Summer Citrus Tablescape 2019
When you combine the talents of three women who focus their careers on entertaining and events, you're going to get something special. And that's exactly what happened when Paige Minear, Caroline Frierson and your's truly met-up in Charleston and put together one heck of a summer cocktail party.
When Paige and I decided to travel to Charleston together (see this post), we knew we also wanted to design a summer soiree while there that would serve as inspiration for summer entertaining. But for this table design and cocktail party, we included a few other creatives, including our mutual friend Caroline of Sweet Caroline Designs, who helped us with all the paper products. We also enlisted the help of fabulous real-estate renovator and decorator, Krystine Edwards- meaning, we totally took over her beautiful home on Sullivan's Island for the shoot. And last but certainly not least, our friend Andrea Kinnear, who also lives in Charleston, was kind enough to shoot every last detail for us, and let me tell you, she is one uber-talented photographer (as you can clearly see for yourself from these images).
For this shoot, we wanted something colorful, fresh and of course pretty. One of my favorite vendors for table linens, napkins, chair pads, and so much more, is La Tavola Linen. I often look at their collection of linens for inspiration for overall design. And wouldn't you know it, they had just released a new linen (called "Anna") that I immediately snapped a picture of and sent to Paige. She loved the print as much as I did, so we used the tablecloth as the jumping-off point for our design.The linen features an abstract lotus flower, so we decided to include a few Asian accents, such as the mini porcelain take-out boxes from Please Be Seated (that we filled with macaroons), the stunning gold bamboo flatware from Ooh! Events, bamboo napkin rings from Epergne and accents of Mandarin oranges.
As beautiful as this tablescape is, what takes it to the next level, in my opinion, are the custom paper goods that Caroline created for us. Caroline is such a talented designer, and her invitations, menu cards, place cards and coordinating stationery pieces are to die for. She designed full suites of paper products for this tablescape that are available to purchase on her website, so that you too can fully re-create this look from start to finish. She designed numerous options for us to work with, and we loved them so much that we included all of them in the shoot (gotta love a good mix-and-match of coordinating patterns). She is such a wonderful woman, and it was a true treat to work with her on this shoot... I hope she is reading between the lines here that I will be calling her to help with many others in the future- ha!
No table is complete without the flowers. Ooh! Events is a fabulous event rental company based in Charleston. But they aren't just a rental company. They offer additional event-related services including floral design. Since they provided many of the rentals for our tabletop, we decided to use them for the floral arrangements, and they did not disappoint. I clearly have very high expectations when it comes to party rentals (since I own a party rental company based in Nashville), and Ooh! Events had everything we needed and more, from the pink charger plates, gold-rimmed stemware, to the white Napoleon dining chairs. And the best part is they drop everything off and then pick it all up after the party, so it's less work for you!
After all the work we put into this simply-stunning-summer table (sorry, I just can't help myself), we all needed a drink. And of course my girl Paige had the perfect cocktail recipe up her fabulous blue and white sleeve. She even brought one of my newest obsessions with her- customizable acrylic cocktail stir sticks from Acrylicsticks. I can't get enough of these chic stir sticks that come in a countless designs, and totally elevate your cocktail game to the next level. The ginger jar design shown here is clearly one of my favorites, and is available for purchase on their website here. Paige also brought each of us monogrammed, paper to-go cups from the Emily McCarthy Shoppe, which you can also purchase online (be careful as you will want everything else from her online shop). And because I'm feeling uber-generous tonight, I'm going to even share Paige's delicious and SUPER simple cocktail recipe with you... Y'all know I don't do much recipe posting here, but I'm always up for sharing a good cocktail recipe, especially when it's as easy as this one. Cheers friends!!!
