Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A Night of White

For so many years, the first day of school felt like the beginning of a new year instead of January 1st.  Today, with no one in my household going to school, it just feels like any other day.  But things have been too hectic to notice, and there will be no pity party here.  We have had a wonderful family beach vacation, an earthquate, a moving-child #2-to-college-day, a hurricane, and a Labor Day party. 

We packed up and left the beach on Thursday, August 25th, knowing a hurricane was on its way and also knowing that we needed to move child #2 into his dorm.  We arrived home Thursday evening, unpacked, got some sleep, got up and packed again, headed to the western part of Virginia for college move-in day.  We got home around 12:30 that night, and woke up the next morning to pouring rain.  It seemed the hurricane was moving in, and we had not secured our yard.  So hubby and friend took down tents, secured lawn furniture, and accessories, and we waited it out.  Power was out for three days, but luckily we had installed a generator two years ago.  We had power to refrigerators, freezers, some outlets, and lights.  No stove, oven, AC, and various other lights.  We were lucky.  Many neighbors lost hundreds of dollars worth of meat and frozen food items.  Here is what our yard looked like, nothing compared to some!
And another...

Lots of fallen leaves...

A clean-up began, and since fall is one of the best times to enjoy the outdoors, we decided to put the tents back up and we began to consider having a Labor Day party.  My daughter came up with the idea to have a White Party, a last time to wear white for this season!  I know, this is an old southern rule, and no one pays much attention to it anymore, but we still adhere to the "no white shoes after Labor Day" rule.  So planning for A Night of White began.  This was sort of a spur of the moment get-together, and by no means an all-out invite everyone kind of party.  We stuck mostly to neighbors, and knew that many people would already have plans. 

We decorated the yard with black candle yard stakes, tied with white ribbon, white candles, and globes.  Planters held magnolia leaves, baker, white carnations, white pillar candles and hurricane globes.

A console held an urn filled with white hydrangeas and white planters held white impatiens and ivy.

We tied the tent drapes back with white satin ribbon, and tied white ribbon on planters.  White tablecloths covered all the tables.



Round tables held clear vases filled with shells, calla lillies, and waterfall pearls. 


Mirrors were used on all tables.  This arrangement held carnations and white daisy mums in a shell vase.


Food table--garden planters held white glads, daisy mums, and carnations.



Things got shuffled around a bit before I had the opportunity to take pictures, but you get the idea, hopefully!!


Things get quite hectic the last hour before.

Our guests begin to arrive, decked out in white!




This guest would never miss a party!!  Glad to be back, I've missed being here, and I've definitely got some catching up to do.  I will be visiting with you soon.  Thanks for visiting with me and I always appreciate your kind comments! 


19 comments:

  1. You were missed! I enjoyed your beachscapes, though. Your yard is the best place I have seen to host a party! All the flower arrangements are so lovely, and I especially like that little guest at the end who was perfectly color coordinated. xo,

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  2. Oh my, this is totally incredible. The landscape and all the tables, tents and urns are fabulous. What a beautiful place to have a special event. Thanks so much for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty

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  3. Hey I love it! Love the theme and your decorating is perfect! How cool that everybody worse something white too! Your food table looks so yummy- boy I'd like to be your neighbor!! I was missing you and wondered if you got caught in the storm. I'm glad your damage wasn't a lot worse, but it is a hassle to have to clean it all up! Aren't generators a marvelous accessory!

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  4. What a glorious idea!!! Love the idea of a white party. Must file this away to use one day. I love your yard.. so glad it weathered the storm virtually untouched. Your tables are fabulous - wonderful flowers with those waterfall pearls.. glad you are back.. xo marlis

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  5. Your pool & patio are are a perfect setting :-) for a Labor Day party! Love your all white theme~ how fun and clever of your daughter to think that up! What fun that everyone wore white too~

    Glad you weathered the storm with little damage!

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  6. I've just began blogging and I have to tell you, I always look for yours every week to see if you can outdo yourself once again. This is lovely enough to be a wedding reception! We lucked out here on the west coast of Florida with Irene but I feared for all my family and friends on the east coast (SC, NJ, NY and RI). Your yard certainly cleaned up beautifully!

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  7. Well, you came back in on a strong wind, that's for sure. All this and a hurricane, too! Okay, I'm impressed. A White Party for Labor Day in ingenious. Thank you for inviting us to take a peek. Cherry Kay

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  8. Gorgeous setting for any party! You were very fortunate not to have sustained more damage to your beautiful trees.

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  9. What a clever idea! Thanks for your visit and kind words! Love, ~Nana~

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  10. What a beautiful home and lovely party. You ended up with something fun after this difficult visit from Irene in our area. Just what everyone needed!

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  11. Welcome home!!!! You have been truly missed! You have really been through it Mother Nature-wise with both the earthquake AND hurricane! I would have gone bonkers around here with no AC for 3 days, but at least you were able to salvage the contents of your fridge & freezer. I'm sorry so many others were not so fortunate. You guys were VERY smart to have purchased a generator. My husband and I keep saying we're going to do that, but we never have. We need to stop procrastinating!!! A White Party....fabulous idea! I love it!!! You have such a great back yard (REALLY great!!!), and you did such a good job setting everything up to go with your theme! I LOVE that vase toward the bottom...the one with kind of one bulb sitting on another with the callas in it. That is really unique! And do you think you had enough food??!??!?! Wow!!! Your friends and neighbors HAD to be loving you!!! I'm sure this was a welcome night out for them after all the natural hoopla going on there. Glad to see you back safe & sound, and I hope you have a restful weekend! Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier, and I can't wait to see what you do with the underwater lights. I have some of those in various colors. They're pretty cool. I'd love to see what you do with them. Take care!

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  12. WOW!! Your yard is beautiful! I love your idea of having a white party. Your neighbors must have felt blessed,after all you have been through! I love the urns with candles and leaves and all the pretty centerpieces. What a fabulous party! Thank you for sharing. Welcome back!
    Blessings My Friend,

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  13. Hi lovely lady. Just Beautiful I also love having a all white party, You did a gorgeous job putting this one all together !!! You do have some great partys sweet lady.
    I would like to thank you for your sweet comments on my one year Anniversary on my Tablescapes. I hope you have a great week.
    XXOO Diane

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  14. wow exquisite and divine ..... love the story behind the pics .. hugz x

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  15. It looks great! I admire your stamina! After Irene blew though and left us powerless I was in no mood to entertain, yet you did it with ease.I bet it was a wonderful party!

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  16. Being new at this, I am a little intimidated on how high you have set the bar! This is just gorgeous! The white against the lush green background is so dramatic. I have to say, in this world of little black dresses, your wear white theme is a breath of fresh air!

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  17. Beautifully set, such a wonderful place to have an event.

    thank you for sharing.

    Love,
    Karin Şen Cankan
    karinsfairytale.blogspot.com

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  18. What a fabulous party set up for a last minute idea. Your all white theme decor looks lovely around the pool, and what a fun idea to have the last time to wear the white before Labor. I'm a souther gal too, I know all about that rule! Thanks for sharing.

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

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  19. What a wonderful magical evening! Love the all white. It just works for any occasion doesn't it?

    Who is your little buddy in the last pic? He looks a lot like my Boudreaux who is a white cockapoo.

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