The Perfect Bon Voyage

WORDS:: Chyka Keebaugh

PHOTOS:: Lisa Atkinson

 

I’ve got plenty of reasons for throwing a few going away parties this year! 

Both my babies are soon heading off overseas for work and study. Yes, it saddens me that my nest will soon become a little empty but at least I will be able to throw some fun going away parties! And you know how I love to throw a party, or twenty… A relaxed going away party calls for a long lunch. One where we can all sit around, tell travel stories and plan for all the adventures that lay ahead of us. Decorating the table with maps, globes, passports and flowers was a fun project that was pulled together in a few hours with the help of a few handy print outs and a quick shop at Typo. 

With a handful of A3 printouts of the map of your guest's destination, I was able to use these to decorate vases as well as use them as placemats. Wrapping a map around some large jars to create a vase is simple and effective. It’s an inexpensive way to do a fun party, just hit up google and print away. Printing out maps of where your guest of honour is going is also a great talking point, it’ll bring back memories for those who have already visited and having the paper on the table also allows the traveller to jot down notes for their trip. Brown paper passports are the perfect size to place some note paper inside. This way you can write some travel tips or notes of encouragement to give to your guest before they leave.

The centrepiece of the table was created using multiple globes from Typo stacked on and around simple vases of mini daffodils. Whenever I see a globe I can’t help but want to spin it and look at the countries I have been lucky enough to travel to, so filling the table with a few in multiple sizes not only creates a variation of heights on the table but scratches that urge for everyone to spin their globe! This coupled with a variety of books and flowers made a fun centrepiece to eat around. Once again using the maps, I made a collection of planes that can be used to decorate. You can use them on the actual table by having them hold a menu or even just as a place setting, or simply hang them on strings from a light above the table. So easy, yet so effective.

Don’t just stop the travel fun at the table, serve your food aeroplane style and show your guests that you care. Any meal can be served in these foil takeaway containers that are so similar to the ones you get on a plane, and I will guarantee that your guests will love it. For my menu for this party I loved the idea of serving gourmet meals that you would never get on a plane inside the foils; I love surprising my guests by serving the unexpected in contrasting vessels. It such a fun, quirky thing to do - and I promise what we served was way better than anything I've ever eaten on a plane!