Noritake Crestmont china

I miss my husband. He’s gone for a whole week to a conference, and I’m miserable without him. To make matters much, much worse….he’s a world away and our “official” wedding anniversary is today. I say “official” because we actually count from the day and time we met, May 3, 1991, 7:41 p.m. CDT. We were married in our hearts, even if we didn’t get Uncle Sam involved until 6-1/2 years later.

Ramon, you are everything to me. I love you with all my heart, and I always will. Our marriage vows are sacrosanct, and I thank God we finally found each other.

With that in mind, I created the table we would be sharing under the stars with special friends and family if you were here.
Happy 14th “Official” Anniversary, Ramon!
(Readers….HUGE giveaway surprise toward the end of this post!!!)

Although I love color, I have an affinity for clean, white table decor for personal wedding or anniversary celebrations. That’s the “old school” in me shining through. White for weddings is appropriate year-round and according to Billy Idol “It’s a Nice Day for a White Wedding”, so white wedding anniversary dinner party tablescape it is! (This would also make a fabulous New Year’s Eve tablescape!!! Substitute red roses and petals, and this would be a fabulous table for a Kentucky Derby dinner party!!! Make ’em pink, and it’s great for Valentine’s Day!)
(Click here for more wedding-related tablescapes!)

On full-length white cotton linens are shiny silverplate chargers topped with one of the greatest bargains ever. My weekly pilgrimage to the thrift stores finally paid off after more than a year. I’ve never found anything good…ever! My luck changed a couple of weeks ago when I snatched up this pristine 32-pc. set of platinum-rimmed Noritake “Crestmont” china for….drum roll…$10.74!!! SO worth the wait!!!!!!!

The menu…food I will lovingly prepare upon Ramon’s return home.

Of course, hemstitch linen napkins with our surname initial.

The first flatware I bought for our home at an estate sale. (Note to Entertaining Women’s Cherry Kay and Bill at Affordable Accoutrements, Queen and King of Estate Sales…this is the only good thing I’ve ever found at an estate sale, but I’m not giving up!)

Wedding crystal, Mikasa’s “Jamestown Platinum”, which complements about half of the formal china sets we own.

Who wouldn’t want a piece of the cake to take home for a midnight snack? Favor boxes adorned with white silk roses are perfect!

The centerpiece is anchored with a frameless mirror from our old house that was headed to the trash pile before I rescued it. It’s the perfect size for these horizontally doubled 6-ft. oblong tables.

Small floral arrangements of white roses, orchids, ranunculus and waxflower in shiny silver tube vases anchor each corner. The profusion of votive candles (26 in all!) adds a lot of drama and is doubled back in the mirror. When it comes to tablescaping, candlelight and mirrors are my friends! 😉

The main centerpiece is a massive Two’s Company silverplate pedestal bowl filled with white rose petals. (I recommend piling something like Styrofoam popcorn on the bottom, then adding a layer of rose petals. Your floral bill will be quite a bit less, AND you don’t risk crushing & bruising the bottom-most layer of petals in case you want to use them to toss in the bath later.) This bowl measures 17-1/2″H and is a full 19″ wide which makes it perfect for all kinds of decorating possibilities like these:

Which leads me to the really good part…

I own twenty of these beautiful silver pedestal bowls ($275 retail value). Even though the traditional gift for the 14th anniversary is ivory, to celebrate our “official” anniversary…I am giving one away!!!* If you’d like to have one, here are the rules for eligibility:

Be or become a subscriber to this blog. (To become an official subscriber/follower, click on the “Sign Me Up!” button located in the upper far right-hand column of this page under BECOME A FOLLOWER. You will receive weekly design posts AND be officially entered for the drawing!)
Leave a comment that let’s me know you’d like to have one. (Everyone is welcome to leave a comment, but I need to know you are interested to be eligible for the giveaway.)

That’s pretty much it. You have until October 18, 7:00 a.m. CDT to enter. I’ll have Ramon pick the winner’s name out of the bowl that morning before he leaves for work. Please be sure I have your email address so I can contact you! The winner will be announced on October 18.

Other tablescapes on this site with a mirrored centerpiece include:
“Happy Birthday, Barf!“
“Hooray For Vodka!“
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s“
“Contemporary Christmas – Fire & Ice“
“Shake, Rattle, & Roll ‘Em!“