From Ancient Greece and the Romans to Henry VIII to VIP politicians, raconteurs and bon vivants dining together in the modern era, dinner parties were the height of fashion and sophistication.

But these formal affairs, with their multiple courses of overzealous catering, pomp and live entertainment, have died a death—not least because of the GFC in 2008.

Now though, a dinner party phoenix is emerging from ashes of the stodgy, old-fashioned sit-down soiree with its themed evenings, printed invitations and week-long cooking prep.

The gesture of having friends over for dinner is back in fashion.

And the simple pleasure of the cooking your besties a meal is once again seen as the expression of affection that it should be.

What does a modern dinner party look like? And how do you do it?

One of the biggest issues people had with the traditional dinner party was how complicated, time-consuming and costly they could be.

It was ultimately too stressful to host. Or to attend for that matter.

Often, dinner parties were a way for the host to show off their wealth and to let everyone know how influential they were; who could have the most impressive guest list.

These days it’s much more about sharing food with the people you care about.

Invitations and RSVPs are no longer a thing. Seating plans are moot. And full-on table settings with multiple plates, crystalware, and more cutlery than a homewares shop would just look silly.

Instead it’s all about paring it back.

Invitations

Needless to say, paper-based invitations are a thing of the past for everything but wedding-level occasions.

For dinner parties, the furthest you need to go is setting up a WhatsApp group.

However, sometimes it can be fun to do things like write up invites and post them… just beware the arbitrary injustices of an unreliable postal system.

Dinner Party Food

The traditional dinner party was as lavish as humanly possible, but this was driven more by the host’s ego than the promise of a tasty dinner.

There are so many ways you can approach the menu these days.

A slow-cook like my favourite lamb shoulder recipe works well, as do most set-and-forget dishes. It leaves you time get the house ready… or to just relax! I also like to cook up a curry feast for friends for the same reason. Here some of my favourite dishes.

Check out some of our other recipes here.

If you don’t feel like cooking though, there’s a trend towards having people bring a dish. This can be a really fun way to cater the party and everyone will feel like they’ve put something into it.

Dinner Party Drinks

Traditionally, dinner parties would start with a cocktail, which I still think is a nice touch. Even if it’s a glass of bubbles or a beer, everyone enjoys something to drink when they first arrive.

Why not check out the cocktail book we wrote. Click here to read more.

After that, it’s entirely up to you. Match wine, don’t match wine. Mix your own cocktails or buy RTDs. Run your own bar or have guests bring a bottle. It’s up to you—more importantly, it’s up to what you think your friends will prefer.

If you are providing drinks for everyone, it’s a lovely touch to have high-quality non-alcoholic options too.

There are some excellent 0% beers, bubbles, wines and spirits out there these days. Here’s our post on a company that’ll help with craft non-alcoholic drinks.

Lay your table

At its height, the dinner party was all about showing off your sophistication. Fine silverware and plenty of it.

Fruit forks, caviar spoons, mustard ladles, asparagus tongs—the more obscure, the better.

These days, the idea is to keep it simple.

If you have separate entree and main knives and forks and you want to use them, by all means. Just remember, you’re the one doing the washing up!

Plates and crockery, however, I think are more important, but it’s still up to personal preference.

We really love our Gio dinner set from Wedgwood. It’s modern yet timeless and is so lovely to eat from.

The pattern is subtle and even gives you a guide on how much food to put on your plate! Of course, it’s not essential, but having beautiful flatware for your friends to enjoy dinner on makes a surprising difference.

The Wedgwood Gio set is a 16-piece set in fine white bone china and the best part of this set is it’s great for everyday use but still looks good enough for a dinner party where you want to pull out more stops.

And because it’s bone china, which is the strongest material of the porcelain and china ceramics, this set is ideal for regular use and even when your dinner party gets a bit rowdy!

Check out the range here.

Wedgwood

For well over 260 years, Wedgwood has been a symbol of the highest quality ceramics pottery—from dinner sets like these to ornaments—in the world.

Favoured by royals since the 1700s, Wedgwood also sits on the tables of the Whitehouse and the homes of many other heads of state. Queen Elizabeth II granted Wedgwood the Royal Warrant in 1997.

But there are so many things about Wedgwood that many people don’t know.

For example, the founder of Wedgwood and arguably the world’s most famous potter—Josiah Wedgwood—couldn’t use a potter’s wheel.

And did you know Josiah’s grandson was none other than Charles Darwin? Or that he was an active figure in the Abolition of Slavery movement?

We can also thank Josiah for things like the money-back guarantee, free delivery and buy one get one free—all his ideas.

It’s no wonder that Wedgwood continues to be a household name, especially as the craft behind the products is so remarkable. When an apprentice has to train for 10 years to become a master craftsperson, you understand how much work goes into every item.

But ultimately, while all these facts make for conversation points during your dinner party, having Wedgwood plates beneath the food your friends are enjoying is the real pleasure.

The Modern Dinner Party

Set your own rules! Cook something easy or ask friends to bring a plate. Make it a regular date with your best friends or use it as an occasion to grow your friend group by inviting new acquaintances.

Gathering around a table with friends is where the best conversations happen and memories are made.

We were gifted the Wedgwood products but our opinions remain our own.

The post How to bring back the dinner party appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Brought to you by EcoSmart Fire

Creating that vibe of a memorable evening doesn’t just happen by accident. Parties that go down in history always follow the same rules whether they’re big shindigs or casual meet-ups.

They include elements which, when incorporated into your soirée set-up, means you’ll always throw a great party.

Everyone has those memories they talk about with friends and family for years afterwards, reminiscing over those long summer nights spent with our favourite people.

Here are three tenets of entertaining that will bring all your friends and family around you, and make your parties the definition of summer for years to come.

3 essentials for summer entertaining

Food and drink

This might sound obvious, but as Julia Child put it, a party without cake is just a meeting. This is where you can really tailor your party to whatever vibe or theme you’re going for.

A cheese and charcuterie board is always a good idea for a party – you can check out our tips for the perfect platter here, and you can craft your offerings to suit your occasion.

The same goes for drinks, and if you want some inspiration for cocktail recipes and running your home bar, here’s our e-book guide on How to Host a Cocktail Party.

Entertainment

Depending on the feel of your party, you could have fun games like bocce or kubb for people to play.

How about sharing a playlist on Spotify that everyone can add to that creates a jukebox just for the party.

Or why not set up an outdoor cinema like this. You could turn the party into an al fresco movie night or have a photo slideshow if it’s a specific celebration.

Ambiance

It’s really easy to create a lovely ambience to your party with a few lights, but there’s nothing quite like a fire for impact and mood.

Fire pits have become so popular in Australia and around the world, but EcoSmart Fire’s amazing range is the very best of the trend.

This Manhattan 50 Fire Table doubles up as a beautiful surface for drinks and food, while the business end releases a vibrant smokeless flame for hours from behind thick safety glass.

And when the party’s over, there’s nothing quite like watching the warm flicker from the fire while you enjoy a nightcap and reflect on yet another epically successful party.

EcoSmart Fire’s Manhattan 50 fire table

This beautiful piece of furniture makes such an elegant yet subtle statement in your home, whether it’s in your living room, veranda or garden.

Our table features the natural concrete finish, but there are four different finishes to choose from, including sustainably sourced teak.

The Manhattan 50 (measuring 127cm x 76cm x 11.7cm) and all the other fire tables from EcoSmart Fire require no installation, and you can move them as easily as any large coffee table.

And holding up to eight litres of e-NRG bioethanol, the burner gives up to 11 hours of burn time.

EcoSmart Fire – pioneers of planet-friendly ethanol fire features

It used to be that engineers only had two elements in the Venn Diagram of interior design to shoot for: form and function.

But these days there’s a third target to aim at: sustainability.

And EcoSmart Fire has been hitting that bullseye since 2004.

Not only are EcoSmart’s fire pits, fire places and fire tables like the Manhattan 50 beautiful in their aesthetic and elegant in their functionality, they’re made with the environment very much front of mind.

This Manhattan 50 fire table is made from EcoSmart’s specially designed concrete, which is lightweight, stain, heat and impact resistant, but also environmentally friendly.

Quite different to traditional Portland cement, EcoFire’s proprietary concrete requires 20-40% less energy to manufacture and produces 90% less CO2. It’s also made from 95% recycled natural materials that absorb Carbon Dioxide and are 100% recyclable.

And as for flames themselves, they come from EcoSmart’s own bioethanol, e-NRG. This bioethanol is a distillate of fermented plant matter like sugarcane or other high-carbohydrate flora.

When this 100% alcohol burns, it releases heat and light energy with the flame, steam from water molecules and a small amount of carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants, but also by the concrete the fire tables are made from.

This means EcoSmart not only uses a renewable energy source but also a carbon neutral one too.

It’s the perfect option to bring atmosphere to your parties and adds a luxurious level of comfort in your home.

The post 3 Essentials for Summer Entertaining appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

There’s nothing quite like raising a glass of bubbly, the clink of glasses and sparkle of laughter. That pop the cork makes when you open a bottle of Champagne is our favourite sound.

It’s the very voice of the party. It’s the call to arms for everyone who wants to have fun – the battle cry for a good time. 

Of course, the lauded lands of Reims and Épernay and their historic Champagne Houses produce some of the best-known and most loved French sparkling wine in the world. Some of the houses date back more than 260 years, and the art of creating ‘methode champagnois’ certainly began here.

But that’s not where sparkling wine ends.

In fact, sparkling wine is a truly international product. Here’s more on bubbly from around the world.

Australia makes some incredible sparkling wine that would challenge even the best old-world Champagne houses. And for a price point perspective, they tend to be much better value than French bubbles.

3 Aussie bubblies to raise a glass to

We’ve put together a few Aussie sparklings perfect for Christmas, New Year’s Eve, birthdays, honeymoons, Tuesdays… pretty much any moment you want to make a moment special.

House of Arras Brute Elite Cuvée 1501 – Tasmania

Awarded the best Australian Sparkling Wine in the 2019 Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships, Arras is an easy choice when you’re looking for quality in Aussie bubbles.

The combination of vintages and of the classic Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier blend bring structure, complexity and texture. Ultra-fine bead bubbles, a light straw colour and its signature vintage bottle shape make the Arras Elite 1501 the perfect bottle to bring out at the start of the party.

Find Arras Brute Elite Cuvée 1501 at House of Arras online and at fine wine retailers nationally. RRP $60.99

Grant Burge NV Sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay Rosé – South Australia

Grant Burge’s Sparkling Rosé brings a touch of glamour, colour and fun to your flute. The traditional blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fruit, with a little blush from the Pinot grapes, allows more body and richness than its paler sparkling cousins.

Fresh red berry fruit flavours work well with the balanced acidity of a well-made Provencal style rosé. The bubbles give further expression to this excellent wine.

A worthy tipple for celebrations on its own or with food – think duck salads, cheese platters or even a good ol’ pavlova – this is a pretty pink yet grownup rosé.

Find Grant Burge NV Sparkling Pinot Noir Chardonnay Rosé at Grant Burge online and at fine wine retailers nationally. RRP $30.00

Petaluma Croser NV – Adelaide Hills

Performing as a high-quality French Champagne yet costing like a mid-range wine, Pelaluma’s Croser sparkling is the perfect party drink.

Fresh and delicate on the nose, light, biscuity nuttiness to taste and a firm yet fine bubble, this wine punches quite a way above its weight.

One of Australia’s premium sparkling wines, Croser has been a favourite of ours for years now.

Find Croser NV at the Croser online shop or in all major bottleshops nationally. RRP $35.00.

1 in 3 bottles of Champagne leaving France goes to the UK!

Here in Australia, we’re very lucky to be able to produce so many sparkling wines at such high quality. In places like the UK, they have to import the vast majority of their bubbles.

In fact, the UK is the biggest importer of French Champagne in the world. One in every three bottles coming out of France goes to Britain.

Meanwhile, down here we’re spoilt for choice of home-grown talent.

If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love these ones too:

– The best food pairings for Champagne
– Champagne traditions
– Champagne cocktails to get your weekend started

And for our other Champagne and sparkling stories, here’s access to our library.

The post Christmas cheers – 3 Aussie bubblies to raise a glass to appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Not long now till Christmas – only a week in fact! It’s hard to believe it’s here so fast.

As if the impending promise of Christmas and all its associated fun and games isn’t enough to keep us busy, this week we’re having a birthday party for Christina (it is her birthday after all) as well as her speaking gig at a curly hair festival plus probably more gin than is advisable! 

We’ve also been given the best Christmas decorations ever by our friends you’ve got to check out.

Hope you enjoy this Weekly Edition.

Cheers – Jim & Christina xx

Today, Christina – wearing her Hair Romance hat – is at a curly hair festival. So the hat is obviously metaphorical. I mean, who wears a hat to a hair event?

She’s at the Bondi Pavilion for I Love My Curls curly hair festival, where hundreds of curly girls are gathering to learn more about products, techniques and anecdotes dealing with curls.

Not to mention the challenges and celebrations associated with this most dynamic hair type.

She’s working with Shea Moisture, telling her ‘curly journey’. It’s an amazingly supportive, happy crowd.

This annual festival is a remarkable happening and everyone here is looking forward to next year’s.

There have been many revelations today, with one little girl telling Christina that she never knew there were so many people like her around and that from now on she’s going to love her curls. Amazing.

Towards the end of the day, I arrive to check out what’s going on and to have a look at the beach. It’s been ages since I was last at Bondi. Such an iconic Sydney spot.

Sadly there’s no time for a dip though. I’m sure there’ll be another chance soon enough.

Today, we’re celebrating Christina’s birthday! It’s a bit early though – her actual birthday is December 18 if you want to make a quick note of that!

We’ve set up a garden party on the harbour to celebrate yet another year going by. We’re lucky the weather and smoke have been kind.

Everything you need for a good party: sunshine and lots of gin! On our last trip overseas, we bought some of the biggest bottles of gin we’ve ever seen. One is almost 2 litres.

From these purchases, the idea of a gin garden party took seed. And what a good idea it’s turning out to be!

It’s the pink hair parade! Our friend Ewelina and Christina are two pink peas in a pod at the party.

As you’d expect from Christina, the food platters are amazing. She’s got some tips here for creating Pinterest-worthy platters but when the Portuguese tarts look this good, it makes everything easier.

Yes, the food’s good, but it’s so much more about the gin! I’m half running the bar today, which always spells trouble. 

I tend to have a one-for-you-one-for-me policy when I’m making drinks for people. And when there are around 30 people at the bar, that policy can get you into trouble!

This, my friends, is Teddy. Or to be more specific Teddy Roosvelt the Cavoodle. Of course, he has an Instagram account – @teddyroothecavapoo – which you should definitely follow.

He’s our friends Sammie and David’s fur baby and is quite possibly the softed thing I’ve ever touched! He’s amazing and at risk of stealing the limelight from the birthday girl!

Even though it’s Christina’s birthday, I end up getting a present too! Our friends Kathleen and Jarrod, who run the incredible company Nip of Courage – a distribution company for craft Australian spirits.

If you like your Aussie whisky, gin, rum and liqueurs, get onto these guys. They’re awesome and the genius distillers they represent are superb.

Anyway, Kath and Jarrod have given us this amazing Christmas gift: gin-filled baubles to hang on the tree called Ginglebells!

Gingle Bells is the brainchild of Lee and Jocelyn Etherington, who make condiments, spices and sauces from native Australian plants. They now also have a distillery to add to the Wild Hibiscus Flower Co and make all the gin within these balls!

The pack contains six different flavours infused in the distillery’s own gin, which you can either enjoy on ice or create cocktails with.

The six flavours are Finger Lime Gin, B’lure Butterfly Pea Flower Gin, Wattleseed Gin, Snow Chrysanthemum Gin, Pepperberry Gin and – of course – Wild Hibiscus Flower Gin.

And don’t worry, you don’t have to come up with cocktails for each of these infusions. Lee and Jocelyn have done all that for you. There’s a cocktail card in the pack.

Each of the baubles has a sample of the key infused ingredient suspended in its juniper depths. I can’t wait to get cracking and try some of these. I think it’s going to be a very merry Christmas here!

Check out the Wild Hibiscus Co’s Gingle Bells site here for more information.

Well, it’s the morning after the party before. I’m suffering for my social skills – or lack of – behind the bar last night. Meanwhile, Christina and our mate Anton seem to be fine.

They’ve taken the plunge to get rid of the last few gin-soaked cobwebs and are showing off their best form. Not bad, guys.

Everyone dries off and we head to a nearby cafe for a feed. The menu at Euforia in Balmain is always interesting. It’s been a while since we’ve been back and we’re rewarded with an excellent salmon bennie… or rather Christina is. Looks good, right?

It’s pretty much lunchtime by now, so I feel my choice of fries is valid. Also, the hangover is making too many inroads in my skull. I need deep fried carbs.

The jalapeño pulled pork burger is also helping heaps! 

It’s been a very good week – we hope you agree. Now let’s get some speed up for the launch into Christmas!

Cheers – Jim & Christina xx

The post A curly party, a birthday party and gin aplenty appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

And keep reading for a true tried and tested hangover cure.

When you think about it, there’s quite a specific set of criteria you’re looking to meet when you’re hunting for that perfect summer party wine.

Perhaps without even knowing it, as you look at the bottleshop shelves or scroll through your online wine shop, you’re mentally going through these criteria to look for a suitable drop.

The wine has to be:

– Delicious (obviously)
– Light – you don’t want to drink anything too heavy in the heat of summer
– Easy on the eye – like it or not, we judge wine by its cover. A good-looking label will go a long way
– Easy on the wallet – if you’re buying for your own party, having plenty of wine for the table can get expensive

But either when you arrive at your friend’s front door or when you’re setting the table at your place, you want to know the wine you’ve chosen is going to please the crowd. The only trouble is bringing a wine you haven’t tried before is a bit of a risk.

Here are six summer party wines that tick all the boxes and – believe me – they’re risk-free when it comes to how good they taste.

Our guide to summer party wines

Neon Jungle Pinot Grigio

Pinot Grigio is often an easy choice for summer parties. It’s light, bright and inoffensive. Zesty citrus, slightly sweet floral notes and a crisp finish from stainless steel fermentation make this a perfect hot-weather wine.

The bright graffiti-inspired label is striking and memorable – and if the party goes on into the night, you’ll get to enjoy the special effects of its glow-in-the-dark ink!

At $20 RRP, this wine fits the bill for a friendly budget, available at Liquorland stores across Australia.

McWilliams McW Alternis Vermentino

Vermentino (pronounced ‘ver-men-TEE-no”) is a grape from Sardinia in Italy and is a little more complex than Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris – though it also has lots of similar characteristics. Balanced acidity, floral notes and a good dose of citrus, it’s an easy-drinker. However, it also tends to have a slight nutty savoury note to it as well.

McWilliams Wines are trying new varietals from around the world, challenging Australian wine norms by introducing grapes like Vermentino to the market. The McW Alternis range is one to watch.

At $18 from Dan Murphy’s, this wine is well worth a punt this summer.

McWilliams McW 480 Rosé

Rosé is really coming into its own at the moment. Its lean, crisp flavours that have more body than most whites without getting to bogged down in the reds makes pink wine an easy summer party wine favourite.

The McWilliams McW Estate 480 Tumbarumba Rosé is that perfect pink blush of a high-altitude cold-climate Provençal style of rosé that mixes the slightest sweetness with a herby savoury taste and a minerally acidic texture. As for its label, this wine has the topographical markings of its origins 480m above sea level in the NSW countryside.

For $20 a bottle, this is a great value wine with quality you’d expect from a higher price bracket.

Kim Crawford Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is one of the lightest bodied reds on the market and easily fits into summer parties. You can even pop the bottle on ice for a while before you open it.

This Pinot, from New Zealand, ranges in fruit flavours from bright strawberry and plum through to black cherry. There’s a hint of spice to it too, making sure you’re paying attention to Pinot’s reputation for complexity.

The Kim Crawford Pinot Noir is a good-looking bottle with a simple sophisticated design, and at $19 from Dan Murphy’s it looks a lot more than its price.

Neon Jungle Tempranillo

If your party is in the mood for a richer, fuller-bodied wine, Tempranillo (pronounced “tem-pra-neeyo”) is a great option. Still light-medium-bodied, the juicy, spicy liveliness of this Neon Jungle wine will keep the party going.

This bottle, with its eye-catching urban-inspired ‘paint job’ label is fun to pour from and represents its younger target market.

This wine’s $20 price tag from Liquorland means there’s less at stake in risk-reward terms, though I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this number.

McWilliams Stolen Colt Cabernet Sauvignon

Light, bright wines at summer soirees are all well and good, but sometimes you just want to bring some grunt to the party. The Stolen Colt Cab Sauv is definitely that. Deep dark crimson and purple, notes of dark chocolate, coffee and ripe dark fruits, this wine is a force of nature.

Apart from its excellent name, the Stolen Colt comes with a bit of history. The winery’s founding father, Samuel McWilliams, and his experiences with firearms and bushrangers in 1850s NSW before he planted his first vines. This is all in the stylish yet masculine label on an expensive feeling tapered bottle with a deep punt.

Price wise, however, the Stolen Colt is a steal at $15.99 from major retailers and independents nationally.

How to beat your hangover – Recoverthol

Before you take your first sip at this summer party you’re having, think about what you’ve got on the next morning. If you have time to wallow in self-loathing in a darkened room with servants bringing you snacks and hot chips regularly, go right ahead and start your engines.

However, if you need to be bright-eyed tomorrow, 2ml of magic might just save you.

Recoverthol – an Australian-made formula – delivers a small but mighty supplement of naturally-occurring cofactors into your system that protect you from the effects of alcohol.

Read on for a 30% discount on your first order.

Simply squeeze the clear liquid from the single-serve teardrop containers into your first drink before you imbibe. It’s flavourless, odourless and undetectable in your drink.

And as they say, prevention is better than cure.

The liquid is a formulated dose of Alcohol Dehydrogenase Cofactor (ADH), which you already have in your body. But you only naturally create enough ADH to process one to two drinks. After that, it’s the road to suffering!

Recoverthol gives you an extra zap of ADH to help metabolise the alcohol and prevent the build-up of Acetaldehyde – a by-product of your body metabolising booze and the cause of hangovers.

We’ve tried Recoverthol a few times now and it really does work. You feel less sluggish the next day and recovery to 100% seems to happen quicker too.

Buy Recoverthol online here and you’ll get 30% off your order – or use the code ‘ROMANCE30’ at the checkout.

It’s important to note that Recoverthol does not lessen or change the immediate effects of alcohol and that you should drink responsibly regardless of how well Recoverthol works.

You can purchase Recoverthol online here and get 30% off or buy from many pharmacies across Australia. 

We were gifted the wines featured here and paid in part for this story by Recoverthol.

The post Our guide to the perfect summer party wines appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Brought to you by Lanson Champagne

Mrs Romance loves Christmas. And not just because it’s her birthday the week before. She really gets into it and loves a good Christmas party.

And by Christmas party, I should clarify I don’t mean those work dos that can turn so bad so fast.

I’m talking about getting all your favourite friends and family members together and celebrating the coming festive season.

When we lived in the UK, a festive party usually meant bunkering down in a warm pub somewhere. But here in Australia, hot days and plenty of outdoor venues mean throwing Christmas parties that go down in history.

To give your Christmas party the chance it deserves, here are our top 5 tips for making your festive bash the best of the season.

5 things to make your Christmas party the best of the season

It’s not a Christmas party without…

1. …presents – but with a difference

It makes sense that everyone should get a present at a Christmas party. But there are some alternatives to a regular Kris Kringle that really bring the party together.

I love this list on The Gracious Host, which happens to include a couple of our favourites. Kringle Gamble (called ‘Dirty Santa’ in The Gracious Host’s list) is where you basically swap your unopened Kris Kringle for a possibly better present someone else has already opened. It’s a fun gamble, but it can work out.

There’s also ‘Krap Kringle’, where everyone gives really bad (but funny) gifts as their Kris Kringle.

You can also theme your Kris Kringle if your party has one or even make it a rule that all Kris Kringle gifts must be a type of hat the receiver has to wear during the party. This one’s even a good sun-safe option!

2. …music – but with a theme

Of course there has to be music, but creating a playlist that’s memorable can is much more fun than going for generic hits.

Put a playlist together that goes with the theme of your party if you have one. Think ‘90s party or maybe location based music. Or if you’re with a specific group of friends, make it a list from when you first met or were at school together.

Plus anything’s better than carols.

3. …champagne – but choose the right bottle

You’ve got to have bubbles at a party – it’s the law. We’ve really fallen for Lanson – a beautiful French brand and one of the oldest champagne houses that dates back to 1760.

Our hot tip is the Lanson Black Label NV Brut (RRP $49.99 from Dan Murphy’s). It’s a perfect example of a refreshing, elegant, well-aged champagne that not only drinks beautifully on those hot summer days, but also says celebration better than anything.

And if you want to really win, look for the special music boxes that come free with each bottle of Lanson Black Label NV… which leads me on to party idea number 4.

4. …party tunes – but batteries not included

You need something to amplify your party tunes. We’ve tried a few things over the years like those portable speakers – even putting our phone in a bucket to resonate the sound.

The problems we found were the battery ran out on the speakers quite quickly and the bucket just didn’t work at all.

Lanson Champagne have come up with this great idea to make a special edition ‘music box’ out of their champagne display tins. You take the bottle of bubbly out of the box, lift out the flap in the box lid and slide your mobile into the gap.

I must say that I was surprised about how well the speaker actually works.

The mobile holder has been engineered so it channels sound down from the phone’s speaker really well. And the holes of the speaker grill surprised us with the sound quality. But best of all, you’re only limited by your phone’s battery life.

By the way, each of those holes is actually in the shape of the historic Lanson emblem of a stylised Maltese Cross. The founder for the brand got it from his son, who was a Knight of the Order of Malta. Nice attention to detail there.

Don’t miss out on these music box specials – they’re in Dan Murphy’s for $49.99 – the same price as a bottle of Lanson Black Label NV on its own. That’s right – the box is free!

5. …Pavlova – but with a Christmas feel

Is there anything more Australian than a Pav at a party? Mrs Romance’s mum is a bit of a Pavlova master too, so there’s always one at every family gathering and get-together with friends.

For the Christmas celebrations though, why not give your Pav a festive touch? For most of the Pavlova it’s meringue-and-cream business as usual. But to decorate, use sliced strawberries and kiwi fruit to bring in the colours of Christmas.

We’ve also chopped strawberries in half, glued them back together with cream and put a blog of cream on top to make like Santa hats.

With these 5 simple tips, you’re sure to make your Christmas party really stand out above the rest.

Do you have any tips for making an impression with your Christmas party? Do you have a favourite champagne? Tell us in the comments!

The post 5 things to make your Christmas party the best of the season appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

30 Cocktails in 30 Days Challenge: Day 1! The mojito

We’re super excited about this challenge and we hope you are too. Over the next thirty thirsty days of June, we’ll be showing you a cocktail a day to get you in the party mood.

And here’s the first, and on a Saturday night too! It’s party time, and what better way to get that party started than a mojito?! A few months ago, we even had a mojito party. It turned out to be a great combination of experimentation, inspiration and alcohol!

There were only a few of us but last minute we decided to get the ingredients for mojitos. Then everyone took it in turns to make their version. Funnily enough, our friend who drinks the least made the best one… I think it was because she was very heavy-handed with the rum!

How to make a mojito

Here’s what you need:

For each drink

• Double measure white rum
• 8-12 leaves fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon fine grain brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons light brown sugar (or just a tablespoon of caster if you don’t have any brown)
• ½ lime cut into segments
• Lots of ice
• Soda water to top up at the end
• Cocktail shaker, measure/jigger, muddler, tall glass, long spoon.

Here’s what you do:

1. Put the lime, sugar and mint in the shaker and smash it all up with the muddler.
2. Add rum and ice, and stir with the spoon.
3. Pour into the glass – my friend added a bit more rum at this point!
4. Top up with soda water.
5. Serve with a mint sprig and straw!

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Images by Mrs Romance.

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