I paired up with my good friend Jessica Burns this week to create a delicious pre-thanksgiving dinner party for all of our friends before the real Thanksgiving, which we all spend with our families. This was my first time hosting a Thanksgiving style meal at my house, turkey… ham… stuffing… So I was definitely intimidated by the task, until I observed the grace and talent that Jessica has when preparing for an event :)
Jess and I settled on a rustic autumn theme, and I started by designing these invitations (yes! actual paper invitations that I mailed with a stamp, no evite this year!) I also created custom paper envelope liners and little details to match throughout the entire party.
We took an old steamer trunk and lined it with burlap as our drink station. I wrapped rustic mason jars with hemp twine and patterned paper liners that I designed and printed from my home printer. I found my favorite paper straws in gray and white stripes and I created little flags for each one.
For the table we used a simple white tablecloth with a burlap runner and autumn colored pomegranates, crab apples, pears and persimmons that we picked up from the local produce market. I love the simplicity of the green and white floral arrangements that Jessica created in the mercury glass vases. For each place setting I created mini chalkboards with each guests name written on them. I cut small pieces of wood into squares and bought chalkboard paint at the hardware store. These are such a cute takeaway for your guests, and super easy and cheap to make! Our intent was to have everyone go around the table and draw something that they were thankful for, but we ended up having so much fun that we forgot to do it! :)
Now for the food… All thanks goes to Jessica for making this delicious meal happen. I can’t say enough how amazing she is in the kitchen! She set up a gorgeous cheese, meat and fruit platter, and I can’t forget to mention her signature Burrata in a jar…yummmm! It was an amazing meal complete with a perfectly golden turkey, ham, roasted root vegetables, celery root stuffing, brown butter mashed potatoes, minted peas and carrots. I’m blown away that it was all done from my quaint little kitchen! I painted a slab of wood with the leftover chalkboard paint to create a double sided chalkboard menu for dinner and dessert. It added rustic charm to the table overflowing with good food.
For dessert Jessica made her Pumpkin Swirl cheesecake squares, I made a Spiced layer cake with molasses cream cheese frosting, and we had, of course, a pumpkin pie. This was such a fun and creative dinner party. Thank you again to Amy of Amy Stone Photography for taking such stunning photos of everything! I am so blessed by the friends that we have surrounding us and cannot wait to do this again! :)
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