DREAM DINNER PARTY

After my attempt at mojitos earlier this week, I was inspired to continue on in my quest to complete that darn 30x30. One of the more attainable items is to host a dinner party. I'm talking like a fancy, adult dinner party, for 6-8 people, for no particular reason other than an excuse to be fancy. Ideally, it would be to celebrate a new job or something, but failing that, simply for fun.

This dinner party isn't something I could throw together in the span of two days, but I decided that in order to get the creative juices flowing I'd make up a couple of mood boards with ideas for my "dream" dinner party. To make some of this a reality I know moderate crafting will be required, and you'll reap the benefits of that as well. I'll fill you in on all the steps. My aim is to throw the actual party towards the end of August, and until then slowly complete trial runs of the meal components and create the invitations and decorations. Perhaps I'll call those posts the Dinner Party Series.

At any rate, here is the inspiration I'm starting with. Whether I make these exact things is yet to be decided, but this is what I'm starting with. I'm a big fan of the gray and teal combination so that's probably the color scheme I'll go with, adding a bit of pink in as well.

I found the invitations here. I want something relatively simple, basically a nice design on simple paper and I think these will achieve that. If I can figure out how to make them myself, it will be a bonus.

I'm also a big fan of these DIY place cards, which look like they'll be relatively simple to make. And reusable.

I recently went to a bachelorette party where they made use of the tissue paper pom pom, and I think this would be a perfect opportunity to use some myself. So whether I go for the lanterns, the pom poms, or both remains to be seen. But at least one will make an appearance.

For another accent color I might go for the bright pink. After looking at Sina's pink post the other day, I was definitely loving pink again. And I think it would go great with the teal. And speaking of teal, these mason jars are great. If I have it outside, these are a strong possibility also.



My goal is to do a proper four course meal. (More or less.)

Appetizers: Something similar to these guacamole cups. Light but delicious.

Starter: I want to do something more than a salad, but nothing too heavy, so for now I'm thinking a caprese salad. I like the look of two different colored tomatoes in this salad.

Main: For the main course I'd like to do something affordable, somewhat creative, and most of all, easy to prepare when guests are present. This led me to something similar to these pot pies. I'll have to try them to see just how easy they are, but they look fantastic.

Dessert: It was recommended to me to try a sorbet for the dessert, which sounds like a lovely choice. I might pair it with a vanilla wafer to give it some substance, but this strawberry mango sorbet is what I'm thinking so far.


For more details on these ideas and more, check out the Pinterest Board I made. And of course, follow us on Pinterest for all the latest!

Follow You Me Oui Blog's board DINNER PARTY IDEAS on Pinterest.
Any tips or tricks for hosting a dinner party?