Insights from a Summer Party

I've been in Carefree, Arizona this week visiting a friend I grew up with. She's lived here for 10 years and has never met her closest neighbors. This is due in part to the fact that the neighborhood is comprised of 10 and 20 acreages.  

Here is a picture of some of the neighboring houses.  

We planned a party and invited all of her neighbors.  We zeroed on a Moroccan theme.  

Here are the images that we referenced for our Moroccan theme using bold primary colors with exotic flowers and fruit.  We found 2 great beverage servers on wire stands at Sur La Table.  We used one for iced tea and one for mojitos.  

The table cloths, napkins, glasses and plates were purchased at Crate and Barrel.

Our menu included the following:

Fruit Skewers  from Pinterest

Prosciutto Wrapped Cantaloupe from Epicurious

Moroccan Kefta Stuffed Rolls

Pita chips and hummus.

These we prepared ourselves.

Then we purchased from AJ's Catering

Beef Satay

Coconut Shrimp

Spanikopita

Below is a photo of one of our serving tables. 

The party was a great success and more neighborhood parties are being planned.

These are our insights:

Place tent cards labeling each of the offerings. Many people were unsure of trying the prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe(perhaps because prosciutto looks like raw meat).

Provide name tags at the front door(these and the tent cards are readily available at Office Depot or any office supply.

Hire servers: probably 2 servers for food and wine-also available from AJ's Fine Foods or whomever is available in your area.

Hire a valet service(especially if your driveway or street are tight).

We noticed that the hot food disappeared first, and much of the fruit was left over(but who cares; it was so pretty!)

I hope this helps with your next venture into the mysterious land of entertaining!