Nine months in the making, I’m finally able to share the decorations and details of the rustic barn wedding welcome party that we hosted for our eldest son and his now bride.
Rather than a more intimate rehearsal dinner, we invited all 90ish wedding guests. It was a great opportunity for the bride’s West Coast and our East Coast family to meet and get acquainted. It was also a reunion of old and dear friends, who we consider extended family.
I elected (with input from dear hubby and the couple) to put a more sophisticated spin on the food and decor for the I Do BBQ. What my British friend described as, “posh rustic” lol! So, I opted for decorations and centerpieces that incorporated romantic lighting elements, live edge wood slices, wine bottles and corks to compliment the barn and mountain woodlands setting.
In her remarks thanking us for the party, the bride noted that I am known as, the “queen of theme.” Adding, with a grin, that I bestowed her the title of my princess lol! Gosh it’s great having another girl in the family!
As part of the Summer Tablescape Hop, I’ve set a bee theme tablescape outside on the covered porch.
Once again, Rita of Panoply has organized a group of 20 talented table and centerpiece stylists to share their latest summer settings.
My tablescape was inspired by a yellow and white floral arrangement I received for Mother’s Day. A thoughtful gift from my three “kids,” the pot and flowers were embellished with bees! A honey of an idea, as bees are kinda my “thing” lol!
Since we were enjoying gorgeous weather, I put the flowers to use as a bee-ut-i-ful centerpiece for the holiday dinner. It was our first alfresco meal of the season.
Drawing from my extensive collection of bee-decorated dishes, glasses, napkin rings and flatware, it also provided a new opportunity to style a bee theme tablescape.
In honor of romance and Valentine’s Day, I’m sharing the Love Boat theme engagement party we co-hosted with Sistah B and her husband at their home in Charleston.
Both my eldest son and nephew are getting married this year, and everyone couldn’t be more thrilled and happy!
Since we were already gathering for a week over Thanksgiving, it seemed the perfect opportunity to celebrate. Not only does our mother live in Charleston, but so do both my niece and spouse, and nephew and his sweet fiancé. Plus, eldest niece and her daughter traveled from Seattle for the holiday, and Sister A flew in from Florida.
Hubby and I rented a house with our sons and fiancé V, within walking distance to Sistah B’s waterfront home. She and her husband actually live on Folly Beach, the last barrier island across the water from Charleston. It was a wonderful setting for a joint Love Boat theme engagement party!
So now that you have a general idea of who, what and where, let’s raise anchor and set sail to party (warning, rocky seas with numerous corny puns ahead lol)!
Because my son’s now fiancé was joining us for the first time over the holidays, I wanted to pull out all the stops with my Christmas decorations and table settings. So I updated the nutcracker theme tablescape, adding the painted glasses and napkin rings. You can see the restyled tablescape at the end of this post.
When I went to Dollar Tree to pick up the clear goblets, I discovered they had a lot of nutcracker theme items for Christmas. That gave me the idea of using nutcracker tree ornaments to make simple napkin rings.
Inspired, I quickly got to work painting the images of three different color/styles of nutcracker faces on six goblets. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to share how I painted the glasses or put together the napkin rings last year.
Both projects are very inexpensive to create, and the napkin rings are super fast and easy to make.
Today, I’m sharing the Christmas peacock theme tablescape I set in the dinning room. It compliments the peacock feathers and birds in the classic wallpaper.
Regular readers know I have a passion for peacocks! It all started when I traced hubby’s ancestry to a Revolutionary War militia officer named Peacock! Read about The Rebel Bird in Celebrating Patriots on Independence Day.
Although I’ve previously shown you many casual to formal Christmas season settings, somehow I missed the peacock theme tablescape. It includes a centerpiece with a pair of feather trees, napkins folded in a peacock tail feather fan, and sits beneath the show-stopping Peacock Ornament Decorated Chandelier.
It’s one of 18 festive tables in this year’s annual Christmas Tablescape Blog Hop, hosted by Rita of Panoply. You’re sure to find lots of ideas and inspiration for setting your own holiday table. And, if you’re a dish addict, there might be a thing or two to add to your Santa wish list!
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Hi! I'm Debbee, a maker of all manner of things, who likes to incorporate themes into craft projects, holiday and seasonal decor, table settings, and parties. My friends call me, the Queen of Theme lol!
Home is the suburbs of Pittsburgh, but I also enjoy exploring the world with my husband. We raised two wonderful sons and are now early retirees.
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