Couples Wedding Shower

With Wedding Season only a couple of months away, I thought it pertinent to share some concepts and recipes for a Couples Wedding Shower.

Since we are an ever changing dynamic race, we are entitled to evolve our traditions as well..perhaps some would prefer the word modify. Regardless, today, many people enjoy the concept of a couples wedding shower rather than the traditional dainty sandwiches, chardonnay or iced tea beverages, coupled with polite laughter and a few silly games. Now, for a spin, we throw in mixed couples, a carving station, beefy drinks, and an evening or late afternoon with stories and stomach aching laughter.

Why would a couples party differ so differently than that of a traditional bridal shower?....THE ATTITUDE!

Many times people refer to couples showers as "Jack and Jill" or "Stag and Doe" parties. These parties can run the gamut. Ideally, a true couples party is an all out shin dig. The party is at a specific venue of which dancing, DJ or live entertainment, bar, hors d'oeuvres, a raffle and prizes, and perhaps a theme complimenting something special about the couple, i.e., their honeymoon destination, their passion of horses or interests shared...fly fishing, skiing, swimming, scuba diving, etc...Being creative and original is what seals the fate of a party.

I am going to plan a hypothetical Couples Party. The couple is honeymooning in Australia. Our theme for the couples party is Australia and all things related to Australia.

The bride and groom have decided they would like to invite 50 couples. This guest list is comprised of everyone who is invited to their wedding be it they are married, dating, or single. If single, the invitation should read person's name and guest.

Decide on your budget and solicit those individuals from the bridal party who will be willing and able to participate in the "couples party". Ask close relatives for their participation.

In this scenario, we decided that we had a monetary budget of $1000.00 out of pocket. Now, let's see how much we really need to execute a couples party for 100 people plus bride and groom.

Our Theme is Australia:
Bar:
Aussie beer i.e., Foster's Lager, Hahn, Crown, Victoria Bitter, Cascade, and Carlton to name a few.
Aussie wines i.e., Penfolds, Howling Wolves Cabernet Merlot, De Bortoli Rococo Rosé, Tim Adams Cabernet Sauvignon to name a few.
Bottled Water
Soda Drinks
Sparkling Water
Lots and Lots of ICE
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Cuisine:
To encapsulate all of Australia, we decided to break it up into regions. New South Wales is known for its rock oysters. Victoria is known for the Malle squab and Gippsland beef. South Australia is known for olive oil, cultivated native food, tuna, and Coffin Bay scallops. Tasmania is known for Salmon, cheeses, raspberries, and King Island cream. Queensland is known for mangoes, papaya, and mudcrabs. Lastly, the Northern Territory is known for Barramundi fish and crocodile. Of course, these regions offer more than the above suggested. I simply extracted what I thought would be a well rounded offering and could easily provide enough variation for appetizers and/or buffet.

Meat Balls with tomato sauce
To Serve 100 people
Mix with ground 10 lbs beef:
1 cups salt
3/4 cup each of garlic salt and celery salt
1/4 cup each black pepper, onion powder and paprika
10 teaspoon each dill, sage and rosemary
1 cup olive oil

Roll meat into balls with all of the seasonings and simmer in olive oil until brown. Once browned, turn meatballs into warming tray with tomato mixture poured over top. Serve with warmed and sliced buns. A great and filling finger food.

Tomato Sauce
20 cups Diced tomatoes
5 cups Diced onions
2 cups fresh parsley chopped
1/4 cup garlic minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Simmer onion and garlic add tomatoes, parsley, sugar, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Simmer for all juices to mix and serve warm with meatballs.

Grilled Barramundi or Swai Fish Aussi Style
Multiply all ingredients by 17 in order to serve 100 people.

Recipe by: Student chef Kristie Kilgore, Nashua High School North Culinary School and winner of ACF New Hampshire’s Iron Chef

Ingredients
6 6-8 oz. filet of Australis Barramundi, skin left on (optional)
Caribbean jerk rub
6 ears of corn
2 bunches of fresh asparagus
1 fresh lime, wedged for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
½ c. canola oil
Kiwi Salsa, recipe follows

Prepare Kiwi Salsa and refrigerate until serving. Recipe follows.

Preheat oven to 350°. Sprinkle barramundi filets with Caribbean jerk rub, so lightly coated and place aside. Wash and remove bottom inch of asparagus, coat with ¼ cup of oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place aside. Coat corn with remaining oil and place on grill turning every couple of minutes until lightly browned. Once cooled, remove corn off cob and place on sheet pan. Place in oven for 15 minutes. Spray grill generously with pan spray, so fish does not stick. Place filets skin side down on grill for 5-6 minutes. Flip the filets over and grill an additional 5-6 minutes. Remove and place in a warm place. Making sure the grill is clean, spray once again with pan spray and place asparagus on grill turning every couple of minutes for 6-8 minutes.

To plate, place about ¼ cup of the roasted corn in the center of the serving plate. Place one filet of barramundi on top of the corn. Lay 5-6 asparagus spears on the side of the barramundi. Top the Barramundi with two tablespoons of kiwi salsa and a lime wedge for garnish.

Kiwi Salsa:
Two ripe kiwi’s, peeled and diced
½ medium red onion, diced
¼ red bell pepper, finely diced
½ mango, diced
½ papaya diced
½ avocado diced
Fresh Cilantro
½ fresh lime juice
1 tbsp Honey

Combine the first six ingredients in a medium bowl folding them together. Add about two teaspoons of freshly chopped cilantro. Squeeze a ½ fresh lime into the salsa and add honey; fold ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Crocodile with Mango and Basil Sauce

300gm crocodile tail or body fillet, cut into thin slices
30gm peanut oil
20gm basil leaves
20gm parsley
5gm chopped garlic
20ml white wine vinegar
200ml olive oil
1 mango, stone removed
Salt and pepper

Method
Heat peanut oil in a frying pan, saute seasoned crocodile pieces for about 3 minutes then set aside and keep warm.
Blend basil, garlic, parsley, vinegar and olive oil in a food processor until smooth
Slice mango thinly and arrange on a plate. Place crocodile slices in the centre, drizzle basil sauce around the plate and garnish with fresh herbs.

Scallops
Sweet Chili and marinated prawn skewers

Ingredients

½kg tiger prawns
½kg Japanese scallops
200mls sweet chilli sauce
1 packet of 15cm skewers

Basil pesto
1 bunch basil
1 tablespoon garlic
50g toasted pinenuts
50g grated parmesan
100ml olive oil

Risotto cakes
170g aborio rice
25g butter
1 small onion finely diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups chicken or fish stock

Mango dressing
1 mango pureed
1 tablespoon Dijoin mustard
1 tablespoon coriander, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Garnish
2 ruby grape fruits, segmented
coriander
View conversion table
Preparation
Marinate prawns and scallops in sweet chilli sauce. Thread skewers with prawns and scallops (in total there should be 2 of each type of seafood on skewer). Let the skewers stand in the refrigerator.

For the basil pesto, wash and dry basil. Place pinenuts in blender and process until grainy. Add the remainder of the ingredients and blend until combined. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

To make mango dressing, add all of the above ingredients to a bowl and mix well.

To prepare the risotto cakes, pour stock in saucepan, reduce heat and simmer. Place a heavy-base saucepan over a medium heat. Add oil, onion, salt and butter. Stir onion until translucent. Add rice and stir for 1-2 minutes until rice is cooked. Add 1 cup of stock and stir consistently, making sure that each addition of stock is absorbed before the next one. Add the remainder of stock and cook rice until al dente. Sit for 5 minutes. Add basil pesto and stir through.

Once cooled, make risotto balls which will then be turned into cakes (approximately 50g risotto per ball). Flatten the risotto balls (approximately 1½cm in height and 4cm circumference). Rest in refrigerator.

Heat pan to medium heat, place seafood skewers, ensuring they are cooked to golden brown on each side.

In a separate pan, on a medium heat add oil and pan-fry the risotto cakes. In a zig-zag formation, using a squeezy bottle, squeeze mango dressing on a plate.

In a star formation lay out ruby grape fruit on a plate. There should be approximately 5 segments per place with coriander leaves placed in between. Lay risotto cakes in the centre of the plate, 2 cakes per plate. Lay the seafood skewers cris-crossed on top of the risotto cakes, 2-3 skewers per plate.

Serve a very large leafy green salad with diced mango, avocado, and vinaigrette dressing.

Dessert:
King Island Cream with fresh raspberries.
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Now that we have completed the culinary portion of our event, we can continue with music, venue, door prizes, and raffle tickets.

Considering we have a budget of only $1000.00 to lay as our financial foundation, we will need to solicit our guests with raffle tickets. We will sell our tickets for $5.00/each with a minumim purchase of 4 raffle tickets. We will anticipate raising $2000.00 for the event with a grand total of $3000.00 for the couples shower.

We will buy our raffle tickets at the local party supply store. We only need 400 tickets. You will want to purchase the double ticket rolls; your guest keeps one part of the ticket while the other goes into the raffle drum.

Raffle Prizes:
This is a committee endeavor. Please ask for a few individuals who are well connected and savvy to take on this part of the party planning. Raffle prizes can consist of anything that local business owners would love to donate. Business owners can write these donations off as a tax deduction and it enables them to promote their business to a focus group of which they normally wouldn't have reached. Wine, beer, dinner or lunch vouchers, floral bouquets, dry cleaning, round of golf, massage, movie tickets, tailoring voucher, ice cream, car detail, car wash, tire rotation, tire alignment, wine tasting party, etc...
Just remember, whatever the raffle prize, it must exceed the value of the raffle ticket purchased.
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Venue:
Preferably for this type of an affair, someone will have a club house of which can be rented. Most neighborhood clubhouses accommodate anywhere between 75 to 100 people and are very affordable to rent out. If not, outdoors is nice, but you worry about weather and may have to consider tent rental. Also, if having it at the house, if space is an issue, you can lease a party hall. These locations usually lease for $125 and up an hour with a minimum of 3 hours. The plan is to find the best space for the best price. A few phone calls and some innovation will complete this task.
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Music:
For an inexpensive gathering, hire a DJ. They average around $500.00 plus tip for the evening. This usually entails 4 hours of dancing fun.
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Now for the Invitations:
Invitations set the mood for your party. Be creative and have fun designing the invites. Clearly state couples party, the date, time, place, and RSVP. To assist with your guests gift buying needs, list the places as to where the bride and groom are registered. Remember, the couples party, Jack and Jill, or Stag and Doe party are in lieu of a traditional bridal shower; most definitely bring a gift for the bride and groom. Whatever you choose to spend on your gift is your discretion. Most gifts range from $25.00 to $75.00. For the host/hostess of this party, it is customary to provide a gift despite throwing the party. In this instance, join the bridesmaids and groomsmen in a joint gift.
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Lastly, have a gift-opening plan.
Create a gift-opening assembly line. One person should bring the couple a gift to open (and take the already opened gift to a designated spot); another can dispose of the torn paper; someone can gather ribbons to create the traditional rehearsal bridal bouquet; and most important, one bridesmaid tracks who gave what gift so the couple does not have to rely on their memory when writing thank-yous.
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Have fun celebrating the union of a dear friend and their future spouse. May they have a long and happy marriage with great support and positive reinforcement during the difficult times.

Cheers!