{Dinner} Party Like the Parisians

I'm telling you if I ever get invited to a party by Lauren of Amen {Inspired} Design, I'm going. I just love her sense of style, her positive outlook, and she's based in Charleston. As Lauren would say, "Can I get an Amen?"

Bonjour! My name's Lauren and I'm an interior designer from the lowcountry of Charleston, South Carolina. It's such an honor to be making a guest appearance here while Natalie is enjoying London and Paris. Although, I must say, I'm a little jealous. Ok, a lot jealous.

So for those of us who aren't soaking in a little ex-pat time, I thought it would be nice to talk about how to bring a little charm of the city of lights to you. And what do Parisians enjoy more than a lovely, engaging dinner party? I mean, I know it's one of my favorite ways to pass a beautiful late-summer / early-fall evening. Good food, good wine, good friends...ahh...c'est la vie.

If you were coming to my place for such an occasion, here's what you'd find.

Naturally, there'd be wine, like this pretty Made in Provence rosé. And cheese. Lots of cheese. Displayed on this rustic-chic slate cheese platter from one of my fave go-to's: High Street Market.

And while I was picking up my cheese plater, I'd also grab some vintage Eiffel Tower place card holders, also from HSM. Besides that fact that they're an obvious choice for the evening, a good French dinner party never leaves seating to chance. Hosts put thought into this detail. And homme-femme arrangement is preferred.

The dinner table (I'm seeing something long, banquette-style) would be dressed to the nines with this oh-so-french black and crème ticking stripe runner from The Stichin' Chicken. I love this runner for it's slight frill. Not too sweet. Just right.

These garland napkins are the perfect table linen compliment.

Dinnerware would be from Anthropologie, the best place, in my opinion, to find such pretty fluer-de-lis dishes, rose bistro-style wine glasses and vintage-inspired flatware.

It'd also be the place to grab some lovely architectural beeswax candles to intermingle with oh-so-French Bougies La Française tapers in whimsy artisan aged-bronze candlesticks from Crate & Barrel.

And the table just wouldn't be up to the occasion without an elegant bouquet of freshly picked flowers (from the garden or the corner market). The pictured arrangement is from Martha Stewart. But hey, we're not all Martha. And we don't have to be. I think an arrangement a little more on the haphazard works for this. In fact, maybe even more so. Just go with it. 

After all, that's the point of this little soirée, right? 

I'm so glad we had this chat! 

We can talk more over at my design blog: Amen Life + Style. Let's meet up again soon!