everyone over for...
Great idea for any milestone event or fundraiser: Wish trees
     Here is another great idea we came across at the Dining by Design show in nyc, sponsored by DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS). A wish tree, like the one photographed above, is a memorable addition to any milestone event, s...
Easter decorating lessons learned the hard way
Today was really great–family and dear friends over for Easter dinner. Everything turned out well, and we had a wonderful time. However, I must confess, preparing the table décor gave me a couple of hours of sheer, zoned-out fun. Here’s ...
Elegant Easter Inspiration
While hunting for table setting ideas for Easter I came across these beautiful photos recently uploaded by Tracy, a designer and a member of flickr.com. Tracy designs gift tags, necklaces, and party decorations in her online store called, Tied Up Mem...
Happy 1st Birthday–to a lovely floral centerpiece
Today is the one-year anniversary of a post on this blog about the gorgeous and eco-friendly centerpiece (above, left) that I won at a luncheon to benefit the Henry Viscardi School, in Albertson, New York, a model program that enables those with disa...
Clever entertaining ideas at Dining by Design fundraiser
On Saturday, Corinne and I enjoyed attending the Dining by Design show in NYC. The show, part of a multi-city fundraising initiative, is sponsored by DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS). For the New York show, a number of wonderfully tal...
Cupcake decorating: Fun birthday party activity for the little ones
Young children love doing things on their own. Maybe even more so if it has to do with handling sweets. Here’s a great birthday party activity that little boys and girls will adore. These photos of a cupcake decorating activity were posted by Y...
Generous, gifted event planner Eclatante Event Design
As we recently noted, we’re now collecting “Quick Tips,” beautiful and affordable ideas from talented event planners, caterers, floral designers, restaurant owners, photographers, and other celebrations professionals. We’re ex...
Blue centerpiece for a beautiful dinner party
Here’s an easy idea for a cool, calming, and beautiful blue centerpiece from Maria McBride, an internationally recognized photo stylist, event producer, and author. On her site, McBride explains how you can get this look in an instant for your ...
5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
Here’s a recipe sent in by Karin Tierney, one of Celebrate with Style’s wonderful contributors. Karin suggested that this recipe might be fun to post right before Valentine’s Day. We haven’t tasted the cake, but it looks like ...
