17th Birthday Party - Girly, Autumn Picnic

Planning birthday parties is probably my favourite thing ever. From the moment my birthday party is over I am straight into planning the next one. I would spend hours a day on pinterest if I could, scanning through the holiday and event section. For myself I generally stick to very girly parties; slumber parties, tea parties, and for this year a picnic party.

Throwing a picnic for my birthday was a bit of a gamble considering I'm an autumn baby. It would be absolutely miserable to put in all that hard work only to have pouring rain outside! I watched the weather all week leading up to my birthday, hoping and praying that it wouldn't be cold and wet. Fortunately for me the weather managed to improve for Saturday (as it had been raining for three days before hand), and there was no rain and no wind!

I wanted the cake to be simple, considering I'm sugar-free and wouldn't actually be having any. I found a very easy Mary Berry recipe (see here) for a lemon sponge cake which I whipped up the night before the party and filled with cream and lemon curd, topped with roses from our garden. While I did not taste any myself, I can confirm the cake was a success!

I'm a sucker for a cheese board (or in this case bowl). I know that the first thing I go for at any party is the cheese board, so I like mine to be well done. The great thing about a cheese board is it's so simple to put together. For this one I had brie, camembert and cumin gouda (my absolute favourite), rice crackers and grain crackers, a zucchini relish, some thinly sliced dried beef, salami, prosciutto salami, grapes and cashews.

 I wanted to have a couple of different options for lunch, so I had three kinds of salads and two different sandwiches. For the sandwiches I made Italian sandwiches with salami, cheese, and lettuce in a french stick, and I also made some salad sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, cheese, cucumber, zucchini relish and grainy bread. To make them look pretty I wrapped them with grease proof paper and pretty string.

The salad options were Greek orzo salad, roast vege, and rainbow mexican salad. The cute jars were a total bargain from the warehouse. After lunch I also had fruit salad in jars to go alongside the lemon cake.

The party was held at the picturesque Christchurch Botanic Gardens Band Rotunda. It was just perfect, nice and cozy with a covered roof surrounded by beautiful big trees and punting on the Avon river next to us.

I was so happy with how everything turned out on the day, it was exactly as I planned it! It was such a lovely afternoon spent with me friends, I'm so glad it all worked out!

Amy Katrina xx