TAKE A SEAT AT OUR TABLE
Y’all. October kicked-off with a bang! We hosted our first On The Table event and got together with a group of friends to put together a perfect night as we explored how to make our communities stronger, safer, and more dynamic.
We LOVE hosting people at our house, so we collaborated with our friends to plan everything down to the last detail.
The guest list? We thought you’d never ask!
Meggie Hulsey, Music Blogger, DiscoTeepee
Jai Jones, Food Blogger, JaiEats
Jordan Amaker, Director of Marketing, Lowcountry Local First
Adam Helms, Founder, GigDawg
Jude Shiflett, Muralist/Designer
Susannah Runkle, Social Media Extraordinaire
Ali Holliday, Queen of Everything
HOSTING 101: SETTING THE TABLE
As y’all know, we are passionate about all things local. So naturally, the night’s theme was “I Love Local For You.” We love to set themes for our dinner parties and allows your guests to get creative if they want to contribute in any way.
TABLEWARE
We are lucky to have the BEST neighbors in the world … seriously. One of our neighbors, Callie, helped us out with setting the table and let us borrow her GORGEOUS glasses from the Joanna Gaines Hearth and Home line at Target. Although they were not from a local store, we thought it fit the theme since we “borrowed locally.”
OTHER ELEMENTS
What’s our favorite element of any event’s decor? Lighting. Y’all can set the vibe for an entire event with candles, string lights, chandeliers, to name a few.
We chose candle sticks and dimmed our Hue Lights, which paired with greenery from our backyard to create a simple, elegant look.
HOSTING 101: SERVING THE TABLE
All of our friends wanted to contribute to the night and filled our house with AH-MAHZING food – all of which was made from local ingredients – with champagne, wine and beer.
Adam – a man of many talents – is also a brewmaster at Fatty’s Beer Works and shared a growler of French Saison with ginger and rosemary – tasting like a Moscow Mule.
Our friend Jai (@jaieats) is the ultimate food lover based in Charleston. September 29, 2018, was marked as the first official “Red Rice Day,” meant to honor the traditional Gullah Geechee dish. Inspired by the proclamation, he brought his own homemade Red Rice to our table. Y’all … we can officially say Jai not only has great taste, but he can cook!
Meggie kicked-off our eating adventure with Hush Puppies and Pimento Cheese, one of our favorite pairings.
For the main course, Susannah’s brought Curry Chicken, which she cooked to perfection and served in a gorgeous Le Creuset serving dish. Jordan cooked a savory homemade Cauliflower Cake to die for and paired it perfectly with Jude’s Mediterranean Cucumber Tomato Salad.
Our Queen of Baking, Ali, grilled us some asparagus and a tasty Cinnamon Apple Crisp for dessert served with Vanilla Ice Cream.
HOSTING 101: SERVING THE TABLE
Why was planning this event so fun? We got to collaborate with our friends who helped us with every last detail.
Have y’all ever stopped while eating dinner at a restaurant and stopped to appreciate the music playing in the background? Luckily, we are friends with Charleston’s Music Virtuoso – Disco Teepee. Meggie curated a playlist for our night because standard dinner music can be too sleepy, especially for a fun event.
The mix of local artists and tunes mellow enough to set the tone but also carry a punch shaped the night’s vibe, as we listened to the sounds of Beach Tiger, Sigrid, Shovels & Rope, Will Hoge and She Returns From War.
She is a music master, y’all. Check out the playlist she made for our On The Table on Spotify! Meggie is a champion of making playlists for any type of event or theme, so y’all should really check out her other playlists too.
HOSTING 101: TALK OF THE TABLE
The night’s theme was a success and looked stunning. Of course, we gathered to discuss issues important in our communities and how to solve those problems.
After all the details, the conversation flowed.
Sharing concerns on issues ranging from flooding and parking to responsible development and street art, we ended at the same question every time.
How can we make a real change and who is held accountable?
We never came to an answer, but it lighted the spark to think of creative alternatives other than sending emails to the city council.
Everyone was so open and genuinely cared for the issues brought to the table. The details put into planning the night provided a perfect environment for these types of conversations. We left feeling optimistic about the small steps we can all take to make changes in our communities.
Having friends, old and new, over for dinner, drinks and conversation is one of our favorite “hobbies.” The next time y’all are planning to host an event, we hope some of these details will make your night just as magical, because #ILoveThatForYou. For now, check out more photos from the rest of our night below!
