Two weeks ago our friends threw an incredible, fun, impressive & memorable Birthday/Valentine party for me! To show my friends my appreciation I am inviting them over for a nice sit down dinner.   I am struggling to confirm the date for this dinner because Hoa had to go India but he did not have the exact travel date.  I had to wait until the middle of the week (Wednesday) to find out if I have the green light to go forward with the dinner party.  Fortunately, Hoa did not have to travel until the following week so the party is on, which means I only have two days to come up with the menu and start the preparation.  Beside the menu, the table had to be set up, I had to think about a color, theme, design and feel of for the table, deciding on which China to use, centerpieces, flowers, etc... it is quite a lot of work to put everything together.

But the biggest challenge is to come up with a menu that I hope will please everyone's palate!   Tonight I am having over 16 people for a sit down dinner, 14 adults will be sitting in the main dinning room and the two kids (Spencer and Nicky) will have their own table.  The kids like to have the adult's menu but they rather have their own table so they can run around and play games while waiting for the dishes to be served.

Table set up

The color scheme for the table setting should reflect the mood of the gathering so I choose different shades of blue to decorate the table and I added bright cobalt blue tall glasses for a pop of color in the hope that bright colors will reflect the merry mood.

To make the table festive I use a bunch of decorative Blue glass stones for a bit of sparkle and also to inject some colors against the off white mesh in the center of the table.

Alternating different shapes of candle holders along the table runner are used to decorate the table.

Individual plate setting!

Keeping every place setting the same and repeating the colors in the same places within the tablescape creates a formal and inviting pattern.

Napkins are folded and rolled inside a row of blue cobalt glasses to create a bit of height.

Flowers are from our garden.  We have a beautiful pink magnolia tree in the front of the house that are blooming right now so I cut some and I mixed it with some bright fuchsia camellia and a sprig of rosemary flower.

View of different flower arrangements, all flowers are from our garden.

I am trying to create a focal point by grouping different candle holders of the same hue of color but in different sizes and adding decorative glass stones for added flair.

Candles are lit to create the mood and atmosphere.

The menu cards are printed and are on display on the table for our guests to refer to during the meal.

Table overview.

Like I said Spencer and Nicky prefer to have their own table so I set up a small table for the two of them.

Here they have plenty of privacy and freedom to do what they want.

Okay now that both tables are set up Let's move on to dinner.....

Next.. The Food