Valentine's Day Party

For Valentine's Day this year, I planned a dinner party for Wendell's siblings. It was a "couples only" event, and I tried to make it a romantic atmosphere so we'd all feel like we were having a nice night out. 3 of the adults in the family couldn't come, so we ended up with 10 total.

At the top of the stairs, I put Sydney's chalkboard up with the "special" for the night written on it, like at a restaurant.

I set up the table with my fancy plates and chargers, stemware and small votives. I wanted to put flowers in these rectangular vases, but they were so expensive, I opted for licorice, instead. It turned out pretty cute, I think.

On each plate, I put a favor. I had dipped some fat pretzels in chocolate and wrapped them. Overhead, I hung some strings of white lights to create an "outdoor" dining look. I don't know how well I pulled it off, but it did end up creating some great mood lighting and it was bright enough we didn't need any other lights in the room. For background music I played a Norah Jones CD. I love her. We got a quick snapshot of each couple there. Here are Michele and Gordon, and Wendell and I.
Elese and Gordon (stepping in as her date since her hubby was over on a softer chair), and Wayne, Elese's hubby, as he relaxes in one of the armchairs I had covered in red cloth to match the rest of the decor. :)
Mom and Dad (Bud and Loraine), and William and Tracy.

For dinner, I made chicken cordon bleu (Weight Watchers recipe), cooked carrots, and creamy potatoes. Mom brought a salad, Tracy brought a YUMMILICIOUS chocolate hazelnut moose cake with ganache topping for dessert, Elese brought homemade rolls, and Michele brought a pretty sparkling fruit punch to pour into our fancy glasses. It was all very delicious.

After dinner we played "Imaginiff", which Michele and Gordon won, and then we watched some hilarious commercials on YouTube (is that right?).
I thought it was such a fun evening! We definitely will consider making this an annual thing. :O) Everyone commented on how much better this was than trying to go out to a crowded restaurant and it was fun to spend the holiday with family.