Here’s To The Host
Que the intimate dinner parties! Whatever happened to those anyways? You know, the small parties where the hostess provides friends and family with a nice beverage and some delicious food and just chat about life? Can we all agree to bring those back?
As you may have gathered in the previous blog post, My mother is the one who taught me how to make something so simple seem so nice. Whether it’s your home, food or a party, how you present everything is what gets everyone talking. I always thought that everything she did was always “too much work” for my personality. As I’ve gotten older I started to pay more attention to what she was doing. And I just couldn’t believe how easy everything actually is and you don’t need to empty your wallet to do so. Most of the time she just finds things around her house to create an elaborate presentation. After watching her throw a couple intimate parties that were absolutely stunning, I decided to give it a go myself.
So I invited a couple of my closest girlfriends over to my mom’s house for a wine and grazing night to help promote a new company I teamed up with. With it being October, I wanted to create that fall time feel but make it classy and not so cheesy. I dug through my moms closets, shed and house decor and was able to pull together such an amazing table spread. I seriously thought to myself, “something like this probably would have cost a couple $100 all said and done”. It’s also pretty helpful that my mom is a collector of things like linens, unique hosting dishware, candles and so on. We pulled this look together by finding an old linen table cloth, a random piece of plaid fabric, sheer blue curtains, candles and tons of natural elements. We used dried foliage and of course had to display pumpkins to pull the fall aesthetic together. I’d like to say it’s all about balancing out different elements but it’s also being able to have an eye for what works and what doesn’t. I kid you not, the blue runner on the table was left over curtains that we cut the loops off of and it turned out so good! We created depth by using different glass cylinders and tapers and created texture with pampas, dried juniper, dried roses and pumpkins. The glasses and plates are actually a funny story. Christmas before last, mom asked all of her kids to buy her white dishes and I asked for some really cool entertaining glasses. She ended up with three sets of entertaining dishware and I ended up with three sets of bad ass glasses. So of course, we brought them together and decided to mix and match to make this specific tablescape a bit more fun!
Next came the chacuterie board. Everyone loves a good chacuterie board but they usually look so detailed and pretty that you almost are scared to dig in and eat like you’re supposed to. I went to the store and bought all of my favorite grazing items and spent about $50 total on cheeses, meats, fruit etc. So cheap, right? But once you pull them all together, it quickly makes $50 look like $100. It’s like magic and actually so fun to create! Of course, my mom had the cutest serving ware for this. She bought a huge dough bowl from Hobby Lobby earlier that day for $20 just because she thought it was cute for her house and who would’ve thought that it would have been perfect for a chacuterie display! Anyways, I started slicing the cheese and fruits and laying out the meats and crackers in no specific order. There’s really no rhyme to reason when creating these, just be creative. Once I had all of the main characteristics of the platter set, I started to sprinkle things like popcorn and chocolate in random places to add something “fun” to the dish. Just when I thought I was done, my mom ran outside and snipped a branch off of her rosemary & Eucalyptus bush and perfectly placed them on the tray to create the final touch. Again, something that would have been an after thought to me but she knew exactly what to do right then and there.
I absolutely loved putting this evening together and more so enjoyed the time I had with the girls just chatting about life. What was supposed to only be a two to three hour evening ended up being a bit longer than that and let’s just say I got home way past my bedtime. But rules are meant to be broken and it was so worth it and definitely a night I wont forget. There’s so many life lessons I’ve learned from my mom and one of them being it’s not a shortcut, it’slearning to be creative with what you have.
Brooke’s Dinner Party Must Haves
CandlesFancy looking dishware/glasses/cutleryflowers - fresh or dried depending on the look you’re going forString lightsWineAnd always have an appetizer. Whether it’s meat and cheese or bread, oil and vinegar - this really starts the party
