I used to live in Melbourne and I can personally say that leading up to the Melbourne Cup Carnival was magnificent! I don’t know if it’s just Melbournians finding as excuse to partee, but it always felt like Christmas. The anticipation was as exciting as the carnival week.

In my younger days, much much younger days, my friends & I could only afford General Admission tickets. I’ll confess now only because I’m betting on the statute of limitation, we would brain storm how we could sneak in alcohol. We were very creative indeed!

Back then, the Melbourne Cup most definitely stopped the nation in our minds.

The Race & the wiser me

Sheepishly, I must admit, The Spring Carnival was as exciting if not more when I was older. Older meant I could afford better tickets, better clothes & more money to spend on the horses! Yup the same group of misfits, but in sleeker clothes & thinking that we’re all that – indeed we were – to us anyway!

Then I moved to Sydney.

Sadly the momentum for the Melbourne Cup has never been the same. But one thing that has remained the same is getting together with friends. In a way, it has been better. Maybe because I’m older, more mature, who knows! But, I get quite excited when I host a Melbourne Cup party especially the catering!

Catering makes it or break it

So things I’ve learnt about catering for a Melbourne Cup event:

1. Individual portions – trust me, you’d want to minimise mess. The cleanest way is to have individual portions & not a buffet style catering
2. Something for everyone – have a variety of food. Best if you have something with meat, veg, fruit/ treats. Even better if you find out if any of your guests have specific food requirements
3. Bins – have a recycling bin & a general waste bin. Place it somewhere people can see
4. Pick up time – pick up your catering at least 1 hour in advance. So make sure you choose a catering provider who’s food will still taste great a few hours later.

Most of all, relax & have fun!

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