On Valentine's Day this year, my friend and I hosted a dinner party for 8 elderly widows. I had such a great time planning this event! We told the ladies to wear their fanciest dresses and we sent 8 of our guy friends to be their dates. They picked the ladies up with corsages and brought them to the house for dinner and an evening of music.
I think this is a great example of a few relatively inexpensive ideas that really up the 'wow' factor. For the centerpieces, I wrapped vases with different colors of ribbon to match the color of the flowers. I mostly used carnations (in big bunches they're actually pretty cute!) and some roses. I found some inexpensive red runners ($10 each) and placed a ton of votives on the table. We borrowed the chargers, silver and dishes from another friend.
Over head we made (literally) hundreds of the Martha Stewart pom poms in tons of different shapes and sizes. We used shades of red and pink tissue paper. It took a ton of time, but we had a lot of friends help and so it was fun. Literally anyone (even boys and kids!) can make these. (the instructions are on Marthastewart.com)
For each place setting, I made a place card using my new calligraphy skills (I've been taking lessons, but I'm still a total beginner). I also made a little tissue paper flower for each place setting in various shades of red and pink.
For the mantle, I covered different vase heights with 1 sheet of tissue paper and placed a pillar candle in each. We also lined the windowsills with votive candles and we hung christmas lights from the ceiling. The effect was...magical.
I think my favorite part about the whole thing was how meaningful it was to the ladies we invited. Many of them were in their later 80's and 90's. One said as she was leaving, "I don't even remember the last time I went out and did something fun." That made all of the late nights preparing for this totally worth it.
I can't wait to do it again next year!
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