I’ve mentioned our “birthday group” before { HERE }.   This year it was my turn to host the May birthday  and weeks before the date I begin thinking about what the invitations might look  like, the dishes I wanted to use and what color(s) the linens would be.  If you entertain, even casually, you understand the best part of throwing a party is often the planning.  Kind of like remodeling or renovating a room, planning brings pleasure.

Here is our table at a birthday dinner we hosted in May 2009.  I had just inherited my grandmother’s beautiful violet strewn china pattern.  A friend was able to find fabric patterned with violets {and she made a table runner for me, thank you Gretchen} and I used dried violets on the invitations and place cards (found at Paper Source).

I finally have all the images and details for this past strawberry strewn birthday dinner.  The inspiration for the theme started with some very pretty invitations I had picked up on sale a few years back.  [I forgot to take a picture, sorry] The invitations were a card stock image of a botanic wild strawberry with a  vellum over-page.  I have Wedgwood Wild Strawberry china so it was easy to determine which dinnerware I would use.

The table runner was a find from Home Goods (TJ Maxx).  The soft green paisley picked up the leaf green in the plates.

Carla found these English daisies and delivered them for a touch of pinkish-red and white in the maiden hair fern planter.

I planted strawberry in four footed mini-urns…the strawberries didn’t ripen in time to be red, but you could make the connection in spite of that. 🙂

The octagon shaped glass plates were found by mom at a garage sale.  She managed to buy 10 of the salad plates and one dinner plate for me for $10.  I think of her when I use them, a sweet memory.

The menu was my next hurdle.  I happened upon a great recipe for grilled / marinated  pork tenderloin with balsamic and rosemary HERE and I had saved a recipe for balsamic reduction sauce for some time, so that made things easy.  I served a new mashed potato dish I had recently tried out on Hubby, and prepared fresh roasted green beans.

Our little lute playing cherub, decked out with a rosemary wreath on her head—greeted guests as they arrived.

I’ll post recipes for the dinner in an upcoming post.