Table for Thirty
Turning our bare-bones backyard into the venue of our annual family reunion
There’s a special kind of excitement that fills the air this season—the feeling of home beyond a physical space. I look forward to this week every year. We laugh, we agree to disagree, we eat (always too much), and we take our yearly family photo to update the group chat. Some of us don’t actually celebrate Thanksgiving, but this is the only time our whole family can gather, so we’ve rebranded it as our “Annual Family Reunion.”
This year was our second time hosting, and I relied more on Amazon than I’d like to admit to pull it all together. With just over a week’s notice and a guest list of 30, I didn’t have the time—or the preparation—to plan every detail as thoroughly as I would’ve liked. Still, I’m happy with how it turned out, and I look forward to using many of the pieces I bought for years to come.
When we bought this house, I imagined it as the perfect place for hosting—a home with a sign out front reading “The W Farm” and chickens roaming freely across the yard. But now, six months later (which, in hindsight, isn’t all that long), the vision is still a work in progress. So far, we have only welcomed a few close family members and some friends. The house's exterior wasn’t particularly cared for when we moved in, so it’s needed quite a bit of TLC. The only projects we managed to get to before my family arrived were the fire pit and the swings we promised the youngest members of the family we’d have waiting for them. My dad also put up some globe string lights a few weeks prior, which, while simple, really helped bring some warmth into the otherwise bare landscape.
Given the size of our family and the limited space in our dining area, we decided to set up the table outside under the furthest line of lights, right in the middle of the fenced backyard area that used to house a goat herd. One thing I’ve learned from helping my mom with her farmers’ market setup is how pricey tablecloths can be, so I immediately knew we’d have to look for another option. I settled on a roll of kraft paper from Home Depot. I’m not sure why I thought it’d be easy to ensure the paper stayed on the table, but we had to improvise at the last minute and place hidden rocks and some wood we had stashed for the fire pit to hold it down.
The next element we added was an olive green cheesecloth table runner. I didn’t have a set vision; I just chose elements I liked and hoped they worked together. The paper wasn’t wide enough to cover the table without a seam, so the runner was primarily a practical decision. It also transformed the overall vibe of the otherwise small-town BBQ restaurant look of the kraft paper.
Possibly, my favorite addition was the bud vases. I debated between larger vases, candles, or bud vases, and I’m so glad I chose the latter. To my surprise, they are made of thick glass and arrived extremely well packaged. The morning before, I had picked up flowers from the Orlando Flower Market, a favorite spot of mine. I picked mostly pink and yellow flowers—not quite sure what I was going for, but the florist assured me they looked great. On the way out, I finally spotted amaranths in stock and couldn’t resist picking up a few of the green, tail-like flowers.
As much as I would’ve loved to, we weren’t going to serve food on ceramic dinner plates. Instead, I went with a simple white disposable set. For silverware, I felt that white or black would scream “plastic,” while gold would scream “cheap,” so I settled for silver. And to elevate it all a bit, I purchased cloth napkins—hoping they’d help offset the disposable tableware. I also picked up an olive green velvet ribbon to tie bows. Initially, I planned to use them as napkin rings, but that didn’t work out, so we placed the bows on top. This was one detail I wish I’d planned more thoughtfully. To top it all off, I grabbed some candle holders from our indoor dining table.
The final touch for the evening was a game I’d created. I’ve always felt dinner print materials like menus or place cards lack a sense of playfulness, and since we didn’t need either, I opted for something more interactive: a family crossword puzzle. It included funny memories from the year and little details everyone would know—like the names of our family dogs. I was set on these being yellow, so I printed them on Hammermill Colored Paper and cut them at home. At the last minute, my dad reminded me that most people no longer carry pens or pencils. That led to a late-night Dollar Tree run to grab a bunch, which I placed in wooden pencil holders. It was a small addition, but it tied everything together and gave everyone something fun to do.
With everything in place, I shamelessly spent the first half of dinner taking pictures and soaking it all in—our first family dinner at our new house. Hosting an event was one of my goals for the year, and while this wasn’t the event I initially had in mind, it feels even more meaningful.
With love,
Wilda
