Tuesday Tablescape: One Table for One Hundred

A rehearsal dinner is an important event for any bride and groom, and especially for a Mother-of-the-Groom, who is traditionally in charge of this celebration. I am lucky to have the chic, stylish and elegant Caroline Whitman as my mother-in-law. She had beautiful ideas for our rehearsal dinner and wanted to make it a night no one would ever forget.

Challenged with finding an intimate venue that would house a wedding party of 75, Caroline opted to host the dinner in a tent, as she was trying to create a setting that was cozy as well as elegant and ethereal. A beautiful white tent erected on a tennis court provided the perfect spot for one gigantic table to seat 126 people. 

The table was made of platform staging in the center with eight-foot by 30-inch tables placed all around the edge. Caroline turned to the talented floral team form Dallas' Bella Flora to help make the center of the table perfect. For such a massive space, she wanted a lot of drama without it feeling to overwhelming.

Todd Fiscus of Todd.Events thought we needed some drama in the tent and loaned us three massive white chandeliers.
She assembled a collection of large-scale blue-and-white containers, clear glass vases and Lucite museum stands; we borrowed from friends, family and our favorite florist! Some containers were simply left empty in the center of the table; others were filled with beautiful yellow flowers or lemons. Large branches with yellow blooms and potted yellow tulips added life to the massive white setting. 

The dinner was served on simple but elegant white plates that were placed on woven wicker chargers - they were such an important element as they framed the white plates against the background of the white table linen. Crisp and clean hemstitched white linen napkins sat on top of the plates, waiting to be placed in the guests lap. Silverware from Tiffany and Co. framed the plates to perfection, and beautiful but simple swirl stem crystal complemented the settings.

Each guest found his or her name in white ink on a blue place card. The menu, printed in blue on clean white paper, was placed in the center of each white plate. 

Even the servers wore blue ties to match!

The overall look was better than any of us could have imagined, but the most memorable part of the evening came as the toasts were winding down to a close. When it was Justin's turn to make his toast, he carefully and unexpectedly pushed his place setting to the side and hopped up onto his chair and then onto the table! The space between the centerpieces and the place setting formed the perfect walkway for Justin to make his way around the table and tell each person there how grateful he was to have them in our lives.

It was a perfectly magical moment that I will never forget, and it took place on one of the most beautiful tables I could have ever dreamed of! Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me!

Big Thanks to:
Bella Flora
Todd.Events
Stephen Karlish Photography