Anniversary Dinner Party

Yesterday was my parents anniversary - 24 years!

In celebration, I decided to have them over for a full dinner. Since I would be busy puttering away in the kitchen for the night, I invited my mom's sister and her husband over to keep them company.

The night was a success! I served a 5 course dinner, each paired with wine. Dinner started with an Acorn Squash Bisque with some bubbly. Next was a Wild Mushroom Risotto and a Wild Ferment Chardonnay. I found four lovely varieties of wild mushrooms at the market on Saturday and was excited to dress up this dish. Next was the main course, seared pork medallions with a Bartlett pear chutney and home made crab apple jelly with mashed purple potatoes and roasted vegetables. I served this with a Vintage White. It's a special reserve from 3 local wineries and it's really delicious. Next was the cheese course, with a few different kinds along with fresh baguette and frosted grapes. The grapes are a lovely way to dress up your cheese plate and they're really easy to make. You just brush little clusters of grapes (seedless) with egg whites, and sprinkle them with sugar. Freeze them until serving. They're like little popsicles! This was paired with a Cabernet Franc, a lovely red vintage. And finally, dessert - creme brulee, and chocolate espresso cheesecake with a chocolate covered strawberry. We opened a bottle of Icewine for with dessert, a birthday gift for my dad 5 years ago, as a special treat. All in all, it was a great evening.

But, onto more important things for you readers, who weren't there to enjoy the wine and food - - - the table!

Believe it or not, but it was almost a tie, right across the board! In the end, the romantically rustic and natural tablescapes tied for first. I did my best to combine the two and I must say, I loved the final result. It was a lot of fun setting up, and quite easy, as I was prepping most of the day!

Here are a couple photos from before the evening began.

Enjoy!

I used natural materials, like this burlap and twine. These are both rustic and natural and they're my favourite!

To create some mood lighting, I did a quick DIY project. I saved my sons baby-food jars, thinking I would eventually find something to use them for. I wrapped thin twine randomly around each jar, in slightly different lengths. I then put a tea light in each and arranged them all along my buffet. It was the same effect as twinkle lights, but better because they flickered, and reflected more light. They looked lovely. I'm going to wire the tops so they can be hung outside in the summer as mini lanterns.

I love them, especially paired with the burlap!

I used this old German tureen as an ice bath for the wine. It was one of the things I found this weekend. It's huge, and gorgeous and has the classic lion heads on each side.

I had seen something similar to this in an older Pottery Barn catalog. I tied more of the thin twine around my already hanging plates. The twine was actually the leftover bits from my table runner which I made. They were the pieces I pulled out when I frayed the edge a bit! I tucked bits of old ephemera here and there which made them more romantic - old post cards, old letters and other little bits!

A few other rusty bits like this old trough, held large pillar candles. It's so rustic.

The center of the table was simple. I bought this old sap bucket, which is more petite and really rusty, this weekend as well! I planted a gorgeous white Amaryllis in it and filled the rest with loose Spanish moss. Around the bucket, I used the grape vine mini wreaths to dress up my pillar candles. They were $2 at a flower shop ages ago, on clearance! They looks like little birds nests and looked amazing with the rest of the decor.

All in all, I had a blast! And, I'm pretty sure that my guests were having just as much fun, which is the most important part!!