Behind-the-Scenes of Our Southern Dinner Party

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If you haven’t heard, our most recent styled shoot, a Newlywed’s Southern Dinner Party, with the prettiest late summer vibes, was featured on Style Me Pretty a few weeks back. This styled shoot felt particularly special because it was so reminiscent of our time here in North Carolina.

Once we settled on a Southern dinner party theme, I knew I wanted it to be especially for couples. The inspiration? When hubby and I were first married, we couldn’t wait to use all of our newly acquired dishes and bowls, and play hosts. Now that we’ve moved to North Carolina, making new friends has been a priority. It doesn’t really feel like home until you have family, and for us, good friends are family. Thanks to those awesome friends, we were able to bring the Newlyweds Southern Dinner Party to life.

This styled southern dinner party in particular truly was a labor of love. On the day of the event, all of us were hauling farm tables and chairs and stacks of china out into the The Bradford‘s gorgeous courtyard, to make the party as magical as possible. Ahh, the glamorous life behind-the-scenes of a styled shoot …

By the way, I shared a few tips for throwing your own dinner party for family and friends over on Style Me Pretty, but keep scrolling for all of the fun little details from this amazing shoot. (Can I say that about my own shoot? I’m kind of obsessed.)

So many talented vendors, who I also happen to call friends, came together for this jaw-dropping shoot. All of the photos were taken by Brent of Live View Studios who totally and completely blows me away with his talent.

Holly and Amanda of Greenhouse Picker Sisters are truly rockstars. These girls hustle. Anything you dream up, they figure it out. When I blurted out the idea of a hanging buffet table at one of our meetings their initial response was, “Absolutely, let’s do it!” Their collection of vintage and new furniture and accessories is jaw-dropping and I’m not sure I could imagine a party going forward without them.

Guys, a hanging buffet table is where it’s at.

I had so much fun with the drink station, dreaming up southern cocktails like a southern spritzer with prosecco, peach nectar and blackberries, and a freshly-squeezed lemonade.

SWEET SOUTHERN SPRITZER

Serves a small party

INGREDIENTS

2 Bottles of Prosecco
2 Bottles of Peach Nectar
Flat of Blackberries

DIRECTIONS

Pour all of the prosecco and peach nectar into a large drink dispenser.
Wash blackberries and add them to the dispenser.
Allow to chill for at least an hour so that the blackberries soak up some of the cocktail. Not only is the drink delicious, but it’s a whole lot of fun eating the spiked blackberries at the end of the night!

I was so in love with all of the sweet little touches we were able to incorporate, like the jelly jars tied with tags that read, “Jam-packed with love.” It’s amazing working with someone like Sarah of Bella Joviality who always goes above and beyond with some of my nerdier ideas.

The white chocolate bread from La Farm Bakery in Cary; it’s heaven.

And how adorable is Annie? I work with Annie a ton here on the blog; she shoots content for me in between her packed wedding schedule, and she and her husband, Jeremy, stood in as our adorable Newlyweds for this shoot.

I have to hand it to Belle’s Catering: to make food that not only looks incredible but tastes out-of-this-world is a total culinary feat. The second the shoot wrapped, all of us went to town on the meal and it was SO worth the wait.

Can you spot me hiding in the background? I’m the one wearing totally seasonally inappropriate clothing, to no one’s surprise at all.

These pictures just make me want to throw another dinner party.

The flowers also played such a lovely role in this shoot. Alana of Serendipity Designs can make anything look stunning with her floral arrangements. Seriously.

And what would a great dinner party be without dessert? So we went overboard (duh!) and created the most beautiful dessert station.

Dinner party tip: Make a few of the dishes if you’re so inclined – a salad, or an entree (or find a fantastic caterer who does dinner parties), and then buy your favorite bakery dessert and a big container of ice cream. No one will know or care that it isn’t homemade.

That gorgeous handwriting: it’s all Sarah. If only I could doodle that well!

And there you have it: the sweetest outdoor Southern-inspired dinner party!

Last but not least, Amber of Six Foot Photography is not only an incredible photographer but she makes the most adorable videos. How perfect is this little highlight reel from the dinner party?

Head to Style Me Pretty for more!

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