If you are attending or considering attending a Diner en Blanc for the first time or need a refresher on the experience, this is one blog post you won’t want to miss. My husband and I just attended our very first Diner en Blanc in Baltimore and I’m breaking down all the prep work that goes into make your DEB {diner en blanc} experience amazing!
A few months ago DEB Baltimore asked me to attend the 2nd annual DEB in our city, which I gladly accepted. I have always wanted to attend a white party and I was extremely honored to have been ask, so naturally I was super excited! Although, to be honest, I had NO idea what I had just signed us up for!
Before diving in there are A LOT of rules, but I promise these rules are there to make the experience magnificent for all those attend.
R E A D
My first piece of advice is to read the Diner en Blanc websites, FAQ’s and blog posts from those who have attend to make sure you understand everything that in involved in attending a DEB event. And if after reading all the details you are still interested in attending (hopefully you are because it is amazing), proceed to the following steps.
R E G I S T E R
If you are looking to attend Diner en Blanc, decide which city you would like to participate in. Its possible your own city is hosting, or maybe a near by city, maybe a city where your friends live, or even Paris itself (the original host to Diner en Blanc). Once you have chosen your desired city, or cities, sign up! Put your name on the register list so you can be notifited once your phase of sign ups are open.
S I G N U P
There are three phases to sign up/purchase your ticket for DEB. Here are some tips…
1_ You must attend as a pair… no individuals
2_ If you are attending as a group then you all need to leave from the same departure point in order to sit together. When you sign up you will all need to select the same departure point and the same table leader.
3_ My advice is to skip the e-store at first so you and your friends can secure the same departure point locations. Some locations are all walking and some have transportation and light walking. Either way many fill up quick.
So you just got your email to sign up, log into the DEB site, select your departure point and table leader. Make sure you are communicating with your group of friends if trying to sit together.
Y O U ‘ R E IN
Once you receive your confirmation email you’re in! This would be a good time to discuss the event details and plan with your guest/partner, whoever is attending with you. I made the mistake of skipping this step, possibly in fear of Spencer saying no, and possibly because I was moving a mile a minute all summer. Either way, I highly recommend making sure your guest is in the know on all the details.
P R E P T I M E
At the time you receive your DEB confirmation you are about a month out from the actual event. This is a great time to start getting all of your ideas together for…
1_ What to wear
2_ Table Decor
3_ Bring vs. Buy Food & Beverages
4_ What items do you need to purchase or rent
4_ How will you transport all of your items to/from
H E R E I S W H A T W E D I D
DEB is the perfect time to shine! Embrace the elegance and step out of your comfort zone… all in white of course! Ladies, consider wearing your wedding dress! This is a rare opportunity where you could wear it again. For my look, I partnered with local Baltimore designer Erin Boggs. Inspired by a forest princess/greek goddess going to the city, she created this gorgeous two piece dress. The top is a mixture of textures and design lines with boning and a chiffon train in the back. The bottom has the same contrast with exquisite lace and whimsical chiffon. To enhance my look I wore earrings and bracelet from Rachel Mulherin, a statement cocktail ring from Silk & Stone Designs and 5.5″ inch heels from Lauren Lorraine. My husband wore a white tee and white golf pants from Under Armour and white lace up dress shoes. DEB asks that gentleman do not wear shorts or sneakers.
Table Decor
Remember I mentioned the rules, well here they come. Spencer deemed the DEB party a BYOS party (bring your own sh*t party) because you need to bring EVERYTHING. You need to bring:
two china plates
two drinking/wine glasses
two sets of flatware
and table centerpieces
There are packages for the items above available to rent through DEB but it can be costly and you mostly likely would spend less if you purchase them and then you have the items to attend future DEB events. I linked the items we purchased below. Our centerpiece was pretty simple. The tables are very small so I didn’t want to take up a lot of room with an extravagant centerpiece. Keep in mind, you have to carry everything into the event with you. Additionally, the event is rain or shine, so I was trying to keep our decor elegant but simple.
Bring Food vs. Buy Food
We chose to go through the DEB preferred caterer, thinking it would be one less thing to bring. The food was delicious, but it was cold by the time we got to eat it. We ordered a cheese and cracker plate, flat iron steak and dessert. The dessert provided was ice cream… not sure who thought that was a good idea in the heat of August??? When we picked up the dinner the ice cream was soup. Bringing your own food might be better if you want to create your own menu. Just consider that you will need to keep items warm or cold for a at least 2-3 hours between the time you leave your house and when you actually get to eat them.
Transportation
Think about how to transport all of your items to DEB, wagons, hand-trucks, baskets, etc. We used a little collapsible luggage dolly with wheels. I recommend something with wheels because there is a good amount of start/stop walking to the event, whether you walk or choose the bus transportation.
W E E K O F E V E NT
Practice run! Practice setting your table, stage your tablescape to triple check tabletop spacing and that you have everything you need. If you find you don’t have enough space, go up! Find displays with tiers that can hold food or some of your other items above the surface of your table. You’ll also want to practice how you will transport all of your items. Additionally, you may want to a have a few self care appointments that week for manicures and pedicures, spray tanning, and facial/hair grooming.
D A Y OF E V E N T
Our DEB was on Thursday, August 30th and both Spencer and I took off work to get ready that day. In the morning I was steaming our linens and my dress. I finished packing our bags and Spencer loaded the car in the morning. My glam squad, Erica and Amanda from Silver Immersion, came over around 11am to start my hair and makeup. Thankfully, my family was going to watch Kade over night so we could enjoy our date night. We started getting dressed around 3pm and then headed into the city. We had to meet our departure group at 5pm and started walking to the undisclosed location at 5:30pm.
We arrived at the location around 6:15pm at which time we all immediately lined up our tables and starting setting up. Since we ordered the catering we had to go over to the catering tent to pick up our orders and then plate the meals on our table. We finished in pretty decent time however some groups were still arriving. They ask that you wait to eat until everyone is seated. Thats when the official “Let’s Eat” tradition of waving your white linen napkins happens, which for us was roughly around 7:15pm. We did nibble on our cheese and crackers while we waited though… we were kind of hungry. And I think the wait is why our food ended up being cold, but it was still tasty.
There are a bunch of photo opportunities and areas to mingle with other guests. Around 9pm we all had the official lighting of the sparklers which signified that the dance floor was open! A sea of white rushed to the dance floor and boogied to the latest hits for the next hour and a half. We had so much fun dancing under the city lights to a great DJ with a bunch of new friends!
As we were planning for Diner en Blanc I thought for sure Spencer would not want to attend one again. I kept saying how cool the experience would be and that we just need to embrace it. And to my surprise, Spencer said he would definitely attend another one BUT he was wearing different shoes… LOL!
Upcoming Diner en Blanc Locations
Would you ever consider attending a Diner en Blanc?!?
Leave a comment below… I would love to hear your thoughts and which city you might like to attend!
