Ladies' Picnic Party

I planned a Ladies' Picnic Party to take place on our rooftop patio but, due to the nasty rain, we ended up being cramped into our tiny condo livingroom. It all turned out fine, and everyone was a really good sport about the situation, but my beautiful party plan had been foiled! Hmph!

I managed to snap a few pics as the rain was doing its dirty work.

I planned this party in one week, so I didn’t have a tonne of time to obsess over the details. Along with the classic red picnic gingham, I took inspiration from strawberries and watermelon and added some touches of light pink and fresh green to the colour palette. I love polka dots, so I incorporated the print in red and green throughout.

I purchased the gingham-printed trays, baskets, mason jars, paper cups, tablecloths, napkins, cutlery and dishtowels at various dollar stores, the ribbons at Walmart, and the fancy stripey paper straws at the Thomson Hotel (though I later learned that you can buy these for a much more reasonable price on Etsy via HeyYoYo).

I ordered six strawberry shortcake and six lemon meringue cupcakes from For the Love of Cake in Toronto’s Liberty Village. The guests oohed and ahhed over the cupcakes and some even tried one of each flavour. They were a hit!

The fried chicken and cold salads were ordered from KFC, and I made pb&j sandwiches on regular and gluten-free baguettes. I also prepared a cheese dome with various cheeses and a cracker platter with a fancy basil and olive oil goat cheese spread in the middle (from The Healthy Butcher). There were candies, watermelon slices and strawberries on offer, as well as the picnic and lunchbox tradition – raspberry wagon wheels! It was quite an afternoon feast.

To refresh our guests, I offered water with fresh strawberries, as well as mixed a berry vodka with fresh lemons and frozen lemonade and – presto – we had “Electric Berry Lemonade.” My husband mixed an alcoholic variation of a sweet and tart iced tea, which was absolutely delicious.

Favours consisted of bags of red gingham-wrapped jelly beans and gummy bears, red and green Laura Secord lollipops, and individual serving packs of cherry Kool-Aid. It was rot-your-teeth-out kind of fun!

So, all in all, the picnic went ahead and the guests seemed to enjoy the indoor variation of the original plan. I must admit that I am hesitant to ever plan an outdoor event again (I’m still feeling the burn!), but I am scheming up various ideas for the indoor focused fall and winter months.

• Best Moment

  Cupcakes & KFC!

• Most Touching Moment

  My sweet husband helping me take everything in from the rain

• For the Love of Cake

  Cake designer

  http://fortheloveofcake.ca/