Entertaining expert to share her secrets with luncheon crowd
By ST. CLAIRE DONAGHY
Index-Journal staff writer
Entertaining need only be as elaborate or simple as you want it to be, according to entertaining and hospitality expert Kimberly Kennedy.
“It really is as simple as opening your front door with a smile and inviting people in,” Kennedy said. “Something as easy as sharing an open bottle of wine and a bowl of mixed nuts or olives is entertaining. If people would remember that, and not always focus on pulling out all the stops and striving for perfection, we would all be entertained a lot more.”
Kennedy will share ways to bring together the seven elements of entertaining: invitations, menu, drinks, table, atmosphere, “preparing the space,� and party favors, during the Festival of Flowers Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday at Greenwood Country Club.
Tickets are $20 and are available through the Greenwood Area Chamber of Commerce at 110 Phoenix St. and at the Greenwood Regional Visitors and Tourism Bureau at the Federal Building at 120 Main St. The luncheon is limited to 130 tickets and few, if any, are left.
In addition to a delightful meal and informative presentation, luncheon attendees also have the chance to win door prizes courtesy of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Confetti and Thayer’s. The sponsor for the luncheon is Embarq.
Kennedy, 34, is the author of “The Art and Craft of Entertaining” and the winner of a CBS reality TV show, “Wickedly Perfect,” through which she got to show the nation her flair for crafts and cooking and secure a book deal with publisher Simon and Schuster.
Copies of Kennedy’s book will be available for purchase at the luncheon, and she will sign them after her presentation. The book sells for about $26.
Kennedy describes her entertaining philosophy as “inspiration without intimidation” and she said her objective is “to help people find their own style and be confident in it.”
“It’s not about perfection and a million little details,” Kennedy said. “Entertaining should be fun. It is about spending time with people you care about. If you are not having fun at your own party, what’s the point?”
Everything doesn’t have to be made from scratch, Kennedy said, or “planned to the nth degree.”
“Pick the elements of entertaining that you enjoy and work on those,” Kennedy said. “Nobody expects you to do it all“ and you will just stress out trying.
“Focus first on hospitality and don’t freak out over the details. People just like to be invited over. They are not there to run a Q-tip over your baseboards. Relax!”
In her book, Kennedy teaches you how to make your own invitations, set the table, create centerpieces, make party favors and pull together a party menu. “The Art and Craft of Entertaining” includes 30 recipes, and Kennedy said the book is perfect for both beginners and seasoned hostesses.
The desire to entertain has been with Kennedy from an early age. By the age of 3, she was known to invite people she saw in the grocery store to her mother’s home for “cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.”
Besides entertaining, Kennedy said her mother instilled in her a love for arts and crafts and woodworking. As a child, Kennedy attended The Waldorf School for art in New York.
At the age of 13, Kennedy and her family moved to Georgia, and she has called the Peach State home ever since.
By the time she was ready for college, Kennedy decided she wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon. A biology major in college, Kennedy worked as a surgical assistant at a children’s hospital while planning on attending medical school.
But she yearned for a career that fostered her creative side.
Kennedy worked in the medical field for three years and then decided to start her own catering company.
“That slowly turned into an event-planning business,” Kennedy said. “Before I knew it, I was decorating people’s homes for the holidays, creating and sending out invitations, assembling menus, cooking the food and basically throwing their parties. It just sort of evolved.”
She also started sewing baby clothes for a clothing company she started.
However, both her catering and baby clothing ventures were discontinued after she met with CBS in 2004, and became a part of the 10-episode “Wickedly Perfect,” which aired from January through May 2005.
What attracted Kennedy to the show, she said, was “the opportunity to pitch a book to Simon and Schuster.” Kennedy had already started to write a book two years earlier.
“It seemed like a perfect opportunity to meet with publishers,” Kennedy said.
She is now working on her second book, as well as developing a lifestyle television show and creating a product line.
Kennedy her husband, Todd, and their Yorkshire terrier, Sadie, live in Vinings, an area just outside Atlanta.
If you think Kennedy is all “girlie-girl,” think again. She enjoys sailing and playing football with Todd. Most impressive is the fact that she and Todd built their own house, with their own hands.