Picnic-Inspired Valentine’s Day Tableau

I had a vision of the perfect Valentine’s Day over the weekend that would work for a romantic dinner for two, a plentiful meal for a large family, or even as a buffet-style dinner for a Valentine’s Day party.  Seeing as I’m a Minnesotan, I have had just about as much as I can take this winter, and the snow doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, in fact it just keeps on falling every day.  All the snow had me dreaming of a summertime picnic filled with bright, happy colors, and warm rays shooting down from the sky.  Unfortunately, unless I’m willing to have a picnic full of frostbite, this vision will not be able to become a reality for at least a few months, but I decided to create a Valentine’s Day tableau that involves bringing the outdoors in.

I started it all out with this quilt (which is over 50% off right now), but I imagine many people have a quilt or blanket of some type they could use to drape over the table.  I suppose you could even do it in the floor like a real picnic, but I’m imagining all of this on a table.  In the center of table, there would be a pretty flower arrangement in a birch vase to bring more of the outdoors in.  On either side of the flowers would be a globe glass vase with candy hearts inside. In the center of the table as well, or in front of each guest’s plate would be a 4×6 white frame with black and white heart photos (I used this one, this one, and this one) or black and white photos of your kids or you and your significant other.  The real showstopper would be a beautiful cake with lots of fruit to make it really feel like a picnic on a glass cake plate. 

The placemats used would be simple white ones as well as white Corelle plates.  I incorporated some blue with vintage teal salad plates and more pink with sweet heart cocktail plates to be used for the cake.  I kept the silverware simple while making the drinkware fun and colorful (also practical if kids will be using these, but you could easily switch these out for wine glasses).  Everything is complete with a simple white pitcher full of a fruity drink or some ice cold milk.

To me, this would be the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner setting.  I would probably have to keep my back turned to the window to really believe for one day that it is warm enough for a picnic, but I have a pretty vivid imagination.

What about you?  What would your perfect Valentine’s Day dinner look like?

Note: I moved the comments link to the bottom of the post because it is easier to find there. Look for it below the “share/save” button.