Mid Summer Tablescape
There is a story here…
My friend Kim and I love to come up with beautiful tablescapes and had been planning to create a summer table together. I went over to visit a few weeks ago and she had some things out that she thought would work well and be pretty for the table. I went home and looked around and added what I had to the mix and we came up with the idea for the table in this post.
We divided up responsibilities…I made the pasta and bought the bread. She made the deviled eggs and the salad and we put the cheese and crackers together when I got to her house around 5 one afternoon. The plan was to set everything up on her patio, photograph it and then our husbands would join us and we would all eat together. We planned to photograph each other and do some video for social media (follow Kim here - @houseofloveedit). We really enjoy doing these things and they always look so pretty. The light is really nice in the late afternoon/early evening and taking pictures is easier that time of day in the summer.
The setup was easy…her patio and table are beautiful and between the two of us, we had everything we needed (and then some). Before I left my house, I made sure to upload the pictures on my camera SD card to my computer so that I could delete them from the card and have a clean card to take pictures…only, I forgot to delete the pictures from the card after putting them on my computer.
I was outside snapping pictures of the beautiful table and then my camera started flashing…card full, which means there was no room left for any more pictures on the SD card. At that point, my brain stopped working and for some reason, without thinking, I formatted the card which means that I completely deleted every picture I had taken of the table. I immediately realized what I had done, but there was no reversing it. By that time, the sun was starting to set and I knew it would soon be too dark to take any more pictures.
I am not a professional photographer by any means even though I do have a nice camera so taking pictures in darker light without a flash is beyond the realm of my expertise.
Long story short, I quickly started snapping pictures but because I had no flash and it was getting dark, I knew the pictures wouldn’t be great. I felt so badly about what I had done after all the work that went into this table! I’m sharing the pictures anyway and hopefully you’ll still find some inspiration from the ideas. The pictures we took of each other were grainy and not great.
We ended up having a fun night in spite of my brain malfunction. The food was delicious, the conversation was interesting and life goes on!
Having platters of varying heights on a table makes it look so much more interesting. We displayed assorted cheeses, salami, crackers and seasonal fruit on a tiered copper stand (love this one too) and it ended up being a focal point of the table. Kim made a gorgeous floral arrangement with hydrangeas cut from her garden.
The Menu
Assorted Cheeses, Crackers, Nuts and Salami with Fruit
Ina Garten’s Pesto Pasta with Peas
Green Salad with Apples and Avocado
Assorted Breads with Salted Butter
Kim used a wooden wine crate to elevate the pasta salad.
Make this delicious salad with apples, sliced onions, sliced avocados, assorted lettuces and a simple vinaigrette. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over all! It goes so well with the pasta!
This is one of the best pasta salads, so easy to make and a crowd pleaser!
The long table served as the buffet as well as being the table where we ate. Even though I’m not pleased with the quality of the pictures, it really was a stunning presentation!
The Dirty Martini Deviled Eggs were displayed on a long marble board. I don’t like eggs at all, but I did try just a taste of the filling and as far as eggs go, it was pretty good. Baldy loves eggs and ate way more than his share of these!
The water glasses pictured to the left were used as wine glasses. It’s hard to tell from the picture but they are grey with a very heavy bottom. At one time, I found them at Neiman Marcus but can’t seem to find the exact ones now! These glasses were used for water.
Kim and I will definitely be doing more tables together and next time…I won’t delete the pictures!
Thanks so much for reading today! Happy Saturday…I’m going to explore the West Village and do a little shopping! Be sure to follow my Instagram stories!
~XOXO Suzanne