Ruff Draft: Lara Shriftman Birthday Bash and Chic Cocktails

Today we are showing you a sneak peak of a simple yet sophisticated NYC Birthday Bash honoring Lara Shriftman, Rita Schrager and Leila Fazel.

Lara contacted us to design a custom invite (based off of the Vintage Carnival invite that she loved)

She wanted an old New York vibe for the colors and feel, and decided to go green by sending out her custom invite via email!

****AR TIP: Running out of time??? Send a custom invite via email… everyone knows how busy we all are, but you can still send a great invite without the fuss! Not only will you save on printing & postage, but you save some trees along the way!

Lara and the girls wanted an understated event, yet fun for all!

In addition to her party details, she also shared with us her signature cocktail recipes – perfect for any evening event (see below for recipe)!

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Here are the fabulous details told by her crew:

Lara Shriftman, our favorite entertainer and principal of PR firm Harrison & Shriftman, and friends Rita Schrager and Leila Fazel hosted a birthday get-together in New York City!

Evite: The girls worked with our favorite design duo Anders Ruff to send out an evite that was, clean, classic with a bit of edge.

Location: Double Seven, one of Lara’s favorite hotspots in New York City. Everything was at the venue, leaving her minimal details to work on. Staff, glassware, DJ and an amazing room layout. The environment was cozy, comfy, and sexy.

**** AR TIP: Sometimes it’s nice to let a party location work it’s magic. Find a new hot spot in your area, and let them do the work!

Cocktails: Of course, a signature cocktail was available for guests when they arrived! Guests drank GREY GOOSE Le Fizz & GREY GOOSE Cherry Noir Midnight Highball cocktails all evening!

GREY GOOSE Le Fizz

Recipe:

GREY GOOSE Le Fizz

1 part Grey Goose

½ part St Germain

½ part Fresh Lime Juice

Soda water

Garnish: lime twist

Glassware: Champagne

Recipe: In a shaker combine all ingredients, shake and strain into a champagne glass. Top with very cold soda water.

**** AR TIP: Try the Grey Goose Le Fizz instead of Champagne – it’s a great alternative!

Grey Goose Cherry Noir Midnight Highball

GREY GOOSE Cherry Noir Midnight Highball

Ingredients:

For 1:

1 ½ oz Grey Goose Cherry Noir

¾ oz M&R Sweet Vermouth

1 ½ oz Lemon Juice

¾ oz Simple syrup

Dash of Lavender Bitters

Bitter Lemon Soda for Topping

Garnish: Mint Leaves

Glassware: Highball

Recipe: Mix all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice, top with Bitter lemon soda and garnish.

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Bottle Service: Makes the party flow smoothly! A bottle of GREY GOOSE, a bottle of rum, mixers, and a pitcher of ice, surrounded by glasses. Chic, self-service, and perfect for the evening!

**** AR TIP: We love that they put out a self-serve bar – this allows guests to be merry without the wait! Put out a few little party labels to note what each item is, and its good to go!

Cake: 3-tier custom made CRUMBS Cake topped off the evening! One layer for each girl, Lara chose vanilla, Rita, chocolate and Leila red velvet! The cake was made in the same colors of the invite, white, black and red.

Music: A great DJ is a must! DJ Sara Morales kept the evening going with her amazing playlists! Her oldies playlist was Lara’s favorite!

Gift bags: NONE, a first for Lara in all her years of entertaining!

The party was an anti-Lara party, no bells and whistles, just good friends, great music and great drinks! We are typically accustomed to Lara’s very drawn out, over-the-top themed parties such as her “Barbie and Ken” birthday bash that Lara and British It-girl Tamara Beckwith threw, or when actress Lara Flynn Boyle & Lara teamed up to bring back Old Hollywood at their dual birthday bash, and finally Lara and Chris Heinz’ “Pimps and Ho’s” birthday party when Jim Carrey was running for president! This party was different and memorable in an unfamiliar way giving guests a story to leave with!

**** AR TIP: As much as we love over-the-top parties, there nothing wrong with the old saying “simple is best”. At the end of the day, your guests just want quality time with you, to relive old times and also create new ones!

Lara was kind enough to send us a few sneak peaks from the party… looks like they had an absolute blast!!! Wish we could have been there!!!!