Valentine’s Day Dinner Table

I think we have stayed in on Valentine’s Day all but one or two years since having John.  Our favorite restaurants are always packed and sitters are hard to come by.  Some years we put the littles to bed and celebrate just the two of us, and other years we make it a family dinner.  The older they get, the more they want to be a part of things, so we decided to set the table for four on Tuesday!

I’ve had every thing on the table other than the flowers for years.  The china, crystal, candles, silver and linens were all wedding gifts.

I mentioned in my video Tuesday that I rescued all of Sister’s hand made tissue paper peonies from CeeCee’s party, not knowing what in the world I’d do with them.  Well, it didn’t take long to put them to good use on our sweetheart table!  {View How to Make Tissue Paper Peonies Video}

I picked up these glass pedestals years ago at Pottery Barn.  I wanted 12 but could only justify buying 6.  Since then I have broken one and am down to 5 so I don’t pull them out on the dining table often.  I DO love them, however, and think they are just lovey for displaying a cupcake, sweet treat or even things like a little bird nest at Easter and ornament at Christmas.

I picked up these mini heart shaped, raspberry filled shortbread cookies at Trader Joe’s.  I’ve already sampled one or four – to make sure they were safe for my family, of course – and they are divine.  I’ve always loved a linzer cookie, and these are every bit as good as the bakery.

Here’s how I set the table:

  1. I started by laying down the linen runner Mother made for be back when I had the chairs skirted.
  2. Next came the pink placemats.  I turned them the long way to make them look more like two more runners placed across the linen runner.  I did it this way because there wasn’t room for them the regular way.
  3. After that I placed the candles and then started piling on the flowers.   I tucked the leaves in last.
  4. The last step was to add all of the china, silver and crystal.  I played with the napkins a few different ways before tying them with lace ribbon off of one of Sister’s beautifully wrapped gifts one year. 

It is really nice to have the table set long before the meal prep or even shopping has started.  If I don’t do it well in advance, if often doesn’t happen.  This alone is a great reason to dine in the dining room!  You can set the table as early as you like.

I’m so in love with this look that I feel like it could last straight through Easter and Mother’s Day :-)

I’ll be back soon with our dinner menu and all of the recipes!  This is getting me really excited about Tuesday.

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Valentine’s Day Dinner Menu  |  How It All Turned Out

How to Make Tissue Paper Peonies Video  |  Everything Valentine’s Day

DIXIE DELIGHTS DELIVERED

15 thoughts on “Valentine’s Day Dinner Table

  1. That looks cute! And you’re right, I think it could work for Easter and Mother’s Day too!! Maybe add in a little blue and yellow for those and it would be pretty!

  2. Gorgeous! The tissue paper peonies are the perfect centerpiece. So nice that your sister let you rescue them. You have loads of talent in your family.
    Always enjoy seeing your formal dining room-so Southern! I love the glass pedistals-great idea for many holiday uses. All in all, your sweetheart table is sumptuous!!!

  3. Amanda, your Valentines Day “tablescape” is gorgeous! I would definitely keep it through Easter and Mothers Day. Looking forward to seeing your menu and recipes! Have a great day! xoxo

  4. Beautiful table. Your silver looks familiar to my pattern. Mine is by Towle and I think the pattern is Fontana. I really don’t remember but that name popped in my head. (Wedding was in 1975!)

  5. Lovely Valentines table and those tissue paper peonies look better than real flowers! I don’t use “red” much in my décor so l love that you used pink instead. You could certainly use it again at Easter and maybe”tweak” it a little by bringing in some yellow and filling those glass pedestals with some colored grass and Easter eggs.

    Have a wonderful Valentines dinner…cant wait to see what’s on the menu!

    1. I think that’s exactly what I’ll do for Easter. The best part is that I didn’t even lift a finger making the flowers :-)

  6. We’ve stayed in for Valentines for as long as I can remember, can’t deal with the crowds and kids! So I try to make it special like you do! Love your table Amanda! I know you and your family will have a wonderful V day!

  7. Lovely, as always <3! Been looking for months for new white/white-ish
    dishes that can work for "everyday"….these are lovely. Any suggestions?
    (pattern, etc). Thank you <3

    1. These are Butler’s Pantry by Lenox. They are very large – I use them as “fine china” and wouldn’t necessarily recommend them for every day as they don’t fit well in my dishwasher!

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