Of course you know what that word means so I shouldn’t have to explain…right? Ha, it’s ok I didn’t either, but I have to say I was pretty excited that when looking for words starting with “x”, I found one that suits me pretty well.
Xenial adj. (ZEE-nee-uhl) : hospitable, especially to visitors.
There are definitely many things I wish I was more (or less) of. But I really do pride myself in being hospitable, or, xenial. So today’s example of my “xeniality” (yup that’s a word too!) is a small anniversary dinner we had for our best friends. I don’t believe that you have to wait for a “landmark” anniversary year like 10 or 15 to have a little party, any and every year that someone stays married (especially in this day and age) is something to celebrate! So our dear friends Stuart and Angela were celebrating their 12th anniversary and I decided to help them! I love a good dinner party and seriously have so much fun setting the table, decorating, making invitations, and planning the menu.
My first step was the invitations. Obviously I have an inside track to a good greeting card and invitation source (wink wink shameless plug to my etsy site www.paperlaundry.etsy.com) but I decided to mix it up and try this cool new app I got called “Makr” where you create a lovely invitation (along with coordinating place cards, menus, etc. if you’re interested) and can order a hard copy or for a super low price, buy the PDF and print it yourself. Here was my result…
Nice huh? Since yellow and grey is one of Angela’s favorite color combos I decided to make that the color scheme for the party. As far as dishes and table linens, I already had everything I needed from my growing dish collection. A few folding tables, candles, a cake from my favorite local cake lady, a delicious Italian meal (with much assistance from the butcher), and 10 of their favorite people, voila, we had a party! Check it out!
yummy caprese skewers with balsamic glaze for an appetizer
the curtains doubled as a backdrop for my little dessert table complete with white chocolate truffle pops, chocolate covered oreos, assorted candies in yellow and silver, lemon meringue cookies, mini panna cottas, and of course their delicious cannoli filled cake!
The lovely couple posing before they cut their cake.They don’t look old enough to be celebrating their 12th anniversary right?!
This was a little bit of last minute decorating to fill the empty table space, a cardboard letter covered in silver scrapbook paper, a small vase of fresh flowers, and a matching frame with some cute pictures of the couple all on top of a yellow chevron scrap of fabric I had that worked as a makeshift table runner.
I set the table with my vintage yellow tablecloth and contrasted it with a velour metallic runner from tj maxx. Little mercury glass votive holders scattered around the table added to the ambiance and each table setting had a silver charger, white plate, napkin “bow”, personalized candy favor, and a striped straw/placecard.
I found a cake I liked on pinterest, gave the picture to my local cake lady and she created this, so much easier than making my own, even though I could, but with everything else going on it was a big help.
the table!
Each guest received a little favor of either lemonheads or Hershey’s kisses with a little photo sticker of Stu and Ang.
Stay tuned for my next act of xeniality coming in May!
beauty & the butcher 