Wine Tasting Party...on a cheap budget!

Introduction to yours truly


Well, this is my first post and I very well could be speaking to nobody, but at least this gives me a chance to document all the things that I am doing in my life.  I am currently a stay at home momma of a beautiful, full of life, 16 month old son, Mitch.  Between him and my husband, they are my everything.  


In my "prior to being a momma life," I was a high school business teacher and it allowed me to be creative daily.  I have realized that after changing careers (yes a sahm is a career) I lost my outlet for creativity and found out that in many other aspects of my life, I turn up the notch more than the average bear, because I truly get so much joy out of creating.


So this past weekend, an idea between a few girlfriends came to life, a wine tasting party!!  What could be better; friends, food, and of course alcohol?   To me, those three things are the quintessential combination to any kick ass night and the rest are just an added bonus.  So here is my way I added a "bonus" to the night's festivities.

Table

If one is having a dinner party, the table is a huge focal point, a conversation piece, a place of gathering.  It gives life to the guests and sets a tone for the evening's festivities.  Your effort will be immediately recognized by all your guests and hopefully make them feel welcome, and happy they didn't choose different plans.


I knew I wanted flowers, but didn't want to spend an astronomical amount for them.  I'm not working folks, I have a budget!  So it dawned on me that my town was having a farmers market that day and I immediately drove there to be greeted with bouquets of the most beautiful flowers I have seen in a long time.   I was sure these had to be expensive, they were gorgeous!  Well, I was wrong, each bouquet was only $5, so I bought two.  A normal bouquet at a typical grocery store is usually around $9.99-$15.99, I was floored with my findings!  Check your local listings for farmer's markets, a great way to support local businesses and plus its WAY cheaper!

Pardon the sketchy iphone picture, but you get the idea

The entire table...

I took the bouquet and cut some of the flowers into shorter pieces and placed them in tiny rose vases and placed them around the actual centerpiece.  Since most centerpieces get pulled once guests sit down (sad) I wanted some of it to still be there, just in a shorter version.

Wine Tasting Table Decor 


I created each of the sheets (below) using Photoshop and Microsoft Word.  I found that they added an extra element (that costed me NOTHING) and it really helped everyone to get into the whole theme of the party...wine tasting!  If you aren't creative, just google "wine tasting scores" and you will find actual templates that can be downloaded directly into Word, hit print and bam your own score sheet!

Wine tasting score sheet...the boys got into it more than I would have thought!

Sheet given to each guest to read before, during, and after the tasting. 

Sheet I cut in half, and placed each wine glass above the circles.  The name blank was inspired by the teacher in me!

Wine Tasting Rules 

Each couple brought 2 reds and 2 whites, and since its a rough economy out there, the bottles had to be under $10.  If you and your friends are ballers feel free to up the ante :)  Each bottle was placed in a bag to allow us to do a blind taste test and we all tasted and judged with our handy score sheet.  


The guys were more vocal on their likes and dislikes than the girls, which was surprising.  Some really top notch wine jargon was used due to the fact each person had a "wine-ology" sheet (see above) in front of them.  It was as if we had a room full of wine connoisseurs judging some really classy ($10 remind you) bottles of wine!  Truly one of my favorite parts of the night.


Once all the professionals tallied their scores, a final winner was awarded for each category: white and red. We only had 6 people total so to remind you each person brought 2 white (same type) and 2 reds (same type) and we just tasted one and the other bottle was added to the bounty for the lucky wining couple of each category.  The couples had the chance to take home 0, 3 or 6 bottles of wine, depending on how everyone voted.  

The wine connoisseurs of the evening (minus me) hard at work tasting, judging, and just being awesome!

White Winner - Delicious bottle only $7.99!

Red Winner - Only $5.99

Lasting thoughts... 

All in all this was a relatively inexpensive way to get together with friends, enjoy each other's company and do something different!  With the winter season approaching fast, why not set something up like this?  It give all of us a great reason to get out of the house, and was cheaper than going out to dinner. (Per couple it cost less than $60, wine included!) Assign each couple to bring something, in my case, one couple brought the appetizer (cheese platter) I provided the dinner (pizza bar, tons of toppings everyone made their own personalized pizza) and dessert (oreo cookie cheesecake) This can be edited to anyone's budget tall or small and in the end the only thing that truly matters are who you are with.

Cheers Bitches,

Tracy


If you would like any of the files I created, I will be happy to email them to you!    My motto has always been, why reinvent the wheel?  Please contact me on here and I'll send it to you.  Thanks for looking.