Thursday, June 24, 2010

Fine Dining and Culture



I did a dinner party for the girls age 14-16 in my church's youth group as a way to help enrich their summer experience in a small way.

I coordinated the table setting to match with the peacock feather invitations and RSVP cards I designed. I liked how the navy linens echoed a peacock tail configuration in the champagne flutes, topped off by a single feather. The centerpiece was an eiffel vase filled with water I tinted blue-green, and placed two bird of paradise leaves at differing heights. I wanted something simple but that had a big impact, so I decided to go with more saturated colors, and less "things". There was a simple runner of green tulle, and the place settings were my white plates, layered, with navy name tags. I used a gold satin sheet I had on top of a white tablecloth for thickness and sheen. The repeating colors were: navy, green, gold, and touches of teal.

Fonts used in the stationery were Scriptina and Arabic Typesetting in all caps.

Menu: (which I would highly recommend to anyone who is in a major rush, and on a budget- which I was on both counts)

~ penne and chicken alfredo with carrots, peas, and broccoli from the pre-made freezer section
~ baby spinach salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and dried cranberries (also pre-made in bags, and I just tossed together the dressing)
~ french bread and butter (from the bakery)

The drink options were sparkling waters in:
~ mandarin orange
~ peach
~ cherry
~ raspberry

And for dessert we had a blueberry tart from Trader Joe's with a vanilla ice cream option.

Menu by numbers:
~ dinner for eight
~ $30 (plus a little of what I had on hand like butter, dressing, and Craisins)
~ 20 minutes from the freezer to the table
~ leftovers for one more night- success!

After dinner we went to the Phoenix Art Museum where we appreciated some interactive exhibits, paintings, fashion, and photography. Wednesday nights are voluntary donation which was perfect for our church group. All in all, a nice evening was had.

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