How to put on a Right Royal Party!

Are you having a party with family and friends to celebrate the Royal Wedding this Friday?

Here are our top tips for creating a fun and stress free day:

Firstly don't try to over do it! Given that there is only two days until the big event, our advice is to keep it simple & fun!

First there is the decorations: Embrace the day and go with the classic Red, White & Blue colour scheme. With many shops selling flags & bunting it is easy to dress your room or garden to get everyone in the mood. Or if you want to get kids involved why not get them to make the bunting, some string, paper / fabric and paint can keep the children quite for an hour and produce from fun decorations! If the patriotic theme really isn't your thing, then we have seem some fabulous 'Vintage styled' party accessories available in Waitrose. Ranging from cake stands, bunting & tea cups & saucers.

When it comes to food the we think you can't go wrong with some Bucks Fizz to start the day followed by a light buffet lunch and a classic afternoon tea to finish off your day. Finger sandwiches, cupcakes & scones will always be popular with all ages!

Our last tip, is check the timing of the day: The wedding is due to start at 11am so make sure you're guest arrive in good time as you don't want to be answering the door and getting drinks when the wedding has started, otherwise you may miss out on all the events yourself! BBC have a great schedule of events you may wish to check out.

We will watching from our event at Hurtwood Park Polo club, but hopefully be able to celebrate with a Bucks Fizz or two! We hope you have fun and enjoy the day...

The Great Big Event Team

www.thegreatbigevent.com

Our Spring Food Guide by Private Chef David Gulliot

We are delighted to introduce our monthly food blog by the fabulous David Gulliot. David has worked in a number of London restaurants including The Greenhouse & One Lombard Street, both of which are Michelin star establishments.

Here's how one past client described his food:

"David is a spectacular cook. Always full of surprises and ideas, he is a very creative chef and executes flawlessly; his presentation is mouthwatering. His food is better than most restaurants I have been to, so why go out when David can come to you?"

David describes cooking as his passion and we are looking forward to sharing his monthly ideas and recipes with you.

An Introduction to Spring

As spring seems to be finally upon us with the warmer weather coming and the sunshine arriving (we hope!) the produce available to us triples. With so many classics such as lamb and samphire coming into season in April why not cook some things that you wouldn’t normally?

At their best in April:

• New potatoes
• Celeriac
• Purple sprouting broccoli
• Sorrel
• Halibut
• Oysters
• Crab

Salmon and Watercress Tart

Ingredients:

For the pastry case

• 200g/7oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 100g/3½oz butter, cut into small pieces, plus extra for greasing
• 1 free-range egg yolk
• a little water

For the filling

• 400g/14oz salmon fillet
• a little butter or groundnut oil
• salt and black pepper
• 2 large handfuls watercress
• 4 free-range eggs
• 400ml/14fl oz double cream

Method

• For the pastry case, place the butter and flour into a food processor and blend well.
• Add the egg yolk and a little water to bring the pastry to a firm consistency.
• Allow the pastry to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes then roll out and line your tart case carefully.
• Trim the edges and bake in the oven at 180C for 20 minutes with baking beans.
• For the filling, bake the salmon with a little olive oil and black pepper for 10 minutes - then flake the flesh.
• Roughly chop the watercress and spread the leaves and the salmon around the bottom of the tart case.
• Mix the eggs and the cream and season well.
• Pour the egg mixture into the tart and bake at 160C for 25 minutes or until just set.
• All that’s left to do is allow it to cook and enjoy...

Before we go and let you start cooking your Salmon & Watercress Tart we just want to wish you fantastic Easter weekend and we hop the Easter bunny is kind to you all.

Anyone for Tea?

Whilst watching BBC Breakfast this morning, Bill Turnbull & Sian Williams were discussing the merits & traditions of afternoon tea! Not an hard hitting news item we agree but it nice to know that Brits all still embracing the traditions of afternoon tea, in fact according to the tea council it is an increasing trend.

This week Claridges was named London's top afternoon tea place for 2011, but there are plenty of other gorgeous tea rooms all round the country for you to enjoy this Easter. We've been checking out the Tea Councils website this morning and we are busy making our short list for this Easter.

If you are thinking holding your own tea party there are even details of how to make the perfect brew on the website. And finally, if you are having friends & family over you can make it even more memorable by hiring some vintage tea sets and cake stands from Vintage Days, we are thinking, sunshine, garden parties, sandwiches and scones & jam. Lets just hope the weather holds out!

Fiona Cairns talks about her Royal Commission

Kate Middleton's dress may be a closely guarded secret but British cake baker Fiona Cairns has been talking about her commission to create the royal wedding cake.

In an interview with the BBC she said that she had a meeting with Kate to discuss her ideas for the cake. Fiona says the cake is a traditional wedding fruit cake with a modern twist! There will be lots of lattice & scroll work and she has been given a list of 16 flowers to incorporate into the cake in one way or another.

The finished cake will of course be multi tiered, with a simply but stylish white and cream scheme and each tier with be different. Fiona sums the cake up as being as 'traditional, delicate, modern with a vintage element'.

We can wait to see what it looks like!

A celebration idea

We have a great idea!

You want to join in the celebrations, but you really don't have time to organise it at this stage...

Or you're thinking about gathering friends, colleagues, suppliers together and the perfect event could be The Royal Wedding.

Well look no further! We are inviting you to our own 'The Royal Wedding' which is being run in association with Hurtwood Park in Ewhurst, Surrey. Tickets are available now by emailing your request to Info@thegreatbigevent.com

Let us know if you'd like more information...

Cheerio,

Event teat at TGBE co.