Casual Dinner Party in March

I had so much arranging the dining room for this casual dinner party.  We were having 6 guests for dinner and I decided to serve white bean chicken chili, sugar-topped corn muffins, a big green salad and a chocolate cake.

I wanted the table to look special, but not intimidating, so I nixed the fine china and used a mix-and-match approach by pulling out all of my Spode "Blue Room" plates and cups/saucers.  I bought classic white soup bowls at Crate & Barrel and used our everyday silverware.  A friend had given me a package of Spode's Blue Italia paper napkins and it was fun to have an occasion to finally use them

For a little extra color, I placed a large April Cornell napkin in the middle of the table and set out four small bouquets of yellow roses, evenly spaced down the center.  It looked so pretty!  It was still March and after this year's Polar Vortex, no one could really believe that spring was coming.  I knew that lemon desserts and bright colors would be pushing it.  Shades of blue and yellow were the perfect segue into a spring table.