Wednesday, August 30, 2023

A Jane Austen Party Tablescape


Join the lovely ladies of my Craft Group,
also known as the 
Overachievers, 
by some of the husbands.  
We gladly embrace that title. 


We received a Save the Date in the 
form of a small vase filled with 
flowers at the beginning of the summer, 
and then we received this lovely 
invitation.  


Karen and her husband are the owners 
of Dove Cottage.  She is a master gardener 
and she and I have collaborated on 
several Relief Society parties this 
year.  
(Relief Society is our church's 
women's organization and 
we are both in charge of parties!)

Everything she does is over the top.
The gazebo is situated at the back of 
their property along the river and 
she lives in a Victorian house.  What 
a setting for a Jane Austen party!


The table was decked out with pink 
ribbons, pink flowers and pink candles 
with lots and lots of lace.  


The table settings were pink and white.  
We each had a fan and our name tag 
at the places. 


She purchased images on Etsy and 
sewed together little pockets that 
held our napkins and flatware.  


There are eight of us in the group.  Our sweet 
Jann Olson of Have a Daily Cup 
passed away earlier this year from cancer.  
We miss her dearly.  





The chandelier was hung with roses,
pink tea cups and cards featuring 
Jane Austen's books.  



It was so magical with all of the 
flowers and ribbons and candles. 


Karen made the center greenery runner 
with branches from her yard.  


We were each given an assignment for 
the food and it was all delicious. 


Even our punch was pink.  


As we ladies were gathered and 
taking photos and admiring all 
of the beauty, we got a huge surprise.  

Let me say first, before I show you 
the surprise - we were all watching 
Jane Austen movies in preparation 
for the party, and I had just seen 
this very scene in 
Sense and Sensibility.  
I thought - "We need this!"


Across the lawn walks her husband 
Gene carrying a tall cake on this 
magnificent stand that he made, 
and he was dressed in costume!!!


Karen and Gene holding the 
fabulous cake on the amazing 
cake holder!  Now we have to have 
yearly Jane Austen parties, just to get 
the use out of this.  

I had just given Gene a hard time.  
Silly me, I had assumed that the 
men were invited, so hubby has 
his costume all ready.  Karen said 
she had asked Gene and he had said 
there was no way he was dressing up!!!

Surprise!!!


The pound cake made by Amy 
was delicious.  We all said the 
Empire dresses made it easy to 
eat so much delicious food.



As night fell we had a 
reading by Becky.  She 
read an article her 
great grandmother had 
written and published in 
the Relief Society Magazine 
in the early 1900's.


The sun went down, the crickets 
came out and it was a magical 
end to a fabulous evening.  

We suggested to Karen that 
she leave the decor up and 
have this be the theme for 
their next Relief Society Party.

I am so blessed to have such 
lovely and talented friends.  

Thanks Jane Austen for your 
inspiration!


I learned I need a lady's maid!!!
Hubby was gone to a meeting and 
I had a hard time doing my own 
hair, zipping my own dress up, 
and even doing the clasp on 
my necklace!!!


Thanks for visiting and joining in our
fun!  

I will be posting with 
and 




3 comments:

  1. Wow! Such a magical party Jackie. The Jane Austin theme is so precious. Love all of the pink and the attention to detail. A big cheer for the overachievers. my hubby tells me that all the time. The dresses are lovely. What a great surprise to have Karen's husband dress up in costume and design that fabulous cake stand. The cake is so pretty. Another fabulous party Jackie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow Jackie, you and your friends throw the most amazing parties!!! You look beautiful in your dress and your hair is gorgeous! What a beautiful setting for a party, how much fun and I loved the surprise dessert ending!
    Jenna

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh that's a wonderful party Jackie! I love the decorated gazebo and the gorgeous pink and white. I can just picture all Jane Austen's heroines sitting around that table! The china is one of my favorite patterns. And how fun to get the fans! Convenient too. I never understood that fan business until I got to be a certain age. The flowers around the candleholders are beautiful too! Getting to spend that fun time with your friends is the best. Thanks for sharing - I got lots of lovely ideas!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are the highlight of my day! Leave a comment and then I can come and visit your blog. Have a wonderful day! Unfortunately I have had to block anonymous comments, hope you understand.