Before my friends start flying all around the world this holiday season and go MIA on me, I decided to hold a really early Christmas dinner last weekend for family and close friends, so that we can all celebrate Christmas together. Plenty of laughter, hugs and kisses were shared, and I could not have asked for more - celebrating Christmas and the blessings of 2013 with family and friends was indeed a great experience and an unforgettable memory I will cherish forever.
This is the first Christmas celebration that I've ever hosted, so here's sharing with you how I went about planning this dinner, and the things that I took into consideration in order to make the party a success:
1. Guests:
Inviting too few or too many people might be a problem when hosting parties. I hosted a dinner for 30 people, most of them from my university and the "blogshop" industry that I work with. I initially feared inviting people from too many social circles as it would make the party really awkward because people would usually mingle with well, people they only know. Luckily, my friends all have really accommodating and friendly personalities, which made conversations less awkward and the party more lively. To keep the party going, some entertainment is definitely required, which brings me to my next point, Entertainment.
2. Entertainment:
Music
Always be prepared, while some function rooms and venues may have stereo systems, err on the side of caution and prepare your own stereo and music playlist, which was what I did.
Photobooth
A photobooth always make ANY event fun. If you have an instant printer, even better! Getting photos on the spot somehow always make people happy. You also don't have to go for the conventional white-backdrop, make your photobooth more fun and exciting by using colourful wrapping paper as backdrops (it's even a cheaper alternative), and purchasing a couple of cute funky props for your guests to use!
Games
Prepare some card games (my favourites are UNO and Monopoly deal), as well as some party games like Charades or Pictionary, so that your guests won't get bored, and they can bond over some competitive yet friendly games. At the dinner, we played Christmas-themed Charades, where my friends had to use their bodies to convey messages such as "The Night before Christmas", "Adult Sitting on Santa's Lap", "Snowman Melting", etc.
3. Dress Code:
To make the party look a little bit more classy and elegant, I requested for my guests to come in Black and White Casual-Formal wear. While a dress code might be slightly imposing, at the end of they day it makes for really good ambience, and the photos will turn out so great because everyone is colour-coordinated!
4. Venue:
If cost is a concern, ask a friend who lives in a Condominium if it's convenient for you to rent the Condo's function room! One of my university mates, Shane, managed to book the function room of his Condo for free, which beats paying a considerable amount to rent a venue from a hotel or a restaurant.
5. Decorations:
To fit the Christmas theme, I invested a little in decorations by buying table cloths, candles and christmas baubles. My lovely friends Nerissa and Amanda even helped by creating "fake" Christmas Presents to decorate the tables with! I always get my party essentials from a party shop located at Queen Street!
6. Photography:
To document the happiest moments during my party, I enlisted the help of Multifolds Photography, who assigned their photographer Adrian Seetho to cover my dinner. Adrian took all the party photos you see in today's post, and I'm so thankful for his help in making the party more fun and lively with his presence. If you're looking at having Multifolds cover your party, do make sure to quote my name to get 10% off their photography services!
7. Catering
When it comes to catering, I know I can always trust Ohs Farm Catering to deliver dynamic, fun, and amazingly delicious catered food. I went for their festive menu, which for $27.50 per person I ordered the following:
Starter: Cold Meat Platter Combination – Salami Beef, Chicken Ham, Cheese Sausage, Turkey Ham, Pepperoni compliments with black olive, Onion rings, Cherry tomato, Gherkin & Cranberry sauce
Salad: Farm's potato salad topped with tuna flakes & tossed with chef's salad dressing
Chicken: Marinated rosemary whole chicken with pan jus
Prawn: Cheese baked Atlantic Prawn
Red Meat: Beef stew with root vegetables
Fish: Baked Salmon Fillet with White Cream Sauce (my friend were raving about this!)
Vegetable: Oriental Green Vegetable with Chinese Mushroom
Staple: Sauteed Pasta with Vine-ripened Tomato (my favourite!)
Side dish: Breaded scallop with tartar dip
Dessert: Assorted French pastries - cocktail cream puff, chocolate eclair, marble cheese cake, strawberry fruit tarts - and Honeydew Melon with Chilled Sago
Beverage: Apple Cordial
The dishes sound so good, there was already a queue forming 10 minutes before the food was ready! There are tons of dish options to choose from of course, and there's a $17.50 per person option as well.
Oh's Farm caters to "an assembly of culinary diversities – amongst them Oriental, Western, Malay, Japanese, Korean, Thai and other Fusion Cuisines". Furthermore, when you order with Oh's Farm, you get the privilege of browsing through their "theme layouts, customized concept and our value added events entertainment (Performances, DJs, dancers, emcees etc) and services (Photographers, Chefs culinary exhibit etc) to hype up your parties!"
Oh's Farm has catered for events such as the Atletico Madrid Vs Singapore Selection Match; Diner En Blanc, Alfresco Dining Experience, etc. For more information, do visit their website here.
If you are intending to get Ohs Farm to cater your event, be sure to mention my name when booking! You'll get a free pastry assortment platter for catering order, so long as you spend a minimum of $350/delivery.
8. Goodie Bags
Each guest received a goodie bag at the event filled with the following goodies - after all, it's Christmas and no one should leave without a bag full of presents! The following are great Christmas gift ideas as well, I carefully thought about what my friends may or may not like, and this is my final curated list:
Playboy Fragrances for him and her.
Peek! mobile phone camera lens (i.e. wide-angle, fish-eye, colour filters, telephoto etc...). All my friends went cray cray over the mobile phone applications, exclaiming "this is so cool!" when they tried out the lenses! Browse their "phonenography" section here, I personally think these phone lenses are really great gift ideas for your social-media savvy friends who are addicted to instagram or facebook, they are really inexpensive as well, and anyone with a phone is guaranteed to use it!
LollyTalk Christmas-themed candy. An Australia-trained Candy Maker, Lolly is located at Plaza Singapura, and available for ordering online!
Jara Petit Cheesecups. I did a review on Jara Petit a few months back, and if you remembered, I could not stop raving about them. I had to spread the Jara Petit obsession to all my friends, and the perfect way to do it, was of course at a party. Everyone could not stop talking about the really unique concept of "cheese cups" - a cheekcake in a cupcake like form. Damn it, typing this now is making me crave for them again (happens every time!). My favourite flavours are durian, strawberry, and the original!
For this Christmas, Jara Petit has created a special flavour - Chocolate Mint Cheesecup: Peppermint Cheesecake with Mint Chocolate Toppings and Oreo Cookie Crust, which you should definitely order if you are looking at holding a Christmas get-together.
Jara Petit Christmas boxes are available from 20th - 27th December:
For Christmas, Jara Petit is offering boxes of 4 and 9 with assorted flavours for Christmas! So this is a great chance for everyone to purchase boxes of 4 as christmas gifts for their friends/family, and also get to try all our flavours if they purchase our christmas box of 9.
Box of 4 ($12): Candycane Classic, Matcha, Chocolate Mint, Strawberry
Box of 9 ($25): All 9 flavours - Candycane Classic, Matcha, Chocolate Mint, Strawberry, Blueberry, Lemon, Durian, Cookies& Cream, Banoffee
Jara Petit also offers individually packed Cheesecups (first picture), at $3 each, with a minimum order of 10. These are great as door gifts at parties or Christmas gifts for colleagues (:
To pre-order, email Jara Petit at jara.petit@gmail.com
Lush Singapore Handmade Cosmetics (i.e. bath soaps and scrubs). (They smell so good!) Lush is available at Wisma Atria #B1-13, and Suntec City Mall #01-303.
Betjeman and Barton Tea Caddies and Sachets. This celebrated Parisian tea company has finally arrived in Singapore, known for their top-notch high quality tea leaves, this is the perfect gift for tea lovers! Betjeman and Barton is located at Raffles City #B1-33, and this Christmas, they are having a late night shopping extravaganza on the 20th of December! They are giving out a 20 grams caddy with every purchase above $50. Visit their website for more information!
I hope this blog post helps if you're thinking of planning a Christmas or New Year's Eve Party, or any sort of party for that matter! Don't forget to make use of the following discounts once again:
Oh's Farm Catering: Free pastry assortment platter for catering order (min $350/delivery; each reader entitled to one time usage) when you mention my name when ordering.
Multifolds Photography: 10% off photography services when you mention my name during booking.
All my love and Merry Christmas in advance,
Drea