Party people go online
- — 22 December, 2003 07:30
It’s warming up outside and Christmas is on its way - both signs the party season is about to get going. If you’re thinking of planning your own shindig, we have some help to make your event shine this year: great sites that take some of the running around out of organising a party.
INVITATIONS AND PLANNING
You first step in organising your party will probably be setting a date and inviting the lucky people you wish to attend. Many sites are designed to help you do this on the Web, but you’ll find they often require a subscription fee. We’ve included a couple of free options to keep your party budget for other things.
Of course, before you do this you might want to think of a theme for your party - especially if it’s one for kids - so we’ve included some sites that offer suggestions for planning.
Evite
Evite is the big name in online invitations. Here you’ll be able to choose from a vast array of themed invitations and send them out to your friends. As well as selecting the look of the invitation, you can add other useful information such as what to bring, and there’s an option to ask your guests questions (dietary requirements, for example).
Sometimes parties call for payment from guests - such as bashes held in restaurants - and Evite lets you collect this money using PayPal.
www.evite.com
Waitrose.com
This option is a little left-field - Waitrose is a UK supermarket chain - but its invitation offering is supremely easy to use. Just choose your picture and enter some details on a single page, then add your guest list (this is the painful part: you have to type them all in) and your invitations will be on their way. There’s no need to register at this site but your invitations will spruik Waitrose, which could be a little weird for some recipients.
www.waitrose.com/food_drink/online_invite/index.asp
Party411
This site is a little bright and at times too American, but it is run by an enthusiastic party planner. There’s advice on themes, food, etiquette and games to get your party going. A detailed print-off list for planning large events like weddings is also available - but probably includes way too much detail for a casual get-together.
www.party411.com
Birthdaypartyideas.com
The name of this site is a bit of a misnomer, because it has ideas for all sorts of parties, not just birthdays. Parents stuck for ideas for kids parties will find a long list of suggestions. Don’t be put off by the ‘Adult’ parties list - there’s nothing R-rated - it’s just to delineate it from the kids’ list! The ideas are suggested by other party holders and you can submit an idea (prizes such as Amazon.com gift vouchers are given each month for the best ideas). We particularly liked the $5 formal idea - where guests scour charity shops for old suits and formal dresses. Bring on the peach taffeta!
www.birthdaypartyideas.com
FOOD
Great parties need food - especially cocktail parties where the booze is flowing. Even if you just plan to serve some dips and snacks, you can buy your supplies online. At any time of year, stepping into a supermarket is hell for some people, and at Christmas the frenzy at the checkouts is even more pronounced. Save the hassle by shopping online.
Some of these grocery options also sell wine and spirits so you can get that shopping done at the same time, but keep in mind that with alcohol you will need to be home to accept the order rather than having the delivery left on your doorstep. Delivery charges often vary for different locations as well as various time slots. Check individual sites for details.
Woolworth’s HomeShop (www.homeshop.com.au) currently operates in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Just enter your postcard to see if your suburb is covered. HomeShop has many of the lines carried in Woolworths supermarkets and you can browse by category or search for a specific item. Coles offers a similar online shopping service (www.colesonline.com.au) in NSW and Victoria, and Electrolley (www.electrolley.com.au) operates in Perth.
GreenGrocer (www.greengrocer.com.au) is also owned by Woolworths and is targeted as the gourmet option for Melbourne and Sydney residents. It has lots of regular supermarket items as well as other party supplies like pâtés, cheeses, breads and crackers. GreenGrocer also has some options if you plan to hold a dinner party, such as Neil Perry ready-made meals.
Sometimes there will be occasions that demand more than supermarket food. This is where specialist providers come in. We don’t seem to have the same scope of online food purveyors in Australia as you’ll find in the US and Europe - where you can have Kobe steaks, for instance, shipped to your door overnight. Nevertheless, some stores are available and you might want to see if a local shop has an online option to save you visiting the store.
Simon Johnson (www.simonjohnson.com.au) offers such delicacies as foie gras, imported cheeses, preserves and pâtés. The site is a little painful to use with its three drop-down menus that sometimes seem to lack the necessary category. (Maybe that’s to keep us plebs out?)
Brisbane residents can buy seafood for that special party at Seafoodshop (www.seafoodshop.com.au) for a $5.50 delivery fee. Sydney and Melbourne residents can also use GreenGrocer for seafood.
DRINKS
Of course, you can add soft drinks and juices to your supermarket order, but for wine and spirits you might need to try a liquor store. Be sure to check the site’s delivery costs (it may be steeper than the petrol to drive down to a store - especially if you plan to buy several dozen cases) and times - all those refreshments will be no use if they arrive days after your soirée.
As you would expect, things get even busier around Christmas time so you might want to ring the online store to see if their delivery times are lengthening in the rush. Alternatively, leave yourself plenty of time to stock up and get in early.
Virtual Cellar Door
Often you can find great-tasting options at wineries’ cellar door tastings, and many people often develop a preference for a particular winery. Virtual Cellar Door gives you the option to try cellar door sales without the trip to the wine regions (more’s the pity). You can search by winery, region or use a search function by wine type and minimum price.
www.virtualcellardoor.com
Vintage Cellars
Some readers will be familiar with the name Vintage Cellars from the stores in many capital cities, but the company also sells Australia-wide through its site. As well as wine, you can buy beer, spirits, pre-mixed and soft drinks.
www.vintagecellars.com.au
Liquorland Direct
Liquorland is another well-known name in the booze business. You can search for the items you’re after or browse through the wine, beer and spirits categories. When we visited there were a number of special offers available - which could be worth checking out.
www.liquorlanddirect.com.au
Winemakers Choice
Like the other sites, this one offers a range of alcohol for sale online. Good features include quite a long list of mixed dozens and some weekly Web specials. For example, when we visited there was an offer of six free bottles of sparkling wine with every dozen wines you buy from the e-mail specials - just what you need for a party.
www.winemakerschoice.com.au
World’s Best Beers
If your party crowd is used to a quality brew, World’s Best Beers may be able to help with your next event. You can buy British, German and Belgian beers here, as well as other well-regarded beers from around the world.
www.wbb.com.au
DECORATIONS ANDOTHER PARTY SUPPLIES
You’ve got your food and drink, and the RSVPs are rolling in. Now you need some finishing touches. These sites have those little extras like banners to trumpet your event and disposable cutlery to save washing up!
The Party People Shop
This site is well-designed so it’s very easy to navigate. You can find things grouped under themes (lots of Christmas stuff, for example), kids parties, christenings or weddings, or using categories like balloons and partyware. It’s just a pity the delivery charges are quite steep - most likely putting the supplies outside the realm of smaller parties. Outside Adelaide, for example, you’d be looking at a $40 delivery fee. Capital cities are cheaper, as are Sydney and NSW.
www.thepartypeople.com.au
Party Oz
This site is a crossover between the planning and extras sites. It’s a directory of resources for putting together a party in Australia. As well as ideas and help, you can use the site to find services like reception centres, fancy dress and party gear hire.
www.party-oz.com.au
Party Products Australia
This bright and cheerful site has all sorts of party stuff for sale. The simple tab/drop-down menus make for easy browsing, plus there’s a long list of themes to shop for products. Postage ranges from $5 for some areas through to $35.
www.partyproducts.com.au
Hip Hip Hooray
This site is targeted at kids’ parties, covering popular themes like Bob the Builder and Disney princess. Pick a theme to suit your child’s interests and you can then select a party pack with associated plates, streamers, balloons and more. Extras can also be purchased.
www.hiphiphooray.com.au
The right recipe
Want your party food to be more than a few reheated frozen party pies? Fancy yourself a bit of a cocktail mixer? The Web has loads of recipe sites to help you plan and make great food and drink for your party.
Start your recipe search at Epicurious.com (www.epicurious.com) for its vast array of recipes for both food and drinks.
Huge online resource About.com is also worth a visit. It has an alphabetical listing of cocktails if you know what you want to make but aren’t sure of the quantities and ingredients (http://cocktails.about.com/library/blatoz.htm), as well as shooter, punch and mocktail recipes. Extreme Bartending, meanwhile, has an enormous database of cocktail recipes - it claims it contains 8005 recipes (www.mixeddrinkrecipes.net).
Back to food, and Recipe Source is a good option for any kind of recipe search on the Net. Try the appetisers and snacks page for party food like dips (www.recipesource.com/munchies). You can also try the Australian Women’s Weekly recipes at http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/aww/recipes/. Here you can find your recipes in categories such as cuisine type or course. Plus, there’s a Christmas category for festive cooking.
