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Monday, August 19, 2013

How to Plan a Healthy Party! Our Wedding Shower Recap

How to plan a healthy party menu

We love healthy food (you already know this from the blog!) and it's a huge part of our lives, so it's only natural that we went the healthy route when planning our wedding shower/my 21st birthday party. What we came up with was a menu that was fresh, healthy and delicious - so delicious, in fact, that we weren't even left with any leftovers! 


Kristy and Jesse Wedding Shower Invitations - Gray Chevron and Yellow Damask

Here was Saturday's Invitation! As our Wedding and My 21st are quite close together and we wanted to have a wedding shower as we didn't get to have an engagement party, we decided to combine our Wedding Shower and my Birthday Party in one! 

Lots of you have already sent me emails about what was on the menu on Saturday - and I'm always being asked for suggestions for people planning there own healthy parties - so here's a quick how to guide!

Healthy Party Menu - Starters, Snacks, Salad Bar, Grilled Meats, Dessert
Here's the food overview from Saturday. 


As the party started at 3pm, we had starters/snacks to begin with whilst everyone chatted and the food was made. 

We had a few guests who couldn't stay the entire time so this also meant they were able to have something to nibble on. 



Healthy Party Menu - Gluten Free Starters and Vegan Appetisers
Almost all of the food for the party was gluten free (with the exception of some bread rolls served with dinner) so that everyone could enjoy them - and we made sure to cater to different food needs (vegetarian, vegan, dairy free etc). 

Gluten Free Starters: All of the starters were gluten free! 

Vegan/Dairy Free Starters: Vegetables, Rice Crackers, Pistachios, Corn Chips and Hummus.



Healthy Party Menu - Gluten Free Starters and Vegan Appetisers

All of the starters were a hit with many people asking for the Chobani Avocado Dip Recipe (coming soon) and asking where to buy the Wonderful Pistachios and Dari's Table Hummus (Wonderful Pistachios are available at Coles and Woolworths and Dari's Table Hummus are available at Woolworths). I kept the hummus in the containers so people would know exactly which one they were having. Also, be sure to keep a bowl for the pistachio shells! 


Healthy Party Menu - Salad Bar Menu
The Salad Bar was the star of the party. It took a lot of prep with all of the cutting, washing, slicing, dicing etc - but it was so worth it. 

We had 3 different bases, lots of toppings and some dressings for anyone who wanted them. 

As well as the salads, we had Mini Quinoa Bakes (both plain and with ham) and barbequed meats - chicken breast with cajun seasoning, chicken in a barbeque marinade, sausages and steak.  

Healthy Party Menu - Salad Bar Menu

Everyone loved making their own salads and there was literally nothing left at the end of the night. We bought bulk containers of lettuce/spinach from Costco but everything else was bought from either Fruit and Vegetables Shops or the Supermarket.

The Mini Quinoa Bakes were a huge hit with everyone raving about them - even if they weren't quinoa fans or had never tried quinoa before!

Healthy Party Menu - Gluten Free Desserts - Vegan Chocolate Cake and Blueberry Crumble Cake
Dessert was simple with my Gluten Free Healthy Chocolate Cake made into cupcakes (I doubled the batch) and my Blueberry Crumble Cake (which is my Apple Crumble cake made with frozen blueberries instead of apple).

I would have loved to do a fruit platter too, but we couldn't find a good variety of nice fresh fruit - and we also didn't have any room left in our fridge!

The cakes were a huge hit and disappeared in seconds!

Kristy's Wedding Shower OutfitJesse's Wedding Shower Outfit
Backyard Fire Pit Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes


As always, Kristy and Jesse were too busy talking and doing things during the party so they forget to take any photos of themselves, but there are a few snaps from the night! 

This is exactly why we've decided we need to have pictures taken by a photographer at least once a year on our anniversary! 

For those of you wanting to know about my outfit (I've already replied to those who have emailed/messaged me about it!) the dress was one I picked up from the Valleygirl Store at Birkenhead Point, paired with a beige cardigan cinched in at the waist with a thin brown leather belt with gold sparkly flats on my feet! I got a lot of comments on how I wore the cardigan with the belt over the top - but it gives you a much better shape when you do it this way! 

Like this post? 
and save it for your future party planning!

But tell me, what are your favourite party foods?
Anything that's your specialty?

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3 comments:

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