Candlelight Dinner

Scott and Holly Wortley

Mike and Annette Browne

Justin and Fiola Berrett

Jeff and Maggie Goebel
Conrad and Amber Johnson

Kerry and Stayce Ruesch

NOT PICTURED (they showed up late) are Curtis and Whitney Ross

I took the fake fire and decided to make a fake firebox on the buffet bar.... what was I thinking? I painted over writing on the box just an hour or so before guests arrived.

The Ham
Our table.... minutes before all the girls ended up on one side with our husbands on the other side across from us.
It looks quite dark, but it actually ended up being perfect!
We had a wonderful dinner party tonight. We had 6 couples come to our home and enjoy a great evening with us. I baked a ham, made a slushy drink, and I bought some cheesecakes for dessert earlier today. Jeff set up the tables in our living room last night and I spent today getting the tables set. By mid afternoon most of the work was done which was the earliest that I have ever had our tables ready to go. Usually I'm rushing right up until (and sometimes after) guests arrive getting placemats and place settings onto the table. I think I actually got to greet some guests in the living room which is rare because I'm usually finishing up all the last minute details like water glasses, serving utensils put out, and so many other little details. The menu:
Green Salad
Corn and Peas
Cheddar vegtables
Rice with onion gravy
Cheesy Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Ham
Cheesecake
Slushy Punch
After eating the main course I gathered the dirty dinner dishes and we put slices of cheesecake onto plates. We then had guests pick their flavor of cheesecake. We did our get to know you game which we changed slightly. Since husbands and wives weren't sitting together I handed EVERY single person a piece of paper and pen and had them write something that they have done with their spouse that no one would know about. It was fun to hear the guys and the girls share different facts about themselves. A few memorable stories were:
One couple had a 10 hour first date.
One couple got engaged over the Grand Canyon
One husband while they were dating pretended to be proposing on her birthday and got on one knee and gave her a watch instead of a ring
One couple took a 48 hr RV trip with 4 other couples during their 1st Anniversary
One couple had a very awkward couples massage in Hawaii
At the end of one couples first date she told him that she had done that same date earlier that day. That is also the place they got engaged.
Video Ann took of me making the fireplace

Candlelight Dinner ideas for this Friday night

These were store bought 3-D invites that I got at Michael's in the dollar bin. All guests were asked to bring a vegetable dish or a meatless rice or potato dish to share.

Day after tomorrow is our dinner party. It will be different from any that we have had yet. It will be candlelit, so I have been collecting lots of pillar, 3 inch and tea light candles and candleholders. I think that I have enough candles for 3 tables. Tomorrow night I'll have Jeff set up the 2 library tables and dining table so that on Friday I can get tablecloths on them, placemats, chargers, and everything else just before our guests arrive. I was going to use our red tablecloths.... but if it's going to be somewhat dim having the dark red will make it even darker. I will use my white knit tablecloths instead, with red placemats and gold chargers. I also will bring down our glass goblets. I already have our punch bowl that I plan to fill with some kind of
'wedding reception' type of drink and maybe even dig out another punch bowl for ice water. I'll play the romantic piano music CD and have guests share their 'item' from when they were dating their spouse. It can be any kind of momento that has a little story behind it.
I will be baking a ham (I need to make up the honey/orange juice/brown sugar/pineapple glaze for it) and also do the dessert. I'd like to make the blondie from Applebee's. We'll see what I have time to do. Luckily I got my dining room wall painted just in time. It is now a bright gold and I'm far from done!!! I think it will make our dinner parties even more fun with the new fun colors in my house.