the inspired occasion

Party Feature - Elegant Wedding

2012-03-08T19:00:00.000+11:00

We were blown away this week when Christine from Bitter Sweet Creations submitted her very first dessert station to us. What a honour. I think you will agree that Christine has created a beautiful dessert station.

With the bride requesting an all white candy buffet with a splash of coral as this was the colour of the bridesmaids dresses.

Christine also added silver Hershey's Kisses and chocolate hearts wrapped in foil. She also incorporated the word LOVE in front of a gorgeous Swarovski crystal hurricane candle holder which matched the brides centrepieces that the bride had picked out for the tables, with the funniest part being that Christine didn't know this until she arrived to set up!

The bride and groom absolutely loved their candy buffet and of course got to choose their favourite lollies first. All photos are courteous of photosbynicholas.com The wedding was in January 2012 in Newcastle, NSW.

Enjoy these images from Bitter Sweet Creations

As alway we love to receive your party submissions and inspirations. Please email info@theinspiredoccasion if you have a party or party creation to share.

The Inspired Occasion

Woodlands Theme - Client Feature

2012-03-06T19:00:00.000+11:00

We love to see what our clients do with our edible items once they are delivered and we are in love with this "Woodlands" themed party.

Such a great job was done styling this party. The attention to detail, the props and the setting is just wonderful.

The Inspired Occasion had the pleasure of providing:

Mini Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Oreo Cake Pops
Mushrooms Sugar Cookies
Chocolate glitter Marshmellow sticks

With such great feedback we bring you a few photos that the client sent us:

"Thought I would share some pics from my daughter's party yesterday. Thankyou so much for the edible goodies from The Inspired Occasion…..oh my goodness so delicious, especially the oreo cake pops!

We all had a fabulous time and my daughter Scarlett was so overwhelmed by it all. Also glad the sun came out for us! ;)"

This little girl looks so happy, i'm sure she had a wonderful day!!

The Inspired Occasion

The First Weekend in March - WOW

2012-03-04T18:10:00.003+11:00

What a weeks we had!! With two Dessert Stations to create and setup and many baking orders it was a recipe for a whole lot of fun. With 150 Cake pops, 150 Decorative Cookies, 80 Cupcakes, 100 Macarons, 30 Strawberry Mousse Cups, 25 Chocolate Dipped Marshmellow, 20 Jelly Cups and a Jelly Slice!!

We love working with new themes and this week challenged us to create edibles in pink and white, beach, woodland, rainbow, princess and lego.

It will be great to see what our clients do with our baked items over the coming weeks!!

We have been so busy that we have not had much time to write a blog post so tonight we will show you a little snippet of our week. With no rest in sight we now regroup and start the week again with more baking and functions next weekend.

1st Birthday Edibles, pink and white

Pink and White Cake Pops

Pink with white chocolate ganache macaroons

1st Birthday Sugar Cookies

Beach Party - Surf Board/Beach Balls

Pistachio Macarons

Rainbow edibles

Rainbow cake pops

Woodland inspired sugar biscuits, cake pops, mini carrots cake and
chic dipped marshmallows

Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we start to go through the many photos we took of our disney princess and lego themed parties. We are also excited to be part of Bike Fest next weekend.

The Inspired Occasion

The Inspired Occasion - Inside our Kitchen

2012-02-26T19:21:00.000+11:00

Have you ever wonder where your edible items are created, well this blog gives you some insight into the "The Inspired Occasion" kitchen.

The process of being fully registered and certified as a food premises can be complex with us needing to tick the correct box's. From separate pantry and fridge to dual sinks, dishwashers, food record system and cleanliness.

Our Kitchen is always in spotless condition with all our food items recorded and stored for in appropriate conditions.

The Inspired Occasion renews their kitchen registration yearly and maintains all food receipts and records along with maintaining qualifications in food preparation, handling and storage.

As a Mother and Daughter team who ran a family cake and coffee shop in the Eastern Suburbs and then going on to study Hospitality and Hotel Management we are always keen to add to our study portfolio, with many courses in cake decorating, cup cake decorating and baking. Having come runners up in the My Kitchen Rules auditions for Melbourne we make quite a team.

This little domestic kitchen has been known to pump out hundreds of macarons in a week along with many cupcakes and cake pops. So next time you order some edibles from us you can be reassured that they have come from a clean, registered and maintained kitchen using only the finest ingredients.

The Inspired Occasion

Lemon,Sage and White Baby Shower - Post 2 Food

2012-02-21T19:00:00.000+11:00

Continuing on from Sundays blog on the Lemon, Sage Green and White baby shower, the below post takes a closer look at the delicious edible items The Inspired Occasion provided.

With a sweet street menu of:

Cakes Pops
Mint Macarons
Vanilla Cup Cakes
Vanilla Bean Pana Cotta
Assorted Jars of Candy
Melting Moments as take home favours

The celebration cake was a rich moist Red Velvet with layers of cream cheese frosting in the centre, decorated in our most popular rosette style buttercream.

All the guest took home a personalised and decorated melting moment.

With a candy selection of that included green and yellow jelly beans, white chocolate dipped raspberries, yellow bonbons, hard lemon rock candy, green smarties and white chocolate. There was a selection for every type of sweet tooth.

We hope you have enjoyed our Baby Shower and we look forward to bring you some exciting new party features over the coming weeks, including Lego, Disney Princess, Alice in wonderland inspired kitchen Tea, Giggle and Hoot, and a public event with Time Out Melbourne.

The Inspired Occasion

Lemon,Sage and White Baby Shower - Post 1 Themeing

2012-02-19T19:00:00.000+11:00

As featured on the The Little Big Company blog last week The Inspired Occasion had the pleasure of event managing a baby shower for a beautiful mum to be. The planning process started late last year when we meet with the client in her beautiful home. Already having decided to host the function at home we started with an initial consultation which involved the mother to be, her best friend and mother-in-law.

With approximately 30 guests we decided to utilise the beautiful alfresco area and added a white marque for the dessert and beverage station. The client wanted seating for her guests so we organised for tables, chairs, chair covers with sashes all complimenting the colour pallet chosen.

With the client not knowing what sex the baby was, she opted for a neutral plate of Lemon, Sage Green and White. Once we started the conversation rolling we decided to incorporate the bird cage as additional themeing.

Our style team started to sketch and design the backdrop for the table, we created a unique backdrop using a curtain type effect. We added green foliage into the birdcages to dress the cages and made over size pompoms and hung them in the out door area which gave added thumbing to the deck area.

We also designed the printables which included the menu board on the dessert station, toppers on the take home melting moments along with words of advise cards and other games signage on the games table. The Games table was also dressing in matching linen with bird cages again incorporated.

Our gift to the expectant mum was a nappy cake, this also doubles as a centre piece on our beverage station, and this is an item that will be incorporated in most of our baby shower functions. We also provided all glass wear which included champagne and soft drinks glasses along with our milk bottles and wax papered straws. The drink dispensers where filled with homemade lemonade and the guests enjoyed drinking out of the milk bottles.

All styling, event mangament logistics, baked items including cake was provided by The Inspired Occasion.

Come back and visit our blog on Tuesday evening for part 2 - The details on the Edible items

The Inspired Occasion

Themed Sugar Cookies

2012-02-16T19:00:00.000+11:00

We are loving all the requests we are getting to design themed sugar cookies. The endless creativity with these items make them a regular on our dessert stations. We can create flowers, farm animals, boats, tiara the list is endless and we are enjoying using different mediums to decorative from coloured fondant to royal icing techniques and stencilling.

The sugar cookie is often presented on our dessert stations as a take home treat, presented in a clear bag with a personalised topper. They are also becoming more popular as a school birthday treat.

Our most popular and talked about sugar cookie would be the Very Hungry Caterpillar designs you can view the other edible and themed items for this baby shower at Very Hungry Caterpillar blog post.

Below is a collage of some of our customised cookies!!

Don't forget we can customise all our baked items to include gluten free, egg free, dairy free, nut free. So please contact us if you have any allergy requirements.

Please email info@theinspiredoccasion.com.au for a copy of our edible items menu, with updated items such as jelly slice you will be amazed at what a few decorated sweet treats can do for your dessert stations.

The Inspired Occasion

Happy Valentines Day!! - Elegant Queen Anne Dresser

2012-02-14T07:30:00.000+11:00

A little Valentine day dresser we threw together in collaboration with Surreal Creations.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Valentines Day and wouldn't it be lovely to come home to something like this?

With an assortment of petite sweets by The Inspired Occasion:

CakePops
Chocolate Macarons
Heart Sugar Cookies
Mini Vanilla Cupcakes
Heart Shaped Jelly Slice
Assorted Chocolate
Sparkling Shiraz

Stationary Items designed and created by Surreal Creations - Photo Frame and Heart Chandelier

This elegant dessert station is styled on a Queen Anne dresser using props such as a jewellery box, miniature cake stands, candles, glass wear, decorative heart plate and of coarse a single red rose.

Happy Valentine Day Everybody!!

The Inspired Occasion

A Dorothy the Dinosaur Tea Party - Part 2 Edible Creations

2012-02-13T19:00:00.000+11:00

With a menu that needed to satisfy both the young and young at heart the client opted for the below speciality items

Decorative Cupcakes
Decorative Melting Moments
Macarons
Cake Pops

With the client providing a few additional treats such as jelly slice, honey joys, ticktock biscuits and chocolate ball. All together this gave the guests amply sweet treats to choose.

The Inspired Occasion created some eye catching themed baked items to meet the clients brief.

The Cupcake are a moist vanilla base with two varieties of butter cream icing traditional vanilla and mild raspberry. The piping details on the cupcakes where a real highlight to the dessert station and added to the tea party feel.

The Inspired Occasion used pink and blue floral on the Melting moments to compliment the colour pallet.

The edible items introduce the splashes of pink and blue to the table. As well as adding a vast selection of candy jars filled with candy.

The Macarons which are our most popular edible item where a hit with the adults as too where the Cake Pops both of which an indulgent sweet treat.

And of course the show stopper on the table was the wonderfully crafted cake from Baking Passion which complimented the table themeing, stationary and food items perfectly.

Mentions:

Baking Passion - Dorothy Cake http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baking-Passion/146837945397644

The Inspired Occasion

A Dorothy the Dinosaur Tea Party - Part 1 Themeing

2012-02-12T19:00:00.000+11:00

As featured on Les Enfants this week. The Inspired Occasion had the pleasure of styling and supplying baked item for a stylish Dorothy the Dinosaur tea party for a special little girls 3rd birthday party. With the colour pallet of yellow and green with splashes of pink and blue the designing began.

The client provided us with the invitation created by Surreal Creations who also provided the stationary items for the dessert station which included the bunting, menu cards and loot bags all of which worked well with the theme.

We choose crisp white table clothes with lemon table runners and used sage green risers for both the dessert and drinks station.

Various risers where used on the table including cupcake stand, cake stand, various box's and cakepop tins to give the dessert station levels of interest. Along with a variety of decorative jars filled with candy adding to the overall feel of the dessert station. With table utensils wrapped in matching ribbon trimming.

Pre Event Set-up by The Inspired Occasion

The Inspired Occasion arrived onsite the day before to commence the set up, so all that was needed the morning of the party was for us to plate up our melting moments, cake pops, macarons and cupcakes (to be featured in Part 2). Along with hanging some yellow lantern on the deck.

The miniature drink bottles again a huge hit with the children who enjoyed the novelty of filling them with Rosy Tea (Cordial) the vintage colour coordinated straws again adding to the overall theming.

Drink Dispensers/Bottles and straws supplied by The Inspired Occasion

Suppliers

Surreal Creations: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Surreal-Creations/148034065220353

The Inspired Occasion is excited to bring to you part two of this Dorothy the Dinosaur Tea Party tomorrow night with the details on the themed baked items!!

The Inspired Occasion

Macaron Crazy - Our Top Tips

2012-02-09T19:00:00.001+11:00

The Inspired Occasion just can't believe how crazy people are over our Macarons. They are by far the most popular baked items on our edible list and make a great addition to any function. Not only do they taste amazing but we can also colour match to any theme.

Its hard to believe that 4 simple ingredients can create something this mouth-watering, and believe me it’s very difficult to just stop at one

Almond Meal
Egg Whites
Iccing Sugar
Caster Sugar

Although Macarons use only 4 ingredients they are certainly not a quick whip together recipe, they require total concentration without distraction!! Because of this we tend to bake our macarons at night when we are less likely to be distracted by the pitter patter of little feet

Because of their popularity you will find lots of new products on the market to help you make perfect macarons, from special baking trays, silicone mats, powdered egg whites and ground almond meal. However we have found that just sticking to the basics and using a few everyday appliances such a a mix master, fine sieve, piping bag, spatular and metal bowls you too can create beautiful mouth-watering macarons without unnecessary expense.

Without giving away all of our trade secrets here are a few of our top tips to help you achieve amazing home baked macarons:

Top 10 tips from The Inspired Occasion

Always use old egg that are at room temperature
Never try to make macarons on a hot or humid day
Process, Process, Process your almond meal and icing sugar through the blender prior to sieving
We use a teaspoon of egg white powder in our egg white to aid in stability
Wipe you electricmixer out with some salt to make sure it is clean and dry for best egg whites
Lower temperature oven is better than higher we recommend 150degrees
Macarons hate heat and humidity, if in doubt we always put the air conditioner on.
Macarons get better with age, wait 24hour once assembled before you eat for best results
Use good quality chocolate and essence for your fillings
Once you start you can't stop so make sure you have some time to yourself without distraction.

With vibrant colour like these it’s no wonder they are the trend on many of our dessert/candy stations at the moment, with the ability to colour and flavour match they can be beautifully presents in Glass Jars, on Decorative Platter or Cake Stands to enhance any social function

With our most popular macaron varieties being:

Raspberry
Peppermint
White Chocolate
Caramel
Dark Chocolate Ganache

However we are getting more and more request for citrus, nut, coffee and liquor flavoured macarons. So if you have a favourite flavour we are able to create a mouthful of mouth watering macaron.

The Inspired Occasion

The Perfect Bonbonnaire - Macaron Box's

2012-02-06T19:00:00.000+11:00

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of making 150 macaron bonbonniere for a beautiful bride. Each guests received two macarons in a clear box finished with a satin ribbon.

With the bridesmaids dressed in lilac and the floral centre pieces also incorporating lilac and green the bride choose the following velvety macaron varieties

Peppermint White Chocolate
Smooth Caramel
White Chocolate Ganache

We took those cheeky shots before the bride collected, in additional to the 150 we also made another 70 Macarons in a latte colour for her to place around the base of a 3 tier wedding cake.

We are patiently waiting for our bride to return from her honeymoon to send us some photos from the reception with the macaron boxes on the place settings and the latte macarons around the wedding cake.

With Macaron so in vogue at the moment we think that this is a unique take home gift for any occasion, whether it be a wedding, baby shower, christening or birthday. With the flexibility to colour match and flavour match your imagination can run wild with the combinations of colours and flavours we can create. Our basic Macaron prices start at $2.20 per macaron.

Stay tuned because later in the week our top 10 tips of macaron baking!!

The Inspired Occasion

Back to school! - A school themed baby shower

2012-01-30T18:08:00.000+11:00

Again its that time of year again. Starting tomorrow morning 7am it's back to alarm clocks, packed lunches, uniforms, homework, drop off's and pick ups. It's with mixed emotions.... great that routine and structure will commence again and of course more uninterrupted time to manage our upcoming functions will be a blessing, but unsettling also, as we can't believe how fast they are growing up and our youngest little boy is off to pre-prep so there is sure to be tears (from mum...) when he steps into his new class room!!

Anyway - to celebrate the return to school, We thought we'd re-share this school themed baby shower that we featured last year and with so many new followers on board we are sure it will be well received!!

This baby shower was put together by Whitney at Whitney Smith Photography for her friend, who is a primary school teacher.

It is filled with all sorts of cute details; blackboards, cookies and milk, lunch bags, apples for the teacher, school books and a gorgeous personalised baby shower book. All the guests left notes for the baby in here, along with a list of gifts and other mementos.

Another adorable feature was prepared by the mum-to-be's class. They all wrote down pieces of advice on parenting for her - maybe not overly helpful, but certainly amusing!

Enjoy!

And stay reading as next week we will be featuring another baby shower that we managed recently, think sage green, lemon, white and birdcages!!

Till then - The Inspired Occasion

The Inspired Occasion - We Love Dessert Stations

2012-01-29T18:39:00.000+11:00

In 2011 we had the opportunity to create some truly special dessert stations, table seatings and drink stations for our clients.

We are always excited to work with new clients and bring their ideas alive, whether its working with your favourite colour palette, a character, a story book or a concept we can work within your budget to create an amazing eye catching event paying particular attention to the details!!

The Inspired Occasion offers a unique service that customises all our dessert stations and party styling in-house from the baking, to the art and craft, entertainment, photography, venue hire, furniture hire, staffing requirements and catering. We are a one stop shop for all your event requirements.

Our team of experienced event managers can articulate the latest trends and themes onto a story board that will bring WOW factor to a party. Bellow is a small snippet of our favourite dessert stations which went from story board concept to an actual event.

Whether you are looking to theme children's, adults, social, community or corporate events we can take your ideas and add our imagination....

The Inspired Occasion are looking forward to bringing you some of our 2012 events soon!!

Private Screening - Young Adult staring Charlize Theron

2012-01-26T17:55:00.000+11:00

When was the last time you and a friend were invited to a free night out with the chance to win some great prizes? Can’t remember? Well neither could I, but all that changed when The Inspired Occasion received an invitation from Time Out Magazine Melbourne to a special screening of the movie Young Adult staring Charlize Theron at Kino.

It just goes to show that I need to get out more, because I thought my guest and I would just roll up, take our seats, watch the movie and come home. How wrong was I ? On arrival we were warmly greeted by a member of the Time Out team and thanked for attending (hmm think we should have been doing the thanking). Once in the cinema you couldn’t help but notice that every seat had a gift bag placed on it. Being the woman I am I couldn’t wait to explore the contents which included a current copy of Time Out Magazine and lots of free and two for one promotional offers from well-known stores located in just about every suburb of Melbourne. Don’t you just hate getting offers for businesses that are miles away from where you live ? I know I do.

By now we are settled in our seats with goodie bags securely stowed waiting for the movie to start when a charming young lady makes her way to the front of the screen and gives us a quick (very quick) overview on what Time Out is all about and invites those people in the audience who are guests to sign up to their email newsletter so that they too can be invited to free events and receive informative information on what‘s happening on the Melbourne food, entertainment and arts scenes. But wait there’s more! We are asked to look under our seats because 8 lucky people are going to win the following prizes night for two at Crown Towers in a Deluxe room, 2 x $200 bar vouchers at The Vic Bar, 2 x Vouchers, champagne, cocktails, dinner and a show at Red Bennies (worth $250 each) and 3 x 6mth subscriptions to Time Out Melbourne. Unfortunately neither I nor my guest was a winner ( maybe next time).

Ok so now you want to know about the movie. Recently divorced writer Mavis, returns to her small home town, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex-boyfriend, who is now happily married and has a newborn daughter. This is a good lightweight movie that shows off the unique ability of Ms Theron to play anything from drama to comedy and isn’t afraid to do either with or without makeup. I give this move 7/10.

So what are you waiting for, just click the link below to make sure you don’t miss out on being invited to the next free Time Out event. See you there!

http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/newsletter

The Inspired Occasion

Cake love

2012-01-24T19:00:00.000+11:00

This week seems to be about beautiful, unique and creative cakes... Not that we are complaining! Earlier in the week, We themed a fabulous baby shower with one of our favourite the rosette style cake. Stay tuned for more on this baby shower in the coming weeks.

We currently are involved with a competion at inviteme.com.au and we are in amazement of the cakes that have been submitted.

The Inspired Occasion have had the pleasure of designing, making and overseeing some beautiful cake art over the past twelve months. Most of which are custom designed around the themeing of our clients dessert stations.

Here is a snap shot of some of our favourites:

And don't forget that The Inspired Occasion take orders for all your speciality cake requirements, so if you have a cake you want creating we can create it in a range of delicious flavours our most popular are

Rich Chocolate Mud with layers of chocolate ganache,
Red Velvet with layers of cream cheese and
Moist White Chocolate Mud with caramel cream filling!!

The Inspired Occasion

Party Blog - Le Petit Prince

2012-01-22T19:00:00.000+11:00

The Little Prince (French "Le Petit Prince") is a French classic children's novel first publish in 1943 written by a French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It is is a wonderful children's story about a man who meets an amazing boy and relearns what it means to be a child.

This blog post has a number of images from a party we created and event managed late last year. Le Petit Prince themed party was created for a client's son's 1st birthday.

Our Client wanted a unique theme to celebrate her son's first birthday and loved the french book Le Petit Prince so the challenge was set for us to research and create something unique. As we started to research the novel we soon came across various aspects of the book we could make reference to on our dessert station, the fennec fox, the stars, the planets, red roses etc.

There were 50 guests in attendance and we started by designing an invitation to set the scene for the party, They looked so unique and were a perfect way to invite the guests!

For the party, we added in lots of elements from the book such as stars, fresh red roses, figurines and lanterns to represent space.

Starting with a colour palate of blue, yellow and hints of red we created a dessert station enjoyed by all. The stationery was designed by The Inspired Occasion and our all baked dessert items where created in-house to incorporate the colours and theme. Items on the dessert station included cupcakes with the red rose and stars as toppers, sugar cookies in the shape of stars dusted in edible glitter, cake pops and jelly cups all appreciated by the big and small guests.

There was also a themed chocolate mud cake cake which stood centre on the table with a handmade sugar figurine of the character himself and was a big talking point of the table. A selection of colour coordinated candy also added to the theme of the table.

We created the space feel by adding a backdrop with stars and hanging blue and yellow lanterns. We also incorporated some of the clients items into the table including the fox and various figurines. Red roses doted on the table another way to transform this table.

The Loot Bags, designed by The Iinspired Occasion where filled by the client who had two option for both the younger and older children. With each child receiving a bag filled with candy along with other items such as crayons and themed colouring pad, lego, bubbles and a balloons.

To top the party off we organised for a French themed entertainer to host the children with an array of activities, games, face painting, glitter tattoos, music and dance.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos from our Little Prince Party and looking forward to sharing more of our party highlights soon.

We were also lucky enough to have this party featured over at Les Enfants party blog:
http://lesenfantsparty.blogspot.com/2012/01/real-party-le-petite-prince.html

The Inspired Occasion

Time Out - Melbourne

2012-01-20T19:00:00.000+11:00

The Inspired Occasion is now a VIP members to Time Out Melbourne and had the pleasure of attending a special preview of the Young Adult starting Charlise Theron on Wednesday night. An exciting blog post will follow in the next few days to let you know all about the movie and what a great night was had and all for FREE.

Time Out Melbourne is the younger hipper cousin of it's grand relatives Time Out London and Time Out New York. With over 5 million readers worldwide, there is a reason Time Out is considered one of the worlds best critical guides of things to do, eat and drink and people you just must meet.

As part of their launch year in Melbourne Time Out are running a series of free VIP movie screenings, parties, art shows, comedy event and outdoor tom foolery. It's free, there are always ' surprise prizes to be won' and 9 out of 10 time you get a damn good gift bag. You really can't lose. The only catch is that you need to sign up to their free newsletter which is simply a weekly guide of what's great to do in Melbourne anyway.

So sign up to this fantastic newsletter, which is free, to be invited to events which are errr free and then get given gifts and win prizes that are .... FREE?

Sign me up .... Well lucky for you all you need to do is click the link below and hey presto!

http://www.au.timeout.com/melbourne/newsletter

SHARE THE LOVE

And stay tuned to hear more from the exciting VIP events we are attending over the coming months.

A Dinner Party - 10 Top Tips

2012-01-19T20:35:00.000+11:00

This week The Inspired Occasion hosted a business dinner. It was an intimate dinner for six with instructions to impress.

So with the table set with classic whites and the fine silver cutlery out the work began to create a menu that could be prepared ahead of time allowing plenty of socialisation with our guests.

After endless hours browsing on the internet the menu was finalised

Entree - Platters of Fresh cold seafood

Main - Slow cooked pork belly: http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/15459/succulent-slow-roasted-pork-belly-with-crispy-crackling.aspx

Dessert - Homemade assortment of Macarons and a Cheese, Greens and Maggies Beer platter.

The entire menu was planned around pre prep and opportunity to enjoy the evening. The seafood platters were arranged on the platters and simply brought out to the table on arrival. The Slow cooked pork cooking in the oven for 7 hours, simply fell apart which made it easy to plate along with the steamed greens/baby carrot and a potato gratin that was also prepared the day before.

Even the dessert was pre prepared and again simply brought to the table when required. And after our recent trip to South Australia who can say no to some Maggie Beer Quince paste with an assortment of bree, cambert, blue and vintage cheddar cheese.

Some beautiful Champagne and Barossa Valley wines were served throughout the evening and the only stress to be had was loading the dishwasher at the end of the night.

The Inspired Occasion's top 10 Tips to hosting a Dinner Party

Prepare as much as you can the day before
Have a menu you are familiar with (Never try a recipe you have not cooked before)
Have a chat with the kids and make sure they understand your expectations of them and bedtime planned to avoid any defiance
Set your table the day before (polish that glass wear and silver wear)
Shopping List - Check it off as you go
Devise a time line of what needs to happen when
Open your red wines early and allow them to breath or use an aerator
Use a butcher you trust and explain it's for a special occasion (our butcher cut us a fresh piece of meat and gave us an extra length of crackle!!)
Have a selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages on offer and always have a jug/craft of water on the table
Most importantly Enjoy!! the evening.

Until our next post, The Inspired Occasion!!

Top Shop Launch by Sheridan

2012-01-09T21:18:00.000+11:00

Kicking The Inspired Occasion into the new year is Sheridan Wright, freelance writer, PR dynamo, event manager and professional event attendee. A serial offender on the events circuit , Sheridan will be bring to us regular blogs on what is happening in the world of events. Whether it be the launch of a new brand, the revamp of a bar or the opening of an envelope, she will be there gathering tips on what's hot and more importantly, what's not.

Top Shop Launch - Melbourne

Top Shop have always been the ' cool kid' of mainstream fashion, floating the line between affordability and 'must have designer wear' with ease.With that in mind it probably doesn't surprise anyone that their launch into Melbourne (and indeed Australia) was every bit a representative of that same trend.

For starters the invite was mightily hard to come by and no amount of ' D Grade' celebrity would pull you through to the front of the line. Instead of the usual bunch of suspects ranging from semi recognisable models, AFL players and soap stars the floor was literally spilling over with bloggers, writers, fashionistas and those whose opinions matter. It seemed it was less about getting a photo in The Herald Sun and all about seeing what people in the know thought of our English cousin.

Guests were treated to a tamer variety of Apple Martini's with clouded apple juice served in round bottomed tumblers and apple slices, Moscow Mules ( which seems to be the mixed drink of the season) and endless amounts of Moet and Chandon. The canapes were not designed to be filling (think single scallops and mini latticed potato based savoury treats) , but were designed to be small enough to put in your mouth in one go without spilling half of it down your front.

Cup cake stands were scattered throughout the store and it took a while for people to realise that these very decorative touches were designed to be munched on.... It wasn't confirmed but the varieties looked very similar to those from a certain cupcake bakery ( otherwise known as ' The Cupcake Bakery').

The most interesting part of the evening was in fact in human form - every single waiter in the place had a certain look , a step below outright model and a step above from hipster teen. When I questioned the PR organiser about this very fact I was greeting with a knowing smile and nothing more. I guess when you're in the business of fashion, everything should be decorative.

till the next invitation .. Sheridan

Food allergies

2011-12-20T16:07:00.002+11:00

Here at the Inspired Occasion we like to think that we can overcome any challenge thrown in our direction!

One challenge that we are eager to share with you all this week is allergies; and more specifically the fun and exciting ways that we overcome the restrictions that food allergies hold. Whilst a little off the Christmas topic we feel that now is an important time (what with Christmas feasts coming up) to touch on the subject, especially after a week of allergy recipe baking from Alex!

Over the last few weeks Alex has been busy in the kitchen creating some delicious festive treats for clients. Food allergies are something that Alex has become something of a pro at working around and she was delighted to see so many Christmas orders being placed that included items which are designed for allergy sufferers. The Inspired Occasion are proud to offer a full range of edibles which can be moulded to individual needs, which includes delicious variable recipes to suit a whole range of allergies. Alex was thrilled to be able to put her new Christmas recipes to the test!

One brilliant approach which we’ve found that easily facilitates food allergies within our events are our individual lunch boxes. Perfect for younger children, each lunch box can be carefully created around specific dietary requirements (as well as party themes) without the child even knowing the lunch box is any different from other party guests. Take a look below at some of our favourite designs so far.

Did you know that Coles offer a range of special dietry recipes on their website?
We are so pleased to see that one of Australia's major supermarkets are helping out families with new and exciting recipes for a whole range of allergies. Keep up the good work we say!

Make sure you take a look for some delicious ideas!

http://recipes.coles.com.au/special-dietary/

That's all for tonight, make sure you check out our last post for the year on Thursday!

The Inspired Occasion

Party in a box - everything you need for your next occasion

2011-12-14T21:45:00.000+11:00

Here at the Inspired Occasion we like to make things as easy as possible for our clients. With Christmas on the horizon and the last few manic pre-santa days rapidly approaching we appreciate now more than ever that your time is precious!

Does organising an event leave you questioning why there are only 24 precious hours in one day? If so then we have created the perfect solution for you!

The Inspired Occasion's 'Party in a box' solution is ideal for anyone who is time limited but perfection focused. These DIY boxes are perfect for any event as our creative team are able to arrange all edibles, table wear, printables and decorations created to your specific requirements.

Easy? Absolutely!

Take a look at the images below to see some examples of our different themed 'Party in a box'.

These gorgeous photos show a custom designed purple, white and silver 'Christmas party in a box' that we created for a client recently. Perfect!, And we think our lovely client thought so too!

'The Christmas party was great and the work you guys did was very impressive - I even had the next door neighbour in to have a look !!'

Take a look the delicious individual portions of Christmas pudding!

The festive season is a perfect excuse to indulge in sweet treats.

These chic silver and purple baubles placed in the glass vases definitely add a touch of glamour to the party, plus they're a quick alternative to putting up a christmas tree!

Do you have little monkey's living in your house?

If so this jungle theme would be perfect for you!

Check out the different animal print lanterns floating from the ceiling.

Pink, pink and more pink! What more could a fairy ask for on her birthday?

(Well maybe some sugar cookies and cupcakes, but don't worry we supplied those too!)

Finally to wrap up this evenings post, here's a photo taken from a very special 30th Birthday that took place recently. Here are a selection of edibles we created for the event, macaroons, cake pops, cupcakes and just look at that cake!

Make sure you check out Sunday's post welcoming a new member to The Inspired Occasion's creative team!

Enjoy your Friday and the weekend

The Inspired Occasion

The Inspired Occasion - Hot off the Press!!

2011-12-13T19:30:00.000+11:00

The Inspired Occasion is back in 2012, bigger, better and with even more inspiring ideas brought to you by a fresh new online team.

Our new relaunched blog will feature special feature editorials from some of Australia's die hard events enthusiasts along with the tips, features and ideas that have made us one of Australia's favourite event styling resources.

Kicking us off into the new year is Sheridan Wright, freelance writer, PR dynamo, event manager and professional event attendee. A serial offender on the events circuit , Sheridan will bring you fortnightly (and humorous) accounts on what is happening in the world of events. Whether it be the launch of a new brand, the revamp of a bar or the opening of an envelope, she will be there gathering tips on what's hot and more importantly, what's not.

We are also very excited to introduce to you another new member to The Inspired Occasion blog team. Fresh from the UK - Ellie. Ellie will be providing weekly blogs on much asked for topics such as party and food trends, fool proof recipe ideas, and cost effective DIY party solutions.

The Inspired Occasion will of course still be committed to keeping you up to date with all our latest baking creations, event management tips and party styling ideas alongside regular blog features and submissions on party trends in Australia and overseas (including bios on great party venues, restaurants, hotels and gardens).

With many new exciting projects on the horizon, we look forward to sharing what will surely be a fantastic year with you.

As always, feel free to get involved with feedback, good, bad or indifferent, because without your input our occasions wouldn’t be so inspired.

Stay tuned next week to meet a new member of The Inspired Occasion team!!

The Inspired Occasion online team!!

A Christmas treat with something sweet!

2011-12-11T19:52:00.000+11:00

At the The Inspired Occasion we understand that all your occasions are important. We appreciate that they are your opportunities to celebrate the special events in life and we value the importance of every moment. Our job is to construct a tailored and inspired occasion to your specific requirements. With our extensive party planning and event management experience we can guarantee you a stress free event which will leave you and your guests with exeeded expectations.

With the highly anticipated Christmas holidays only days away and festive plans starting to be put into motion, The Inspired Occasion understand now more than ever how hectic the year’s final weeks can be. To give you some inspiration for your own Christmas we thought we’d share some mouth watering dessert stations menu options and some stunning photos of beautiful Christmas events that we have helped create.

ENJOY!

(WARNING - This menu induces watering of the mouth and tummy rumbling)

Individual served of Rich fruit puddings, soaked in Cointreau or Brandy and served with cream and custard
Pavlova with mixed berries and chocolate shavings
Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream icing and jaffa 'berries'
Decorated Christmas shortbreads or sugar cookies
White chocolate dipped strawberries
Cakepops for a splash of colour
Assorted home-made truffles in white, milk and dark chocolate
Christmas mince tarts
White chocolate dipped vanilla wafers, rolled in crushed candy canes

These delicious Christmas deserts are sure to put a smile on any scrooges face!

Stay tuned over the next few weeks to see more Christmas inspired posts to get you in the festive mood!

The Inspired Occasion!!

Part 2 - Food for thought

2011-12-08T13:49:00.001+11:00

Following on from Tuesday nights post featuring Emily’s divine 4^th Birthday tea party, tonight’s blog will focus on one of The Inspired Occasion’s favourite party elements. Edibles!

At the Inspired Occasion we are delighted to offer a range of delicious (not to mention gorgeous) edibles fresh from our certified kitchen, so this topic is definitely one that sits close to our hearts (and stomaches!).

For many of us food is an opportunity to share, socialise, create and above all else

enjoy.

The Inspired Occasion are positive that everyone attending Emily's Birthday tea enjoyed the afternoon, we can just imagine the guests excitement when they saw the stunning desert station!

We just love the creative use of the white dresser, the drink bottles poking out of the open drawers and the cupcakes nestled on grass mats look so tempting.

We asked Rachael if she thought her desert station was a success.

"Our guests were so busy enjoying the buffet that our craft activity ended up being taken home to complete"

The Inspired Occasion think you'll all agree that the answer is a unanimous YES!

In Tuesday nights blog post The Inspired Occasion discussed the different uses of theme, notice how Rachael has even incorporated the garden party element into the edibles (a trick The Inspired Occasion too are particularly fond of). The colourful flower pops and cupcakes look almost too good to eat!

The Inspired Occasion are delighted to have helped Rachael with her daughters special occasion, check out our cakepops proudly on display in the plant pots!

Finally the gorgeous Birthday girl checking out her cake!

A very Happy 4th Birthday to you Emily!

Supplier Credits

Pom Pom Princess – Facebook for the tulle and paper pompoms in the chandelier http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Pom-Pom-Princess/196413923724705

Cake bakeshop for the Robert Gordon patty pans, vintage style paper straws and vases for the buffet

Pinwheels and Pearls for the lovely twirling ribbons http://www.facebook.com/pinwheelsandpearls

Lou Lou’s Florist in Ballarat for the fresh arrangements in the bird cage and in the alcove under the dresser- they smelled divine.

Photography by Celeste Vermeend www.ourgirlyworld.blogspot.com

Shabbyblogs for the printable templates for all the labels and place cards. www.shabbyblog.com

Lastly, before the team at The Inspired Occasion sign off, we would just like to say a special Thankyou to Rachael for sharing with us her Inspired Occasion!