Excerpt from A Passion for Parties: Your Guide to Elegant Entertaining
by Laura Morton
and David Tutera
A Memorial Day Clambake Party
I invited several
friends to my home in East Hampton, New York, for a casual dinner to
celebrate the beginning of summer, my favorite time of year. I wanted
the night to be fun and festive, and the theme was to be a surprise.
Clambakes don't always have to be on the beach or in Elvis Presley
movies. In fact, even the sand is optional. The only real requirement
is clams. This was such an easy party to pull together, and it was
very cute. And it didn't cost me a bucket of clams, either.
THE LOCATI0N: My
house is not particularly nautical in decor, so once I chose the
clambake theme, I needed to add a little extra beach atmosphere to my
weekend country farm home.
The party was to
take place in the backyard. I needed a table long enough to seat
eight people comfortably. Since I'm not a conventional guy, a regular
picnic table with benches just wouldn't do. I started off at an
antique store looking for a farm table. After pricing them, I
realized it was more money than I needed to spend. It occurred to me
that I could duplicate the look with a door of some kind. But where
does one buy a door that looks like an antique?
I went to a local
junkyard and looked for a wooden plank door that was clean and level.
I found the perfect door: It was white, in excellent condition, and
cost only $30. But what was I going to use as a pedestal to support
it? I found two battered birdbaths of the same height, as luck would
have it, they were standard table height. The birdbaths cost $75. I
asked the junkyard attendant to help me cut a hole in the center of
the door that would allow me to use an umbrella. I liked the idea of
having a doorknob on the door so that the table would become a
conversation piece. I searched through bins of knobs and found a
spectacular aged all-bronze knob. It was perfect and was only $5. So
there I was in all my junkyard glory, having spent only $110 for a
masterpiece table. I used an eclectic mix of chairs from my home, and
the table looked great even before I set it.
THE
TABLE SETTING It's amazing what you can do with ordinary dishtowels
and yesterday's newspaper. Knowing that clams can be messy, I didn't
want to use any of my matching expensive linens to set the table. I
actually loved the idea of not matching anything for once. The
assortment of colors adds a lively flair to an otherwise
black-and-white newspaper tablecloth. The newspaper cost 50 cents,
and each of the dishtowels was less than $2. For an extra touch, I
bought eight miniature terra-cotta clay pots, knocked the bottoms off
them, and used the remainder of the pot as napkin rings. My everyday
china and silverware were the place settings, which worked well
because the colors are not consistent. I used clear Mason jars for
drinking glasses and served homemade pink lemonade, with the fresh
lemons still in the bowl.
THE ATM0SPHERE
With all the color already in place, I didn't think I needed an
elaborate floral arrangement. Because I live near the water and the
woods, mosquitoes can be a real nuisance in the summer months, so
citronella candles were a must for the night. I placed the candles in
two locations to ensure a no-buzzing zone. One set of candies, placed
in large hurricane glass containers, was on the table on a runner of
sand, and the other set hung from the opened umbrella. The glow from
the hanging candies beautifully illuminated the whole table and
served as the only source of light after dusk. One final touch was
placing the heads of yellow daisies inside the hurricane glasses, on
the napkins, and along the sand runner.
This party was so
much fun, and I recently sold the concept to a client who wants to
expand the number of guests to 250. She is using her own backyard
(mine is way too small) but otherwise is keeping everything pretty
much the same. There's just one problem: Where am I going to find a
door that seats 250 people?
TUTERA Tip: When
buying seafood, make sure you get the freshest available. Buy it on
the day of the party and keep it refrigerated until you are ready to
prepare the meal.
Next: Thanksgiving
Dinner Party Ideas
Party
Planning & Easy Entertaining: