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i’m matt james

professional event producer

  • 27 years event-planning experience
  • Winner of 30 industry awards
  • Clients include:
  • Elton John,
  • Stella McCartney,
  • Sarah Jessica Parker,
  • Kevin Spacey……and more

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Matt James professional event planner
in this section

PARTY DRINK IDEAS TO WOW YOUR GUEST

The reason all those photos of wedding and party drinks on Pinterest look so chic and stylish is because they’ve usually be styled by a professional party planner or catering company.

But you know what? It’s dead simple to achieve the same look and feel for you own parties at home.

Just follow my simple party drinks styling and presentation tips below to give your next birthday bash or celebration all the creative flair of a professionally-catered event.

party drinks served on a tray
Photo: 100 Layer Cake
the idea

PARTY DRINK RECIPES & IDEAS

For actual drinks recipes, what to serve, and other party drink ideas, check out my Pinterest board of Party Drink Ideas.

lavender lemonade party drink ideas
party drink ideas popsicle spritzers
party drink ideas blueberry mojito
party drink ideas guava rum cocktail
the idea

self-service drinks bar

Get a drink in people’s hands as quickly as possible by setting up a self-service bar at the entrance with pre-mixed or ready to pour drinks that guests can help themselves to on arrival.

Read my full post about Self-Service Party Drink Ideas here.

DIY self-service welcome area party drinks bar
party drinks dispensers on an event drinks bar table
pink party drinks served in milk bottles next to a drinks dispenser on a party drinks bar
champagne bottles on ice on a party drinks bar
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Champagne / Party drinks wall

Create a wow-factor by offering guests their first party drink on arrival from a self-service ‘grab and go’ champagne / cocktail wall.

There’s a range of different types to choose depending on your budget, from free-standing wood, acrylic, and boxwood hedge covered ones, down to smaller tabletop ones made from study card. Check out all the options here.

Alternatively, check out this supplier for more budget-friendly options.

boxwood hedge party drinks bar wall with shelves of self-service drinks for guests to help themselves to
boxwood hedge party drinks champagne wall with shelves of self-service drinks for guests to help themselves to
wood 'sip & be seated' party drinks champagne wall with shelves of self-service drinks for guests to help themselves to
boxwood hedge 'sip & be seated' party drinks champagne wall with shelves of self-service drinks for guests to help themselves to
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Matt James professional event planner
the idea

MASON JAR COCKTAILS

The trend for serving cocktails and party drinks in mason jars might have reached fever pitch a years agoโ€”and if you browse Pinterest often, you might think there’s no other acceptable way to serve drinks at a wedding! But this isn’t just a passing fad.

The reality is party drinks just look great served this wayโ€”especially when arranged en-masse on a bar, they’re easy for guests to handle, and you can personalize them for your event by adding a sticker or tag (see further down the page for ideas). You can pick up cheap mason jars here or failing that try here.

The other big advantage is that by utilizing the lids, you can batch-make a bunch of drinks in advance, such as these frozen daiquiris (below center right, see recipe here) or these fruit teas (below right, see recipe here), and keep them frozen or on ice until guests arrive.

mason jar cocktails adult party drinks
mason jar non-alcoholic party drinks
mason jar frozen daiquiri party drinks
mason jar fruit tea party drinks
the idea

Milk Bottles

If you prefer a more sleek and modern look, with less wedding connotations, a great alternative to mason jars is to serve party drinks in these milk bottles with straws (available here or alternatively try here).

You don’t have to portion up each of these individually if you’re dealing with larger numbers. Just batch make a signature drink and line the empty bottles up alongside on a bar, as per the photo below center right, for guests to pour themselves.

I particularly like these elegant Nantucket drinks dispensers, below right, as they have a classic feel. You can pick them up here. Alternatively, check out this supplier for inexpensive options.

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PARTY DRINKS STYLING

Whether you’re using mason jars or milk bottles, the trick to giving party drinks a professionally-styled look is to personalized the containers.

Either tie a custom favor tag around the neck of each bottle / jar (below left, check out various designs here), add a personalized sticker (below center, check out various options here), or use these stylish transparent mason jar stickers (below right, other designs available, see here).

adult birthday favor tags
40th birthday party favor tag
mason jar wedding labels
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photo drink toppers

Create talking points and photo ops by styling party drinks with custom photo edible party drinks toppers using pictures of the guest of honor at different stages of their life.

Use on cocktails, champagne, beer, or hot drinks such as coffee.

Check out the full range here.

custom photo edible wafer party drink topper with a photo of the birthday girl floating on a cocktail
custom photo edible wafer party drink topper with a photo of the birthday boy floating on cocktails
custom photo edible wafer party drink topper with a photo of a couple floating on a cup of coffee
custom photo edible wafer party drinks topper with a photo of a couple floating on champagne in a flute
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CUSTOM STRAWS

Another simple party drinks styling tip is to add a special drinking straw to each glass / bottle / jar. Check out the full range here.

I particularly like these custom wedding straws (below center right) were the couple were drawn from a photo and then attached to each straw. Although this example is from a wedding, I think they’d be just as cute for other special occasions, such as a adult milestone birthday party.

Similarly, these photo straws (below right, from a Seinfeld party) could be made using photos of the birthday boy / girl from different stages of their life. Both options are available here.

custom drinking straws 40th birthday
custom name party straws
custom wedding straws
custom photo straws
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DRINKS STIRRERS

You can also personalize your party drinks with drinks stirrers. There are generic ones such as ‘Cheers’, ‘Enjoy’, or ‘OMG’, below left, or you can have these made for particular names.

Alternatively, there are other personalized ones available, including these fun photo ones, (available here), which would be fun for a milestone birthday as you could use old photos of the birthday boy / girl. Check out the full range here.

party drinks stirrers
personalized party drinks stirrers
personalized party drinks stirrers
custom face photo party drinks straws
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ice cubes

There are lots of things you can do with ice cubes to theme and style your party drinks, such as freezing fruits, flowers, and herbs into them or using quirky molds.

There are lots of fun ice cube molds available, ranging from simple numbers for milestone birthday parties, to mustaches, grenades, shark fins, Pac Man, marijuana leaves, and even ‘My Water Broke’ babies in ice cubes for baby showers. Check out the full range here.

Alternatively, use these flashing LED ice cubes to light up drinksโ€”there are lots of different colors available here.

fruit in ice cubes
40th birthday ice cube molds
my water broke babies in ice cubes
LED ice cubes
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PERSONALIZED DRINKS LABELS

If you’re hosting a birthday party at home, it’s often the little touches and attention to detail that help turn it into a special occasion and differentiate it from any other get together you might host throughout the year.

A really easy way to theme party drinks for a special occasion is to have personalized beer, wine, water, or spirits labels printed.

There are lots of different designs available, many which allow you to upload a photo, and some are available as printable files so you can run off as many as you like at home. Identical bottles will look great lined up on a bar or drinks table and it’s a really simple touch you can add to make everything feel a little more special. Check out the full range here or use this quick link to view custom labels with a photo only.

Update: I recently came across this site which has lots of great templates for personalized wine and beer bottles, such as the ones below, that you can customize with your own photos and text. Check out the full range here.

custom photo wine labels
milestone birthday personalized photo wine labels
personalized photo wine labels
milestone birthday personalized beer labels
milestone birthday personalized beer labels
personalized wine labels

A cute way to use personalized liquor labels, is to tie them to individual bottles of mixers, such as this Jack Daniels & Coke example below right. See here for a range of personalized liquor labels.

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DIy Cocktail bar

Another fun way to use mason jars and personalized liquor labels is to set up a DIY cocktail bar.

Just put individual cans of mixers inside mason jars and tie on the liquor miniatures, then set these up in ice baths with instructions for people to empty the jar, add ice, then mix their own drink. You can pick up cheap mason jars here or failing that try here.

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MILESTONE BIRTHDAY PARTY CUPS

Another easy way to theme a 40th birthday party is with these personalized plastic party cups. They’re available in a range of different designs for any age. Check them out here.

milestone birthday plastic cups
milestone birthday plastic cups
milestone birthday plastic cups

Alternatively, there’s also a nice range of personalized designs, such as the ones below, available here, that work out around 80ยข each. 

Update: The nice gold and blue art deco style designs, pictured below left, are available here (for any age).

personalized milestone birthday plastic cups
personalized milestone birthday plastic cups
personalized milestone birthday plastic cups
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PERSONALIZED COCKTAIL NAPKINS

At a crowded party with lots going on, it’s often the smaller details that people tend to remember; things they touch, handle, or interact with.

These personalized paper napkins can be a fun way to include fun facts about the birthday boy/girl. There are options available with or without photos and you can customize the text and colors Check them out here.

personalized paper cocktail napkins fun facts
personalized paper cocktail napkins hashtag
personalized paper cocktail napkins 40th birthday
personalized paper cocktail napkins

Alternatively, you could use custom napkins to communicate an event-specific hashtag for guests to share photos and tweets.

There are lots of different designs available here and you can change the text to whatever you want.

personalized paper cocktail napkins fun facts
personalized paper cocktail napkins hashtag
personalized paper cocktail napkins 40th birthday
personalized paper cocktail napkins
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PERSONALIZED DRINKS COASTERS

Similarly, you can also get personalized drinks coasters, such as the ones below, available here.

personalized drinks coasters 30th birthday
personalized drinks coasters 30th birthday
personalized drinks coasters birthday party
personalized drinks coasters birthday party
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FRUIT WORD STIRRERS

Use letter cookie cutters on fruit then thread them onto skewers to use as personalized drinks stirrers like the examples below (remember to soak in lemon juice to stop them turning brown). You can use them to create guest’s names or spell out words and phrases such as ‘Cheers’, ‘Drink Me’, or ‘Jen’s 40th’.

Check out my full post about Edible Drinks Markers here.

two party drinks with fruit name drinks stirrers spelling Zoe and Hank at a garden party
alphabet cookie cutters used on melon to create fruit letter drinks stirrers
alphabet letter cookie cutters used on melon to create fruit name drinks stirrers with bamboo skewers
names cut out of fruit arranged on a chopping board ready to be skewered to create edible drinks strirrers
related content

food styling & presentation

Head over to my other page of buffet table ideas for food styling and presentation tips to go with these party drink ideas.

modern party food buffet table / food station
milk and cookies arranged on levels
cheese bites served on forks on a party buffet table / food station
chalkboard buffet food trays

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