State Fair Tablescape Competition #3 – 2019 Reveal

Have you ever wanted to create an engagement dinner table setting? If so, then you’re in the right place. Welcome to the third installment of our State Fair Tablescape Competition Trilogy!

If you want the background first, you can read about the Planning, here and the setup, here. But now we’re getting the skinny on this year’s entry – the big reveal!

Starting Place

It started with a diamond ring. Well, not really a diamond. Maybe acrylic. And not just one – but 12 of them!

As I mentioned in the Planning installment, the competition has Divisions by age and theme. Within each Division are several classes, and you choose the one that fits you best. Of course, I chose the one that has lots of rules – the formal tablescape. This year’s class title was ‘It’s Engaging – A Formal Wedding Engagement Dinner.’ So naturally, I planned to do an engagement dinner table setting.

So I went online right away and ordered up an engagement ring napkin holder. Actually, I couldn’t get just one. They came in packs of 12, so now I have LOTS of engagement ring napkin holders! Just look at all that sparkle!

Stalling Until the Last Minute

As I also mentioned, you have to choose a sub-theme, and I thought ‘Proposal in Paradise’ would be a good one. This was back in April.

My next step was to look around for some Hawaiian themed table linens, etc. I scoured all my usual places, but couldn’t come up with anything that was as tropical, yet elegant, as I was after. So I took a break for the moment and went on about my business. For three months.

Oops! My usual 4 month planning window was now down to three weeks! And I was still getting nowhere with my engagement dinner table setting.

Proposal in Paris

Fortunately, right about that time, my clever son came up for a visit and suggested ‘Proposal in Paris‘ instead! Brilliant!

I knew exactly where to get Paris paraphernalia – Enchante Chocolatier – a darling little shop not far from me! They not only have fabulous chocolates, but lots and lots of Paris inspired goodies! (A few vignettes from their beautiful shop, above.)

And here’s what I got – you can’t get more Paris than the Eiffel Tower, right? I got the big one for the centerpiece, and the little sparkle ornaments for the place card holders.

As you can imagine, when I got back from Enchante with my treasures that evening, I was excited to start right in!

I’d ordered a black tablecloth, but it hadn’t come yet. So I stuck some place mats on top of my silver sparkle table skirt, just to get the effect. (Cool reflection on the floor, huh?) I thought my engagement dinner table setting should be sparkly, just like Paris.

Tableware

Then the real fun began! Time to mess around with different plate and napkin combinations. Here are several of my tries, above, over several days. I actually love all of them, but they just weren’t working for me on the table. Oddly, it really helped to switch to the matte black chargers.

I experimented with different configurations and styles of glassware too.

Flowers

And flowers. I knew I wanted white ones, and these actually came together pretty quickly.

I settled on my second try. The white peonies and hydrangeas around the base of the tower were just enough.

Tablecloth & Skirt

When my tablecloth came, I put it over the sparkle table skirt, but the tablescape still wasn’t popping. My husband was standing there staring at it with me one night, and discovered the problem. All that sparkle in the skirt was really distracting. By the time your eyes finally got up to the tabletop, it looked a little dull in comparison.

So the next day I went down to the fabric store and got a few big samples to try. I pinned the first one to the cloth, and voila! I loved this lovely French blue!

Just a bit of French Blue skirt showing gave some interest without overpowering the table.

And the tiny ribbon on the place card added the perfect amount of accent.

Menu

Making up the menu was really fun! I usually plan my courses around the plates and glassware in the table setting, rather than the other way around. (Unless I find a totally fantastic recipe that really needs a particular plate.)

For this menu, I tracked down quintessentially french courses that had real French words in their name! (It was an engagement dinner table setting in Paris, after all!)

The judges usually like a little bit of explanation about your sub-theme, and often that means another sheet of paper somewhere on the table. I wanted my table to look elegant and uncluttered, so I just added a couple phrases to the top of the menu. I think it told the story without a lot of fuss.

A vintage style mirrored frame on a simple black wrought iron stand was perfect to hold the menu.

Engagement Dinner Table Setting Finished!

And here’s the finished table before I took it all apart to pack it up for its trip to Salem!

Setting Up

Then the set up day came! I washed and polished everything one last time, and packed it all up into a big bin. Also making the trip were another big plastic bin, a plastic-bag-wrapped roll of linens, a card table, and a plywood topper.

I drove it all down to Salem, and found my spot on the floor! I was on the corner, which was cool. People would be able to see two sides of the table close up.

Here are a few shots of setup. (The Treescapers were setting up right behind me. Pretty fun to watch all that!) You can see the threads on the tabletop to make sure everything is laid out precisely. Also you can see my little hand cart, my 1″ measuring stick, and the blue pool noodle that I wrap my linens around.

Above are a few shots of some of the main parts of the ‘Proposal in Paris’ tablescape.

Here’s our row of tables, all ready. The basic procedure is to set up your own table first, taking forever, of course. Then you walk around and look at everybody else’s tables, and chat with the other entrants. Then you come back to your own table for some FINAL final touch ups. See? The lady down the aisle is doing it too!

There. FINAL final touch ups done!

Then when you’re really truly all finished, you put the little card that has your number, division, and class down next to your forks. Your name is on there too, it’s just hidden from the judges until they’re done.

Then you go home and bore your husband to tears recounting every little move like a football play by play announcer! You wait a week.

Fair Day

The Fair opens! My husband and I piled into the car on the first possible day, and went down. I tried to be chill, but I really couldn’t. As soon as we got there, we had to go straight to the table and see what we would see.

What we saw was a very abbreviated version of the judges’ remarks. (When we go to pick up our stuff, we’ll get the full scorecard.)

Here’s what mine said:

Obviously I was pleased. Gorgeous and Elegant are exactly what I was going for. I just have to say though, that here’s an example of what I was talking about in Part 1 of our trilogy.

The judges docked me for not having a dessert dish on the table. And back several years ago I was docked by a judge for this very thing. However, she told me that if you’re going to leave the dessert dish off, you just have to write “Served from the Kitchen” on the menu.

Which I did. Now, maybe that little bit of tradition didn’t get passed on to this year’s judges. Or maybe they just didn’t like the concept. But whatever the reason, the rules didn’t say anything about it. So technically, I was wrong. Of course, I was disappointed, but as I mentioned, that’s part of the game.

The Final Reveal

But minor disappointments aside, I guess it didn’t matter too much. The ‘Proposal in Paris’ engagement dinner table setting swept the competition!

My table got ribbons for 1st place, Best of Division, and Best of Show!

I’m so grateful and happy and BEYOND thrilled! Winning isn’t why I do the tablescape competition, but it sure doesn’t hurt!

So there you have it! Everything you could ever want to know about entering a state fair tablescaping competition! But if it really isn’t all you want to know, feel free to ask away in the Comments below. I always love to hear from you, and thanks so much for sharing this fun competition with me!

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