Today's tablescape starts with the centerpiece of my garden statue, Lucy, named after my great-grandmother. She also resides in the upper right hand side of my blog banner.
She is made of cement but I've never put her outside in the garden. She has lived in several different rooms of the house.
Below is a wider view of today's table.
The chargers are in Spectrum Sage by Mikasa. I've had them probably 20 years. The service plates used for an appetizer are Limoges shell-shaped plates I purchased in San Francisco at an antique show about 15 years ago. This is the aqua colorway. The set also came with other colors -- pink, yellow and blue. I have removed the dining chairs. Please ignore that one of my white sofas still resides on the back wall. It will probably be there for awhile as decorating progress in my house goes slowly.
I love this shade of aqua and this shell dish is a favorite. Also in the table's center, I am using clear glass candlesticks from Pottery Barn with prism rings.
This pedestal cake stand is one of a pair I purchased in Atlanta at Scott's Antique Market two years ago. It is French. On the bottom it says that this company won the Medal of Or or gold at the Paris Exposition of 1893. I don't know if the medal was for this dessert service or some other entry the company did that year. The workmanship is exquisite and the price was very reasonable for the quality.
This one is holding a raspberry layer cake.
This one of the pair is holding white cake squares.
This low cake plate is Derby before the company became Royal Crown Derby. It was one of their first dessert services. I purchased this set in Canada. It has five cake plates of different heights.
Today it is holding a White Sin cake.
Looking at the plate layers, following the charger with service shell plates, I am using the dessert plates from the Derby set for salad.
Each plate has a different grouping of flowers in the middle. The color is a bit stronger blue in the photo, but in person it is aqua. I am using it to blend.
Next, I am using a dinner plate in the Admiral pattern by Coalport. I love the gold waves around the outside edge. Even though it is discontinued it is so versatile it can work into many themes and doesn't really need updating.
Dessert will be served on these Darley Abbey plates by Royal Crown Derby. This is one of their newer patterns having been introduced in 2004. They don't come out with new patterns very often.
I'm using two stems today. The clear one is from Williams-Sonoma in the Edward pattern and is glass not crystal. Edward was my grandfather's name and it just so happened that I liked the stem pattern as well.
This is Durgin's sterling pattern Iris patented in 1900. I think it is fitting for a ladies' lunch being a floral design.
For the tablecloth, I'm using a pale aqua quilt from the Martha Stewart Collection that has floral embroidery. The runner is a metallic aqua which photographs as green because of my camera lens, but it is really not green.
My oval-back chairs by Amy Howard blend in with all the aqua tones.
The pale aqua napkins are also from the Martha Stewart Collection in 100% handkerchief linen.
The napkin rings I found at Target two years ago as a Christmas item. The rectangles encircled with rhinestones have a central area where you can put a placecard so they have dual function.
Also, I want to share with you a photo from a lunch I did for a friend celebrating her 30 years of employment about five years ago. It was in an office conference room where the table was 20 feet long. I can't remember exactly now, but there would have been 14-16 guests. The aqua theme I used then is very similar to this one, only I had placemats on the wood conference room table and a few other changes. You will recognize the plates and the candlesticks. The runner also photos here its more true shade of aqua.
On the wall in the background is an acrylic gallary wrap canvas I did in the color theme of this lunch. I often coordinate the artwork with the tablescape. This is a 48"x60" canvas. Sometimes I paint over them for the next party, but I still have this one in my office shown below.
The addition of art gives another dimension to a party and works well if the walls are neutral or at least not competing.
I am participating in Tablescape Thursday this week on the blog Between Naps on the Porch.
To see all the entries, after 9:00PM Eastern on Wednesday, go here:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
All the best to you,
Summer
Photos: Swede
