{Forrest Gump Party}

Each year for our birthdays we do a joint themed fancy dress birthday. Since we are 2 years and 2 days apart, it's easier to celebrate together and we have been doing so for many years now.
This year was a movie theme and we chose Forrest Gump.

 

We were in awe at some of the costumes! The film gave so much scope for imagination and our guests definitely took advantage of the many ideas! We had people dressed up as peas & carrots, a shrimp, hippies, a box of chocolates, the feather, waitress Jenny, the bus driver Dorothy, we even had (an almost) naked Jenny! 

Theme Party Tips:
Theme parties really require incorporating some concepts from the movie theme into the party. Here is 5 ways we themed this party that made it obvious what movie it was based on.
1. We had the sound track playing throughout the night
2. We had some pictures from famous scenes, quotes and facts/ trivia from the movie placed around the house for guests to discover. 
3. Have an activity/ something to engage guests in from the theme. We had a ping pong table set up which got a workout during the night (and also has since the party at home).  
4. We always give prizes for best dressed etc... So we gave boxes of chocolates and first prize was a voucher to Rebel Sport to buy yourself some new sneakers like Jenny gave Forrest.
5. Try and incorporate the theme into the menu as well. We wanted to incorporate the cultures in the movie into the menu and heres how we did it.
We gave a nod to the southern cuisine of the USA where Forrest lived and also to Vietnam where he served in the war.

Southern US Cuisine:
1. Smokey Pulled Pork Slider Buns
- Ask your Butcher for pork shoulder on the bone. Cut chunks off the bone and set aside. Place the bone on the bottom of a slow cooker bowl with the pork chunks on top. 
- Cover the meat with a jar (or two) of a smokey bbq marinade, a few cloves of garlic chopped, 2 TBL smoked paprika, 1 TBL brown sugar, 1 TBL chillli powder, 2 TBL pepper and an onion sliced finely.   
- Place on a high setting for 1/2 hour and drop back to low for a remaining 7 hours or until the meat starts to fall apart.
- At that time, Take bone out of the cooker and the meat should shred itself. 
- Serve on a soft white buttered roll. YUM!
2. Southern Slaw
- Shred some green and purple cabbage, grate 3 carrots, chop a red onion and some pickles. Finely slice 3 green apples and add to the mix.
- In a seperate bowl, mix together half a jar of mayonaise, a squeeze of lemon, a TBL of whisky and S&P to taste. 
- Mix together
3. Fresh 'shrimp' We couldn't have a Forrest Gump party without this of course ;) Just ordered from the local fish shop and serve fresh.
4. Southern Fried Chicken Drumsticks My Gorgeous Friend made up a big batch of drumsticks using this recipe....they were amazing! {click here for link}



Vietnamese Cuisine:
1. Lemon Grass Chicken {click here}
2. Vietnamese Garlic Beef {click here}
3. Vegetarian Rice paper rolls {click here}
4. Homemade Shitake Spring Rolls {click here}
5. Fried Rice 
- We just kept this simple by using two rice cookers to cook the rice, adding some peas to it. Make a few thin egg omelets and chop and toss through. Season with soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce and mix. 

Dessert:
I made a simple 2 layer chocolate
mud cake and iced it with chocolate buttercream.
The detail to tie it into the movie was a white chocolate feather on top to commemorate the feather in the opening and closing scenes of the film.
 
The party was so much fun and went so quickly, that I didn't get many photos, but I had a blast and so did those that were there. 

Lauren x