The December Fundraiser ~ Christmas Dinner & Carriage Rides

Did you know we have a local Horse & Carriage Rides Company in Corsicana, Texas? We certainly do! Betina Hawkins has had her company, Star Bucks Carriage Rides, for many, many years, and has several carriage available for rentals during the holiday season. Right here, in Corsicana! So what an excellent idea for a Christmas Fundraising Dinner & Carriage Ride!!! I'll tip you her contact info at the end of the blog! She's a really neat lady, and a neighbor of mine.

Now, this fundraising effort would take an investment on the ride venue, but the absolute wonder of it all will make your guests smile while they donate!!! What wonderful memories will be made with our one of a kind event! Please, do talk to me about how to price such an event if you are uncertain!

Let's get started! You'll need to coordinate with Bettina for your carriage date appointment, and we'll coordinate to set up your dinner so it all goes together beautifully!! Let's get ready!

As with our other successful fundraisers, we'll utilize the Cash Bar Concept, with one drink on the house, the rest for sale at the bar. Maybe, do a Signature Christmas Punch, by the glass, to go along with the classics!!

I would suggest a variety of crisp white wine, a semi sweet blush wine, and a rich red wine. Champagne or other sparkling wine would be a nice addition. Beers, imported and local for the guys. Do mixers, if you're so inclined. Johnny, Jack & Jim are always welcome at any party!

Jose' and Juan are pretty cool, too! Holiday Cheer!!!

To make your champagne flutes festive, you could give them a sugar rim...and drop in a frozen raspberry or two...it's pure holiday magic!!

Simply elegant and elegantly simple! A floor length white tablecloth over the bar, with a runner in one of your accent colors, ribbons in your second accent color, Christmas balls in both of those colors.

This simple bar dressing idea, with the Christmas balls in glass, can be adjusted to any color scheme that you'd like to use. A variety of heights lends interest. Speaking of interest...food! Let's put some food on the bar!

First, we'll get some easy nibbles on the bar, and we'll pass a few hors d'oeuvres during our Meet & Greet Hour. The Christmas Celebration is always extra special, we'll have those extra special attentions to detail!

This cute Christmas Tree Cheese Board will make its debut on your Holiday Bar. For variety, I like to use a sharp white cheddar, a smoked gouda, a Monterey jack, and a mild cheddar. Rosemary sprigs define the tree and grape tomatoes accent as garland of balls. They're single bite size, so we'll serve this with picks on the side. Gourmet Mixed Nuts with Sea Salt are a well loved favorite on the bar. This mix has cashews, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios and dried cranberries.

For Passed Hors D'oeuvres, we'll keep with the Season Favorites, to go with this fabulous Holiday Feast! Something mushroom, something shrimp, a crunchy filled tart, and a holiday cracker! Select your preferences.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, left and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms, right

Shrimp Shooters with Spicy Sauce, left and Shrimp & Guacamole Toasts, right

Spinach Artichoke Phyllo Tarts, left and Cranberry Brie Phyllo Tarts, right

Ricotta Proscuitto Crackers, left and Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Crackers, right

Select what you'll like for your appetizers for your Meet & Greet, and we'll move on to the next course. We often do a full five courses for a high quality fundraising event. So, I will present you with five...you're welcome to go with four courses, though, if you prefer.

The Meet & Greet Hors D'eouvres represent your First Course. For your Second Course, we offer your choice of Winter Rich Soup, below.

Top, left, is our Cream of Roasted Mushroom Soup. Bottom, left, is our French Onion Soup.

On the right is our Cream of Roasted Cauliflower Soup.

The Salad Course will be your Third Course, as a palate cleanser between the Soup and Main Entrée. For this occasion, we offer our Winter Fruited Mesclun Salad with a special vinaigrette.

The Winter Fruited Mesclun Salad has mixed baby greens, two types of apples, slivered red onions and toasted pecans. The light Apple Champagne Vinaigrette sets it off so perfectly!

Are you ready??? Drum roll, please, as we move on to our Fourth Course, the Main Event Entrée!

The Prime Rib Roast will be our shining Christmas Star for this occasion! We ARE in Texas, and Big Beef IS our Christmas motto, right? A wonderful Au Jus Gravy will be served tableside. And, what else?? We'll do Steakhouse Baked Potatoes and Asparagus Hollandaise...and Ms. Debra's Rolls, of course!!

We'll wrap up dinner with a simple Dessert Course. Our Decadent Chocolate Mousse with simple whipped cream, fresh raspberries and mini chocolate kisses will cap the dinner!

As Dinner is being finished would be when the Carriage Rides come in to play! It will take a couple of circuits for everyone to partake of the carriage ride, so, we will revert back to our Meet & Greet Mingling! We'll take up the dessert plates, and our guests may stay and sit and visit; or go to the parlor for more mingling! The timing of the ride is a key point in our planning for the evening, so we'll want to coordinate our courses so this goes off without a hitch. (pun intended!) Betina has several carriages that she uses for the season, but I'm not sure what her current seating is on the wagons. So you will want to check that in advance. Ideally, she would pull up at the Kinsloe House, at the intended time for guest pick up, to a wonderful Christmas fanfare, and the first group of guests will depart for their ride through the decorated streets, as the rest enjoy seasonal music, our bar and each other's company. Pictures, absolutely, MUST be taken! When they return, the second wave would go out.

Part of the determining factor is how many guests tickets you plan to sell for the event. That depends on what your target 'want to gain' price is!! A third wave may be necessary, that would have to be discussed, as well as the scenic route you choose and the time and timing of the rides. If a third run is needed, I'd suggest the ride time not in excess of 20 minutes on any ride.

For the folks waiting, I think we should bring in a Christmas 2017 photo booth set up! Sell the photo ops as a take away remembrance by investing in some Christmas 2017 Christmas Frames, and do Polaroids to put in those frames! Add some music to dance by, with some saved space in the parlor...memories!!

Glittery holiday fabric or long curtains, suspended on simple curtain rods hung from the ceiling can create a booth or a backdrop quite easily! A festive table commemorating the event with photo props make for extra fun photos.

Happy Christmas Music is a must-have!

Okay, now that I've got you intrigued, here's Betina's website!

http://www/starbuckcarriage.com

Just think of what a wonderful time it'll be!!!