Hydrangeas and Pumpkins

Friday, September 2, 2011

Labor Day weekend is upon us, and here in Ohio the leaves are starting to change ever so slightly.  I'm always sad to see my favorite season come to an end, but invariably I fall in love with fall, year after year.  This table setting is from a a few years ago, before I dreamed of a blog.  It's from an intimate dinner party my husband and I hosted to celebrate my cousin's engagement and to welcome his beautiful bride-to-be into our family.

The china is my wedding china--Lenox Eternal--which I still love after all these years, because it mixes and matches with so many other patterns.  The crystal is Pristine, by Reizart, which was bought by Gorham shortly after I registered it for my wedding.  The bridal consultant advised me to change it, but I was--and still am--in love with it.  It was produced from 1969 to 1974.  Its fine cuts and crystal make it super-special--and super-fragile--but well worth the tender care it requires.

And the pumpkins? :)  I've done this several times--real pumpkins to serve squash soup.  Early the morning of our party I went to a pumpkin "patch" at a local church and scouted around (with the help of the gentleman manning the "patch," who said he'd never heard of using pumpkins for soup) until I found perfect, similar ones.

Dusk is upon us.  Another view of the full table, with a hint of the hydrangeas, used as simple centerpieces and as accents with the hors d'oeuvres.

A close-up of the pumpkin...see the little tendril?  I made sure they all had them, to add a bit of "sweet" to their earthiness.  I like the contrast of the fine bone china, crystal, and hydrangeas with the pumpkins.  Maybe some day soon I'll do a post on how to prepare the pumpkins, and share the squash soup recipe.  Linen napkins from Pottery Barn.  The "placemats" are also linen napkins from PB, and the flatware is by Oneida, pattern unknown.

  Sweet little pumpkin.

This picture isn't very clear, but no engagement celebration would be complete without champagne to toast the happy couple and wish them health, wealth, happiness, and continued love for a lifetime.  Napkins are vintage, given to me by my mother-in-law from her own collection from when they lived in Mexico.  The marble lazy Susan is from TJ Maxx, many years ago.  The champagne bucket and the sterling compote are gifts from my mother many years ago.

This first post is dedicated to Susan, at Between Naps on the Porch, and Bill, at Affordable Accroutements, who have generously given me much of their time to help me get started.

I'm joining:

 Marty's Table Top Tuesday:  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

 The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

 Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays: http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

Please be sure to visit their blogs too, and to leave a comment.

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