For an Academy Awards night viewing party, birthday, movie night party, or girls night in, incorporate signature items Wolfgang Puck includes in his Oscar night party for the stars but with easy, make-ahead and purchase options to make your party prep a breeze.
SET THE STAGE: Whether you want the party to be casual or glitz and glam, let your invitation set the tone. Ask guests to come dressed red carpet ready or low key casual. Let the party reflect your personality. Evite has several "Oscar" and "Red Carpet" type of invitations to select from and you can get them out fast or you can create a Facebook or other social media event invitation. Take some inspiration from Oscars' designs below. Movie reels, gold men, etc can center your design for the invitation and for the party.
Photos above: Oscars.go.com
DECORATIONS: Oscar is gold so I used gold for the main design element. I always like to use what I have paired with a few easy to find items to anchor the décor. If your china has a gold band, start there. I found a few inexpensive mix and match items to round out my supplies including some gold plates and plastic platters from Party City; under $3. Mixed in with some of your nicer pieces, these look great and won’t break the bank. I got gold stars and helium-filled balloons from Wal-Mart.
Note: Some of the Wal-Mart stores do not inflate balloons any more so call first to be sure yours does. I tied cardboard gold stars (also from Wal-Mart) to the balloons to keep them in place and they look like they are floating. You can download printable photos and posters from the Oscar website, too.
MENU: Use Wolfgang's Oscar menu as inspiration for your own party. Wolfgang does lots of elegant bites set up in stations, perfect for a viewing party since guests will be camped out in front of the TV. You want guests to be able to mix, mingle, and graze easily. Look over his menu and choose a few things to make- like your favorite Mac n Cheese, Sliders, or Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Add a cheese board, a platter of sushi from your favorite place, some pizza cut into squares, and a few sweets and you're all set. Get my top 5 easy and elegant Oscar night recipes...
Photo credit: Tamika Moore/The Birmingham News
BEVERAGES: Champagne or bubbly is always a great way to start the party. I always have at least one signature cocktail pre-made so that I don't have to play bartender all night. Serve in pitchers, a dispenser, or pre-fill glasses and set them on a tray.
ENTERTAINMENT: It is always fun to predict the winners or play Academy Awards trivia. Download this year's full ballot or get ideas for your movie trivia game from the Oscars website.
Create your own movie quote trivia game. Match the quote to the film. "Ditto", "You had me at hello", "You know I love you more than my luggage",,, you get the picture. Or you can download my Movie Quote game, complete with instructions.
Create a party mix of tunes from your favorite Oscar winning movies. Most are available on iTunes or you can get a soundtrack of Academy Award tunes at most stores. Spotify will have an Oscars mix ready to play to make it really easy.