OSCARS Party Planning: Bring the Red Carpet to Your Bash with Tips From Celeb Chef Travis London

OSCARS Party Planning: Bring the Red Carpet to Your Bash with Tips From Celeb Chef Travis London

• It all starts with the invites. For your viewing party send out fun invitations (or evites) in the form of a ballot. It could say “and the winner is..you. You’ve been chosen to attend.” This will create the theme early on and let guests know this won’t be just a typical night watching the awards show.

• What awards show would be complete without the ballots? And the same goes for a viewing party! Create voting ballots to pass out to your guests based off each category and nominee, to allow your friends to vote for who they believe will win. Additional categories can be ‘who hosted the most Oscar shows,’ ‘what film won the most Oscars,’ ‘will Jennifer Lawrence trip,’ ‘which designer will Jennifer Lopez wear,’ etc. This will create a fun game for everyone to get involved in and enlist in some competitive spirit. You can finish the night by awarding the person who had the most right picks, and the winner is…

• As with anything for me it’s all about the food and the drinks. Create food and cocktails based off the nominees. A spicy chicken skewer can be the “Bradley Cooper” while you can also rename your favorite Remy Martin 1738® cocktails to go with the theme, like my Leading Man Cocktail. I love Remy Martin 1738®, especially for awards season, because it’s a classic base that’s both mellow and rich flavors are smooth and well balanced on the palate. Have fun coming up with food and drinks based off the nominees and remember to serve everything in bite-size pieces, this will keep the atmosphere light and easy. Remember, it’s a viewing party and not a viewing dinner!

• Is that Meryl Streep? To really get everyone into the spirit of the award show ask your guest to come dressed as there favorite nominee. This will defiantly bring the fun factor to your party as everyone is a bit more fun when in character. You could even ask them to be a character from their favorite movie. And make sure to photograph each ‘star’ as they enter (as memories are meant to be shared on Facebook). This is there moment. You could also award the best dressed at the end of the night and they can stand and give an acceptance speech. Who says you need an Oscar to feel like Charlize Theron for a night?

• No one should go home empty handed! Send guests home with a gift bag. No need to spend lots of money, it can simple be a DVD from a nominated movie or cute and colorful cocktail recipe cards featuring your favorite Remy Martin 1738® cocktails. Gift bags will give your guests a true red carpeted evening experience.

• Pose in Front of Paparazzi. Snap Polaroids of your guests as they arrive, then hang them around the room so they feel like they’re walking the red carpet right alongside the stars. This will also create fun moments and memories that can later be shared on Instagram and Facebook.

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The Royal Sidecar:

1 oz. Remy Martin 1738® Accord Royal
1 oz. Cointreau®
3Ž4 oz. fresh lemon juice

METHOD
Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Shake and Strain. Garnish with a twist of lemon

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The Leading Man

2 oz. Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal

1 Demerara sugar cube

3 dashes of Peychaud’s bitters

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Muddle the sugar and bitters, then add the Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal, ice and stir. Strain into a chilled old fashioned glass that as been rinsed in absinthe. Garnish with a lemon twist.

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