my first fancy dinner party

In my little mind, I have always wanted to be one of those Women Who Throw Dinner Parties.  I imagined small and intimate groupings, but glamorous and interesting guests.  Artists and Writers and Painters and intense discussion and raucous laughter.  It sounds like a movie, right?  Not real life.

Then I turned thirty and had the sudden revelation that all those things I dream about, I actually need to start doing them. 

So I made a list.  Thirty things I want to do when I'm Thirty.  (I know I haven't published the list yet.  I will.)  Throw A Fancy Dinner Party was right on up there.  Auntie Mame-style. 

So I did.  Last week.  As if we didn't have anything else going on.

First I had a ten-foot outdoor table built.  I don't mean to toss that out there casually, I know that's not the most normal thing to do.  But I had been looking for a large solid wood table for months, and everything I found either wasn't quite right or was insanely expensive. 

So I turned to the guy who does all the props for The Gorilla's shows.  JP (who also built the tiki bar at the lake house) understood the simplicity of my vision, was able to built it for less than half the price of any other comparable table I'd seen, and he did it in two days.  TWO DAYS.  I just wanted to give him a big smooch.

 

Then I found a caterer.  Are you laughing?  Because when I said "I threw a dinner party," what I really meant was, "I set a nice table and brought in the food."

My main holdup on throwing a dinner party was the food.  I'm not a bad cook.  In the last two years I've become quite a decent cook.  But cooking for a group was too much pressure.  So I farmed it out.  And I'm not ashamed.  Laura of Laura's Comfort Gourmet is in my book club, and she just started a catering business.  I knew it would be good (it was) and things would be taken care of (they absolutely were), so I could focus on important details like flowers.  And candles.

I bought suitable outdoor placemats and dramatic glass candle-holders from Ikea.  I brought out all three patterns of my china (although this was not unusual, I am a believer in Using Your Nice Things), and almost every piece of stemware I own.

We had the bench on one side, but I didn't have time to find outdoor chairs, so we just brought down our regular dining room chairs.  

I went to my favorite local flower shop and in addition to buying flowers for the table, I also bought long green stems (leaves?  I don't know what you call them) to wrap around the cloth napkins.  It was the florists idea to staple them underneath.  I was going to tie them, or cut a slit to slip on end through another, but it didn't work so well.  So out came the stapler. 

 

And then, somehow, interesting people showed up.  And mixed with the pretty table and the candlelight, we had the most wonderful evening.  There were toasts made and stories told.

 

In addition to the yummy comfort food, there were appetizers and desserts and beer and wine and water and bread. 

 

And we were in our own home.  It was less costly than having the same gathering at a restaurant.  And it was infinitely more special.  That was the best part.

At the end of the night, when we were all exhausted of talking and full to the brim of good food, everyone helped carry things upstairs and even helped clean up.  It felt like family. 

 

It was like family.

Comments

[Whitney]

This is on my list of "Things to do when I move into a grown up house."

Your table looks beautiful! Congrats on a very nice dinner party!

[Rachel Leonard]

This looks SO lovely - how fun (you're such a grown up)!!!!

[jaime]

WOW! I'm so inspired! And absolutely kudos to you for using a caterer. I'm not a bad cook either, but I have found that for me having to time all the food just right totally ruins my ability to enjoy the party. It looks like you hosted a spectacular evening.

[mom]

I always wanted to be one of those Women Who Host Salons -- Sunday brunches to talk about new books, current events, politics, shopping -- that people say "My, wasn't that an interesting mix at Donna's last week!" But the clock's ticking and I'd better get after it or give it up. And I'd like JP to come and build me a few things!

[jaime]

Laura - I have thought more about this. Can you elaborate on your guest list? Not who was actually there, but how you went about selecting the invitees. It really is my favorite part of hosting a party - watching the guests mix. But sometimes we have all people we know already know each other, and sometimes we throw different groups in together. Completely different experiences. So my question is three-fold. First, how many did you have? Second, were they all couples or was there a mix? And third, were they all from the same general "crowd," or did you mix crowds?

[Amber]

I am officially jealous. That's such a grown up thing to do! And it looks like it was a beautiful party. I found your link on Real Life...but I'll be back!

Hmmm, now off to ponder having a dinner party of my own...

[Megan@SortaCrunchy]

I am late in commenting, but this is dreamy.

Nicely done, friend!