Everyday Celebrations At Home
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Andre Champagne for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
Lives are busy these days. I know because mine is.
Being a wife, mom, realtor and blogger has me on the go constantly. Having that rare uninterrupted time at home is priceless.
Everyday memories are made at home. It's where we are comfortable and feel at rest.
Inviting friends and family into your home is much more intimate than meeting at a restaurant….not to mention more affordable. You can mingle freely and can go where the night might take you…..conversation, a game of charades, movie night or viewing that big game.
I put together a night just like that for you and your significant other or a small group of friends to encourage Everyday Celebrations at Home.
Entertaining for a small gathering or a crowd need not be stressful, time-consuming or overly expensive.
Your planning starts at the grocery store…..yes that is right! I'm not talking time consuming recipes to create the perfect appetizer or meal. You are busy, your friends are busy. Everyone needs a break. Let's go easy. Hey, if you take a step towards this….your friends will be overjoyed and encouraged to do the same simple approach. You might even get together more often since you set the tone of simplicity!
It's all in the presentation.
A large cutting board like mine works well for this type of presentation. All of the food, drink and flowers came from my local grocer. All you need to add is the conversation, board game or movie night.
I picked up this bottle of Andre Brut. Not only is it an excellent value, but really tastes great. Did you know that you can add mixers to your champagne to create a unique champagne cocktail? I really like cranberry juice in cocktails so I decided to give it a try.
Andre provided me with this convenient mixer glass and shaker. You simply follow the instructions on the glass! Easy peasy. Once you mix it a couple of times, you can estimate the pour and use your own glasses for a group. You could mix up a bunch for a crowd, but I decided to decant the cranberry juice and pour as a glass was desired. The reason I chose to do this is because the cap is resealable to keep that fabulous fizz for another night. How convenient is that! No waste!
If you do not have a cutting board, no problem. Just use a pretty platter.
Shop the cheese section of your store. Look for the following:
- 2-3 hard cheeses like Gouda and cheddar
- 1 soft cheese
- hard salami
- sliced prosciutto
- smoked salmon
Include the following if desired:
- variety of nuts
- variety of olives
- crackers
- grapes
- strawberries
Prosciutto is so yummy! It is very thin and easy to create these little stacks side by side. It looks really pleasing on the board and adds dimension to the presentation.
You can even pick up your flowers at the grocery store.
I only purchased one bouquet of daisies. Purchase what ever is in season that coordinates with your table. I chose the white for late summer. They set a more casual, relaxed tone.
If you notice, I divided the bouquet into 3 containers of varied heights. This gives the illusion of a much larger flower arrangement for little cost.
Pay attention to your salad dressing and olive oil bottles. They make great vases!
Check out the entire Andre Champagne selection:
·Brut
·Extra Dry
·Blush
·Cold Duck
·Moscato
·Pink Moscato
·Spumante
·Peach Moscato
·Strawberry Moscato
Be sure to PIN the above image for later!
How do you plan to make your night #EpicWithAndre? Check out the hashtag on social media for more epic entertaining ideas with Andre.
Do you have some simple entertaining ideas at home that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them. Just share in the comments below.
As always, drink responsibly. Always have a designated driver.
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Yum, looks gorgeous AND delicious! That’s pretty much my favorite meal right there. Nibbles of all sorts of wonderful different flavors.
Thanks! Same here. Great for a weekend night when you just want to relax!
This is totally my kind of entertaining! Even my kids love to eat appetizers like this- minus the champagne cocktail, haha
So true! My daughter actually drank sparkling grape fruit juice. It was a fun night!