The final night of our stay in Santa Barbara, as if we hadn’t already had way too much fun at all of these extraordinary fetes, we were invited to the most beautifully decorated dinner dance at El Encanto. When the bride told me that the theme for the evening was all about citrus I knew I had to sneak down to the venue early, to sleuth around a bit because “citrus” is one of my great passions, and, of course, I’m always curious to explore great party themes and notions, which I love to share.
And that’s how I learned that these trees are actually, kind of, “manufactured”, but all out of the real thing. They secured this trunk on the ground, using a wooden stand, weighted down with bags of sand, which were covered up with sheets of sod.
Then they cut the prettiest fruited branches from the trees in the orchard and attached them with a nail gun, not an easy job this one, but the results were phenomenal.
I noticed they also applied a trick I frequently have to do with my dining room citrus at home, they used paddle wire to attach fruit onto the branches at key spots {if you look closely you can see the ends of the wires on the orange below}. The affect is so fabulous, imagine glancing up from the dinner table and seeing plump oranges hanging overhead.
To enhance the citrus theme, the tables were topped with dahlias, orchids and other flowers in citrus~y shades and collections of colorful fruit. I loved this rustic farm table with ghost chairs that was used for the head table.
The green table runner was a perfectly natural choice to contrast the bright colored fruit and flowers.
Here is how they created the same theme on the round tables in the room, this look would be so easy to recreate at home, especially now when dahlia’s are in full bloom in most of the northern hemisphere.
Isn’t the total affect amazing? It was beautiful to the eye, but also felt so naturally comfortable and intimate. It makes me want to wire fruit onto the tree in my backyard, load it with hanging candles and drag a table beneath it to set for dinner this weekend.
In contrast to the rustic farm table, gilded french style furniture, from fabulous {found}, a vintage furnishing rental company in the LA area, was used to create sitting areas around the room, making me think of L’orangerie du Chateau de Versailles.
As always, the place~settings designed by this thoughtful friend made each guest feel so very special, honored and welcomed to come at the table.
So many little beautiful views everywhere we looked.
But now, back to reality.
What’s on your docket for the week?
What’s on your docket for the week?
I’m in the midst of a “back to reality” organizing blitz. Among other projects, I’m finally claiming my “office” {aka the bodega} as my new command center. Hopefully, this will lead to a more organized, streamlined future pour moi, and what could be nicer than that?
Emily what a weekend!! I love it…sooo very beautiful. Must have felt like a dream!
WOW sooo pretty!
Emily, I'm just catching up on your wedding weekend posts – how amazing. San Ysidro Ranch is one of my all time favorites. Your friend has an amazing eye for detail, love every thing she did to make the weekend special and beautiful.
Don't you think that a few days of rain might be helpful in getting organized? I'm hoping that's the case, but really glad to see sun back in the forecast for the weekend!
Good luck with your projects! XO
I am loving the color pops and citrus everywhere in this post! What a fabulous party. I'm loving every detail and this post captures it beautifully. My husband and I stayed at El Encanto years ago on a romantic getaway. It's definitely a special place. Your blog is always a lovely spot to visit! Happy Weekend!
xx, Heather @ stylemindchic life