The expectations of our guests must have been high. We didn’t just promise a lovely dinner for 12 as part of the party we offered at our children’s school auction. We told them we would transform my backyard and screened porch into a “faraway paradise.”

I should have known immediately that I was over my head. But we gave it our best shot last weekend.

Our friends, Amy and Parke Young and Julie and Craig Paulsen and my husband, Chris, and I decided on a south of the border theme and called the party “Night of the Iguana,” inspired by the 1962 film classic starring Richard Burton and Eva Gardner.

In the brochure for the auction, along with “Pacific Coastal Cuisine” and “lizard libations,” this is what we promised:

“Feel the sultry summer heat. Sway with the jungle vibe. Taste exotica. Experience Night of the Iguana. Don’t you wanna?”

(That’s the edited version. One step further and we might have violated Catholic school protocol.)

All I can say is, thank God for Amy. As much as I write about great decor and tabletop settings, I still tend to be all thumbs when I try it myself. (Every year, I swear I’ve got the most uninspired Christmas wreath on the block.)

I knew we would fare OK when Amy came over a couple of weeks before the party with the piece that would set the tone for the party: mosquito netting that used to be over her son’s bed. We instantly thought of those grand safaris — you know, where the elephants are stampeding outside, but inside the mosquito netting, a white-linen table cloth is set with silver.

We started by clearing out the screened porch and putting the seating arrangement on the back lawn for cocktail hour. I dragged an old rug I found at a garage sale from the shed (I could never get the musty smell out of it for inside) and put it on the grass. Parke built a bar from salvage plywood. Amy added palapa grass to the umbrella. Parke strung paper lanterns across the back yard and we lit a fire in the chiminea outside and in the fireplace on the porch, and lit tea lights everywhere.

On the porch, we put a long, plywood tabletop on top of my table to seat 12. We hung the mosquito netting above the table, draping and tacking it up — as if we pulled back the mosquito netting for dinner. (We figured it would be difficult to serve and clear through the netting. That lightbulb moment came to me later.)

And with boxes of colorful odds and ends from Amy’s basement, plus some potted palms from their yard, I’d say we made a pretty good effort at a “faraway paradise.”

As it is with any party, the key is that everyone have a good time. And with help from Craig’s “lizard libations” I think everyone did. And just today, I received a thank-you note from the couple who treated their friends to our auctioned off evening: “All our guests commented that they had never been served with such attention and flair.” The atmosphere, the letter said, “was wonderful.”

Job done! Chris even said he might be up for it again next year. Hmmm. Theme anyone? 

To take a look at a video of my screened porch before the party, click here.

To look at some professional tabletops, done by floral designer Jose Ibarra, check out these:
Wabi Sabi: Where the Imperfect is Beautiful

Can Lookiloos Pass Wabi Sabi Test?
Floral Chic Mother’s Day