Gold Coast 40th Birthday Celebration

Forty has traditionally been the milestone birthday that people dread, with the numbers '4' '0' politely omitted from the invitations and cards.  But after the last few years it feels like forty is a badge of honour, and that I have earnt every one of these stripes.  It is a privilege to age - there are friends and colleagues who haven't been given that opportunity.  So after a year of lock-downs, separation from friends as well as limits on gatherings and dancing this was the perfect excuse to throw the ultimate birthday celebration.  With a break in COVID case numbers it was a blessing to be surrounded by so many beloved friends and family, with guest aged from 4 to 94 in attendance. 

Catering was done by Andy Bowen at All Styles Catering.  Check out their drool worthy insta feed @allstylescatering.  There is no way to convey in words exactly how AMAZING the food was.  It was just divine.  The whole process of booking and selecting food options was seamless... except there were so many fabulous selections it was very difficult to know what to pick.

It is always a concern if there will be enough food for everyone at a cocktail style event as sometimes they can be a little light on and not satisfying.  This was not the case with Andy.  I selected a few seafood dishes for the guests but can't eat it myself, so I skipped a few of the dishes through the night.  When the final dish came out I was so full I really shouldn't have eaten it but just wanted to try it as it looked so good.  The service from Chris was exceptional and was so attentive to all of the guests.  Everyone is still raving about the food months later and I can not imagine a better way to break bread with those I love.

We had the menu engraved on mirrors through Etsy which was really effective, with the final selection being;

• King Prawn Cocktail with Avocado Puree
• Peppered Fillet of Beef with Remoulade & Salsa Verde
• Sous Vide Chicken, Smoked Macadamia Nuts & Beetroot Gel
• Smokey BBQ Pulled Beef Slider with Pickled Jalapenos
• Moroccan Chicken Skewer with Sumac Yoghurt
• Ciabatta with Prosciutto, Swiss Cheese, Spinach & Green Tomato Chutney
• Seared Scallop with Potato, Tomato Confit & Bacon Crumb
• Goats Cheese, Sun Dried Tomato & Basil Tart with Toasted Pine Nuts 

Decorations were care of Affordable Party Hire.  We hired a circular wire stand, a neon 40 sign, the floral decorations over the top of the 40 and an LED ice chest for the kids drinks.  A last minute addition was hiring a dual slushie machine.  It wasn't in the original plan, but after a few extra last minute RSVPs we figured it would be fun to have.  We kept it virgin for the kids, and had a table of assorted spirits at the adult drinks table to spice theirs up a bit.  Soooo glad that we got the slushie machine in the end - we had no idea what a huge hit it would be.  The kids obviously loved it but so did the adults, with lots of exotic cocktail concoctions being made.  The double slushie machine had more than enough to last 60 guests the entire night. @affordablepartyhire

Given the events of the last year opportunities to dance and listen to live music have been almost non existent.  So it was like a long drink for a parched soul to listen to Klusterfunk duo Al Gibson and Phil Mairu who really made the party come alive.  These are seriously talented and fun guys who really know how to get a room dancing.  By the end of the night there was literally no one sitting and the dance floor was packed.  These two made the night such an epic and enjoyable evening.

There is video somewhere from the end of the night of a lot of crazy uncoordinated dancing but hopefully it never surfaces...

For lighting, it worked out cheaper to purchase up lighting.  We did purchase the cheap fog machine that they had available, which didn't work, but they were great in returning it.