How to Host a Dinner Party – Part Two

Today I am sharing more details about how I Created This Backyard Dinner Party For My Family. I love to host a dinner party and this one was one of the most special parties ever. Today I Am Sharing more details about the table, place cards, and floral arrangements.

A few weeks ago I decided to host a dinner party for my husband and sons. I really was in a “creative mood” and really wanted to do something fun even though we are still “staying at home” in southern California.

I explained how I set up the outdoor dining room for the party in my blog post called How to Plan a Backyard Dinner Party.

As the evening progressed, the setting became more magical!

So many of you asked about the table setting, place cards, and flowers and I am excited to share with you how I created my table!

How to Make the Place Cards

I cannot believe how many of you asked about the place cards. In truth, many of you thought the plates were personalized (which I just might try to do someday!). It’s funny because when I looked back at some of the photos on my blog post, it really did look like the plates were personalized.

I made these place cards with my Cricut machine. I have the Cricut Maker but you can use any machine that cuts cardstock. These were fairly easy to make.

Go to the Cricut Design and type in the names of those attending your party.

Modify the font to whichever you want to use.  I used the Madina font and you can download the font for free here.

I did have to manipulate the words so that the letters are all attached. That is necessary so that when the words are cut they are all one piece.

I used Cricut Kraft Board Foil material. My Cricut machine cut them all out perfectly so please know that I didn’t have to do much.

The Cricut machines and kraft foil are shown below.

And all I did was place them on top of the plates!

Even though the party was for four and obviously we knew the names of our own family, the copper place cards made the table feel more special. It also made the dinner feel more special than an ordinary Monday night dinner at home!

How to Arrange the Flowers

I haven’t been to a grocery store in three months so I took a chance and had my Instacart shopper pick out flowers for me. All I did was specify “white flowers” and I do have to give the nice gentleman (who I never met) a lot of credit for picking out these flowers!

I love using ball jars as my vases because they are cheap and quite plentiful at our house. (If you haven’t seen my post about where I store my party supplies, you might enjoy it.) I used 16 oz. ball jars for these arrangements.

The first thing I did was head to my backyard and cut some hydrangeas in my yard. I needed a few larger flowers to fill my vases and these were perfect.

Next, I cut all of my grocery store flowers and placed them in the ball jars. Notice how short the flowers are. I cannot tell you how many times I have finished my flower arrangements and placed them on the table only to find out they were too tall! I would guess the total height of these vases is about 12″.

I have always believed that simple florals work great. These took less than half an hour to create.

To set the rest of the table, I used things that I already owned. I purchased the placemats, copper chargers, and table runner last year. This is probably the gazillionth time I have used these. The candlesticks are my favorite and the source is listed below. They are only $7 each!

The plates are Wedgewood Edme and you can find them very reasonably priced here.

You can find all of the other items here, including my favorite inexpensive candlesticks.

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