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10 Easy, Expert Party Tricks
Los Angeles caterer and event planner Lulu Powers shares her best entertaining secrets. “Being a good host isn’t about perfection or spending lots of money,” says Lulu Powers, who has planned parties for Sigourney Weaver and former President Bill Clinton. Instead, Powers’s key ingredients include creativity and advance planning. “If you’re organized,” she explains, “you can relax and have fun with your guests.” As for the creativity part: We suggest cribbing from Powers’s new book, Lulu Powers: Food to Flowers ($34.99; William Morrow), which yielded these clever tips.
1. Chill cocktails with frozen fruit. Icy grapes or blueberries give
sweet drinks the look of swanky martinis.
Bypass fussy arrangements in favor of plants that can live on in your garden. Powers made this hydrangea centerpieceworthy by displaying it in a silver bowl and adding floral moss.
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GO TO COUNTRYLIVING.COM/PARTY
to pick up simple ideas for summer parties.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LARA ROBBY/STUDIO D; STYLING BY STEPHANIE HANES
2. Choose flowers that last.
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4. Transform popcorn into an indulgent hors d’oeuvre.
Fry a few pieces of bacon, crumble them over popcorn, and top with a drizzle of warm pan drippings.
5. Kick ice cubes up a notch.
Freeze pomegranate seeds or sprigs of fresh rosemary in water, then pop the cubes in glasses of white wine or lemonade.
3. Put your kitchen sink to work as a beverage cooler. “Guests will feel more welcome helping themselves to drinks,” says Powers, “and cleanup’s a breeze.”
6. Create fun placecards in a flash. “Snap Polaroids of guests as they arrive, then put a picture at each setting,” Powers says. (To purchase Polaroid film, visit the-impossibleproject.com.)
7. Try this fresh, no-fuss dessert. Sprinkle watermelon
slices with sea salt, a dash of lime juice, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
8. Use plant markers to identify cheeses. Powers relies on
10. Set silverware out in pretty terra-cotta pots. Label
plain wooden or plastic stakes and a Sharpie to separate the Cheddar from the manchego. “People always appreciate being told what they’re eating,� she says.
each container using chalk, so you can wipe off the writing and reuse the pots.
9. Personalize your linens for less. Instead of expensive embroidery, monogram napkins with stamps and fabric paint.