A Tale of Two Knights
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A Black & White Party on a Chess Board
A LIFE-SIZE CHESS BOARD is the perfect spot for a birthday party for eight, isn’t it?! Fun comes in many colors, forms and out-of-the-box ideas, but the most fun can be had in scouting a super-cool location! I love a moveable feast or a dinner table set in an unlikely location. So, when I discovered this outdoor spot, I fell in love with the idea of a whimsical birthday party in black & white, on this stunning, European designed, black & white poolside chess board to celebrate the birthday of a fellow blogger. It felt FUN and HAPPY and spoke to the joie de vivre we all aspire to… a cheerful, happy and carefree approach to our life and to our blogging! It became the inspiration for my design and took center stage on which magic happened…
“Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The game is played by millions of people worldwide. Chess is believed to have originated in India sometime before the 7th century”. - Wikipedia
I placed two tables for four side-by-side to symbolize and to mirror the dueling “two-player strategy”. The selection of tableware was key to keeping my theme on point. I turned to none other than my Tampa go-to, Coton Colors™ for their fabulous selection of outdoor melamine. I was so excited to discover their “Brushed Dot” pattern which was made to order for my black and white whimsical design.
The motto for Coton Colors™ is Happy Everything! ™, No surprise there! If you haven’t looked at their website or visited their stores, run…!
I often speak of coordinating the colors of wine bottle labels into my color schemes, which is easy to do since there are thousands to choose from. For this soiree, I selected these gorgeous aquamarine bottles of Gemma di Luna Moscato and Pinot Grigio to pull in the rich aquamarine color reflected in the pool. There is a hologram touch to the label which shone brilliantly (and whimsically!) in the Florida sunshine! Ribbons were tied to the champagne flutes for that extra added touch. It says you’ve gone the extra mile….
In my quest to keep the theme whimsical, I ushered in a black knight and a white knight for the table centerpieces and adorned them with birthday gifts… So much fun! The finishing touch was the black and white polka dot wrapping paper I used for the packages which I tied in multi-colored ribbons in creative, playful pattern tying (glue gun is my best friend!).
“Dining with friends & family should be about happiness, fun and sea of laughter”- Penny
And last, but not least, for a little personal touch, I tucked my photo gift card into a package, also black & white, and !VOILA!, magic was made.
