Slice, slice (king cake) baby

The assignment:

a tasting party featuring 20 king cakes

The goal:

maximize guest involvement

Tricks to pulling it off:

1. Use many shades of Mardi Gras colors

2. Provide several activities for guests

Using all the purples, greens, and golds 

I wanted this look to be as busy and festive as possible to create the perfect setting for all 20 of the cakes (the most we’ve ever had).  I usually like to feature a particular Mardi Gras color, but for this look, I used as much purple, green, and gold as possible.  Whatever I had in my “stash” of balloons and linens that remotely fit the bill was used and the finished product had a ton of visual interest. The diversity of each cake added something special to the table and encouraged each guest to try as many cakes as possible (some tried all 20!).

Encouraging guests to participate

A gathering is more fun when guests become part of the festivities (especially the kiddos).  I wanted to take guest participation up a notch beyond just tasting (and voting on) cakes.  This year, a local makeup artist adorned guests’ faces with custom art (and glitter) and a local bakery agreed to create naked, mini versions of their famous king cake so guests could decorate their own and take it home as a party favor. Upon arrival, each guest was greeted with blinky beads and king cake shots to get everyone in the mood to celebrate the most delicious time of the year!