L’esprit de la mer, the spirit of the sea. In a field in Tennessee. For this Kinfolk dinner myself and my co-host Rebekka Seale along with our amazing partners & crew of helpers channeled the wind, salt, and laissez faire of the sea for the May Kinfolk dinner here in Nashville, TN. I’d only just flew in from Lisbon a few days prior, and I couldn’t have even begun to pull this together without the amazing family of creatives I’ve found in Nashville. You are all amazing, and this was by far one of my favorite events I’ve ever styled & hosted. Click through to see the final product in all it’s simplicity & beauty.
After putting our heads together to come up with a menu that both invoked the fruits of the Gulf and the verdant bounty of spring in Tennessee, Evie of Twelve at the Table along with Hannah of Nothing but Delicious cooked the brilliant meal that graced the table that night. A meal of everything from fragrant bass en papillote from Boone and Sons to West Indies crab salad with homemade saltines to buttermilk chamomile panna cotta with salted Swedish dream cookies alongside craft cocktails made with the infused spirits of Art in the Age. And plenty of oysters on the half shell. Rebekka (who aside from doing a million other things, also handmade & dyed the grey linens for our table) and I wouldn’t have it any other way; we both possess that special brand of religiosity that oyster lovers have. They catered the dinner with an ease I think you could taste in the food. We served it all on beautiful ceramics that echoed the shells of the sea made by Handmade Studio TN & wood boards from Board and Bread around a low table built specially for us by Handy Dandy Productions and surrounded with sheepskins and globe lights from prop mavens The House Nashville. Everyone worked so hard.
Tara Hurst designed our menus; they were so beautiful I about lost my breath when I opened them. I saved them. The girls from Consider the Wildflowers created beautiful bouquets that dripped like seaweed from an old barn ladder and spindly silver dollar eucalyptus for our table & garlands. All of it came together in front of the barn at The Farm on Eastland (an amazing space you can rent on Air BnB), and I couldn’t ever forget the men & women who always show up and work doing anything and everything: The Solution Girl, Lisa, Ruthie, Manley, and Stephen. Thank you, you were the backbone of this dinner. A million thank you’s. And other than my profuse thanks & urging you to check out the work of each of these amazing humans, I’m going thank the reason for it all: our guests. It was so great to meet you all, and I hope our paths have reason to cross again. Now I’m going to let the photos of this event speak for me. I hope you find inspiration for your next gathering, big or small. And again, agian: Thank you Nashville family & Kinfolk family. So happy to know you all.
The next Kinfolk dinner we’ll be hosting in Nashville will be in October, and tickets will go on sale a month in advance, so keep your ear to the ground if you missed this one!
So stunning! What a magical evening.
I gotta say…it was unreal! Thank you!
Gorgeous! Really, absolutely gorgeous! may I ask what the name of the dinnerware is & even where it can be purchased? I love it!
Thank you!
It’s by Handmade Studio TN … you can find her work and contact her here: http://www.handmadestudiotn.com/
Absolutely stunning. Unbelievable.
Many thanks!
Amazing!! Every single detail of it!! You all did such a great job, congratulations girl!!
I still kind of can’t believe the pace I was going at! This was a small miracle lol
I love these pictures .. the atmosphere that evoke , the joy, the desire to be together, to share the pleasure. I’m glad to have found your blog .. I am sure that I will continue to follow you!
See you soon, Marzia
Honestly, every single time I do one of these I’m running around like a *lunatic* the day of vaguely wondering why the hell I do these things….then…then everyone is around the table and great plates of food are coming out of the kitchen and then I remember why I do it. And start planning the next one! It’s worth every second.
Stunning! amazing! love all! congrats!
xo
Thanks, Vicky! I’m so happy to be able to share it.
Divine, truly such a perfection!
Thanks so much…it’s always so good to be able to share it all a second time here on the blog.
What a beautiful event, rustic yet dreamy, congratulations!
Thank you! I’m already thinking about the next one…
These pictures are so gorgeous – it must have been a fantastic evening. I love the strung lights ~ just breath-taking!!
It really was an amazing evening. One of the best I’ve had in years. Such great workers & guests. And The House Nashville is responsible for stringing all those lights! They showed up so early in the morning. It was fantastic.
Amazing food, table, location, and of course, your photography!
Thank you! I’m so grateful to everyone…the vision couldn’t have come together without them! And it gave me a few moments to take photos which is always a luxury at these things! Haha.
These pictures are amazing; capturing the mood so incredibly well.
Thanks, Sini! I’m always so happy to see you comment here…I hope you know how much I love what you do!
Wow, that is pure magic right there. Everything from the food and tabletop styling to the actual setting and ambiance…perfection.
Thank you! It was a labor of love!
Beautiful photos and a wonderful post!
Thank you! It’s good to hear it wasn’t too many! Haha.
Amazing. Stunning. Gorgeous.
Thank you! It took a village. 🙂
I can feel l’espirit de la mer in ever single one of these photos. Your photography is so intimate with the world, your kinfolk, your nourishment. Everything. Just heartbreakingly beautiful. I would give anything to come to one of these events, even if I was a mere housefly on the kitchen ceiling, watching the magic fall together from above.
Gah… I have now words! I’m just sitting here in tears at how beautiful this event is! Thank you!
How completely stunning!!! What an inspiration. My friends and I have started doing a monthly supper club and this makes me want to take it to the next level. Gorgeous, as always.
Just Beautiful and lovely. Fresh and cool but not cold. Such harmony. Great job.
Oh my.
I am speechless…
divine!
How lovely! Your pictures are stunning and have such a specific tone to them. What a beautiful life! Cheers!
Wow. The only thing missing was me:).
Seriously, the beauty of this post!
It’s so good that I kind of just want to lay down my camera and quit. Haha.. no, but this is really really amazing, Beth.
Magique et absolument superbe.Un seul regret…ne pas avoir eu la chance d’assister à ce dîner pastoral !
Je reprends l’idée des petites serviettes de lin autour des petits pains.
Félicitations pour votre joli blog que je découvre petit à petit.
Stunning! Discovered that I was smiling the whole time I was scrolling down the page.
This has inspired me to do a Kinfolk Gathering-esque dinner in my town! What a beautiful way to celebrate community and fellowship. Thank you so much for the lovely inspiration!
BE STILL MY HEART <3 So very in love with this.
Beth, I’ve looked at this post over and over, relishing in the beauty expressed. Absolutely lovely! I can’t wait to see a re cap of this last weekend’s Autumn dinner!
This is fabulous!!!
Lovely gathering. I was wondering, where did you get your invitations printed?
what a beautiful gathering, it looks almost surreal. And I love the low table, there is nothing better than sitting on the ground, especially in grass!
It must be lovely to know that guests will hold the memory of this event dear for the rest of their lives. How much loving effort by so many to create such a wondrous night! Congratulations on your production.
May I ask what the brand of that white plate is?
You and I must have been related in a previous life…take a look at my website http://www.backtothetable.com! This event looks amazing, I’m sure that the guests will be talking about it for years.
This is beautiful! Can I ask where the flatware is from?
This event looks amazing, you fotos are very great
This event has been my inspiration for my wedding next September! I absolutely love that despite the huge effort that went into it, the result is one of stunning simplicity! Can I ask what fabric the favors are wrapped in? It looks like linen but did you have to treat the edges so it wouldn’t fray?
This is beautiful!