Our friends, Matt and Eleanor, are not new-comers to the art of throwing a spectacular Oktoberfest, so when it came time to celebrate Matt’s retirement, the theme was ‘a no-brainer’. Germany is where this spectacular couple met many moons ago, and Matt’s retirement party was to happen in October so there you have it; an Oktoberfest to top all Oktoberfests was in the making!
The Plan
There would be “lots of family” coming from out of town. Keeping things simple was important so that Matt and Eleanor could focus their time with family and spend less time in the kitchen.
The Food
The ‘wurst’, German Potato Salad and Sour Kraut all came from a local deli. Guests contributed salads. Margarite, a dear friend, made a beautiful array of cookies, and there was plenty of beer and wine to enjoy.
Eleanor describes a few of the logistical issues
The biggest challenge was to figure out the set up for the tables. We wanted all 50 guests seated at tables in the living room and dining room. That’s where our family members came in! We were able to squeeze all of the tables into the two (adjoining) rooms. It was crowded, but I wanted to have the feeling of a beer hall so it was okay. My sister, Kathy, did the flower arrangements in the authentic German beer mugs we borrowed from Beckers. After that, all it took was for of our friends to come and enjoy the celebration.
Bringing It All Together
Eleanor was able to find all the white and blue table cloths, (Bavarian flag colors) on Amazon. “Look up Oktoberfest-there is a ton of stuff!” she adds. The personalized beer glasses came from Glass with a twist, she says that they did a great job with a very fast turnaround. Tables, chairs and dishes were rented and the crowning jewel….
Eleanor hired one person to help with clean up;
Before she left, she had put all of the glasses and dishes in the rental company boxes, cleaned up the kitchen and taken down all the tables!
And what a celebration it was!
Until next time,
enjoy Entertaining An Idea
and be sure to subscribe to the
Entertaining An Idea Newsletter
