This love letter themed tablescape make’s the perfect setting for Valentine’s Day, a romantic date night, or even an anniversary dinner. I find that in the modern era of effortless texting, emails, and social networking, that it can be a lovely quixotic gesture to turn back to the sentimentality of a handwritten letter on actual paper. Then to go further back to capture the romanticism of script, drafted with pen and ink well on paper that’s been sealed with wax… so that none other than the intended may lay eyes on the heartfelt content. Call me old fashioned if you will… I’ll just take it as a compliment.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate:”
Verse spells its way across a love letter inspired cloth is laid upon a greater midnight black tablecloth.
“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:”
Six ravishing red roses rise from a vase overflowing with soft petals. A boundless array of them blankets the table.
“Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed;”
Luminous brass sextuplet candlesticks cast a romantic golden glow over the tablescape. Beneath them lies a once live rose plated in brilliant 14 karat gold. Gilded studs enhance burgundy pillar candles set upon stacked vintage candlesticks that playfully generate light and shadow in the background.
“And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;”
Encircling tuxedo black napkins are love letter symbolizing napkin rings trimmed with faux wax seals. Golden utensils bearing wooden handles represent the pens of yesteryear. Waiting to be filled are vintage ruby glasses trimmed with rings of gold that are flanked by golden flecked midcentury champagne vessels.
“But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,”
Beneath a resplendent tree sit black ladder-backed chairs cushioned with sumptuous garnet pillows.
“When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Italian countryside plates from Mikasa are topped by red dishes resembling wax seals. They obscure all but rings of gold from the gleaming mat chargers below them.
Faithfully Yours,
Leigh & William Shakespeare’s 18th Sonnet
P.S. Click here for my Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Countdown Calendar / Treat Bag Banner & Love Letter Napkin Rings Craft Tutorials.