You may remember that several years ago we had a Tuscan winery host a wine pairing dinner at our home. We had visited the winery on a trip to Italy, and they let us know they visit the US several times a year to host wine pairing dinners. The first one was such a success that they have asked us every year to host another one. It's a bit of an undertaking, but our friends offered to co-host it with us this year because they loved the first wine dinner so much.
We had planned to hold it outside by the pool like the first party. My husband installed string lights to go over the tables weeks ago. It would have been downright magical if it hadn't rained. I cannot tell you how disappointed we were when we realized all of those plans and table rentals would go to waste. We scrambled at the last minute to move everything inside, but all the small tables would not fit. I had to make do with my breakfast room and dining room tables. I had ordered a new tablecloth for the formal dining room two days before the party from Amazon just in case that happened. That was a good call!
The bright side is the green tablecloths and gold chinoiserie chairs I chose fit right in with my decor. I knew I wanted sage green to reflect Tuscany. I decided to go more elegant than rustic with bright pink florals and gold accents.
I added a cute little ribbon to each napkin. It's an inexpensive alternative to napkin rings. We rented the glasses, but saved by ordering plastic flatware and dinnerware. I already had the gold votives and glass vases. You can find both at Michael's for a great price.
We ordered the main course of chicken parmigiana and pasta from a local restaurant. The tiramisu for dessert was from the bakery at our grocery store. We put these personal charcuterie plates together the day of the party. Can you believe these cute plates are acrylic? They also come in various colors.
It was less expensive to order the tablecloths, plastic plates and flatware online than to rent them. It's also a lot easier to clean up! We bought ours from Efavormart and Amazon. I do draw the line at plastic cups for wine. It just doesn't taste the same as it does out of a glass. We had two servers at the party and they were worth every penny! It was so nice that I could relax and not run around filling glasses. As soon as our guests walked through the door, the servers were greeting them with sparkling wine. They also had the entire kitchen cleaned before they left. I will always hire servers now for every event. The best part is one of them happened to sing Italian opera. He sang us a song at the end of the night that I have on Instagram if you want to check it out. Despite the rain, it ended up being better than I had imagined!
