Happy (almost) Mother’s Day to all of you! Whether you are a mother, are celebrating a mother, or are remembering a mother, I hope your plans to make someone feel special are underway. When my talented, tablescaping friend Randi of Randi Garrett Designs approached me with her idea to co-host a Mother’s Day table tour with some of our blogging friends, my wheels started turning. Of course, I LOVED the idea as I never pass up a chance to “create” in my dining room, but as only a mother to two pups (although honestly, they are my babies), and with both my mother and my mother in law living out of state, I wondered “how am I going to design an authentic table?” That doubt lasted about two seconds as I soon decided that my table would reflect an honorary celebration. If you have landed on my page via Sarah of Sarah Sofia Productions, welcome! Sarah’s event designs serve as incredible inspiration and as a closeted event planner wannabe, I love living vicariously through her posts. Whether this is your first time here or you stop by frequently, I hope you will stick around as I take you through the frustration adventure of creating my Mother’s Day table.
As I said, my concept was based on an “honorary celebration”; in addition to my mother and mother in law, I set places for a couple of special ladies who are no longer with us. I envisioned that if they were all able to sit around our table together, living in Georgia, I would want to serve some of my favorite southern fare, including a peach cobbler (read on for my favorite easy, killer recipe). I planned to have a blush-toned table with more peaches than I could count, overflowing from a center bowl. My mom warned me that peaches may be “tough to do” since they aren’t quite in season yet, and, in the spirit of Mother’s Day, I will say it – ‘mother knows best’. To make a long story short and to not divulge too many details behind the sweet attempt of helping my vision come to fruition, I’ll just say that sometimes, things don’t turn out how you plan and you have to make the most of them. And yes, that includes creating tablescapes . Instead of 30 peaches, I ended up with 4 peaches and 6 reddish nectarines. Instead of white hydrangeas, I had to get creative with carnations. And when the pink, translucent plates I was going to use looked better suited for a five year old’s birthday party, I was glad to have another option on hand.
After I got over the initial disappointment of not having the table I had envisioned, I started to appreciate and like the result of my efforts. And, if each person who I had set a place for was actually able to come together for a Mother’s Day dinner, I thought they would enjoy the feminine and local touches too.
One thing that did not change was that I knew I wanted to fill a big white bowl – if it wasn’t going to be comprised entirely of peaches, I would find other things to fill it with. Since it was fairly deep, I went with a tip I learned from my mother – I laid down some towels in the bottom to take up space. I put two small, round vases on either side, on top of the towels and made them snug by situating my fruit around them. I then took my floral stems- blush and peach roses with white carnations – and arranged them around the fruit with their stems in the small vases until there were no gaps.
To create more of a “bounty”, I went outside and clipped a few pieces of greenery to incorporate on one side. As much as I love symmetry, I preferred the look of only one side of green leaves.
It didn’t feel quite complete so I took it a step further and “borrowed” a few low sprigs off our new Japanese maple. (I actually tried to be sneaky with the scissors during this part as I wanted to avoid my husband catching me in the act, butchering his new baby) I didn’t want the dark red to overpower the sweet tones so even used sparingly, it made a big impact.
I finished it off with a small, clear vase on each side with a few stems, and incorporated a few blooms flowing down the center, almost like a floral garland. I even included a small sprig of greenery as the final touch on each plate.
If you are wondering about “Mama Nan”, that’s my mom. We both have the middle name “Nan” so embracing our joint identity as “the Nans” is a normal part of our lives. And, we love it. The most fun part of this is while it may seem like I hosted a “pretend teaparty” for myself, my mother actually did come for a visit so she was able to experience this table I set in her honor. We had the best weekend, shopping, sippin’ wine, getting mani/pedis, eating a LOT of food, and then capped it off with a Van Morrison concert. We truly are two peas in a pod and there are few things I look forward to more than when we can visit with each other.
Don’t be fooled – the prettiest peach made it to the top 😉
Here you can see the “garland” effect I mentioned. I love overlapping different centerpiece elements – it immediately makes my feel like my table is more styled for an “event” and less for a regular dinner.
I set a place for my grandmother at the head of the table. The epitome of class, one of my favorite memories of her is when I was about 10 years old. She hosted some of my friends and me for a luncheon – complete with a sophisticated menu and a full formal table setting. Her style has influenced both the decor aesthetic to which I am drawn and the kind of lady I would like to be.
My absolute favorite dessert is warm peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. As a Georgia native, it’s pretty much a “rule” and also super fitting that my favorite recipe is from fellow Georgia girl, Paula Deen.
GET THE LOOK
Because peaches aren’t quite in season, I went the safe route and used canned. This is my absolute favorite cobbler recipe – if you aren’t a fan of peaches (don’t tell me that 😉 ), you can use other fruit. I recenlty used this same method in making a cherry cobbler.
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup of milk (I used skim, which works fine)
- 1 28 oz. can of peaches in syrup
- Set oven for 350°.
- Place butter in 9×9 baking dish and put dish in oven to melt butter as oven preheats.
- Combine flour and sugar and mix well.
- Slowly add milk to sugar and flour – mix until there are no clumps
- Once the butter has melted in the oven, pour the batter into the baking dish.
- Spoon the peaches from the can on top of the batter.
- Once the peaches have been spooned, pour the syrup on top. DO NOT MIX TOGETHER
- Bake 30-45 minutes (40 minutes is my lucky number) or until the cobbler is golden brown.
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
I hope you leave here ready to celebrate or remember those important women in your life, a must-try recipe in your planner, and a few ideas on how to assemble a fun table. Wishing you all a wonderful and very happy Mother’s Day!
GET THE DINING ROOM LOOK
GET THE TABLE LOOK
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
12-Light Chandelier
| Dining Table: (84″ in Salvaged Brown) | Buffet: (72″ in Distressed White) | Curtain Panels
: (98″ in White) | Rug: HomeGoods- Calvin Klein wool | Mirror: HomeGoods | Lamps: HomeGoods | Silver Tea Service: Family Heirloom | Mercury Glass Candle Holders | Black and White Salad Plates: HomeGoods | Pillows: Pier 1 (no longer available) | White Serving Bowl: HomeGoods | Branch Candle Holders: HomeGoods | Paint: Sherwin Williams- “Lauren’s Surprise”
*post contains affiliate links | where original product is not available online, an alternative option has been sourced*
Kelley, you are a MASTER at this! That floral arrangement is stunning, regardless of not having the full amount of peaches you wanted! Just gorgeous! Thank you for having me on this tour! Xo
Kelley…you are such a peach and that pun is intended! I love the centerpiece and thanks for the tip about the towels, as I often just stuff messy paper into mine which gets all soggy. Thanks for having me on the tour. xo, Janet
Kelley, this is just perfect! That centerpiece is amazing, and that peach cobbler looks and sounds divine!! xoxo
Stunning as always Kel, peaches or no peaches! Bravo my talented friend! Thanks so much for doing this with me! xoxoxo
Beautiful!! Like always! You never disappoint!
Kelley this is absolutely stunning! I love your play on peaches with your floral centerpiece! You know I love coral and peaches. Many thanks for hosting such a fun blog hop! XOXO, Sarah
The pics are perfect and your words are so much fun! I am so lucky to have experienced this beautiful ‘scape in person! The cobbler was delicious, along with your other goodies. It was the best Mother’s Day ever!
Love,
Mama Nan
Kelley, this is just amazing! Such a gorgeous combination of colors! And I can’t wait to try that peach cobbler recipe – looks amazing!
Stunning as always Kelley!!! Love the peaches!
I love that you mention that your pups are your babies! The table is beautiful. I’m so glad that your mom, the other Nan, got to see it!
Kelley, this is so stunning!!! I love the peaches & name tags but, I just adore what you said about your mom!!! Everything here is perfect my friend;))
Kelly you are the tablescape QUEEN! Oh my word.. that centerpiece! It’s absolutely stunning. Everything you touch is stunning! What a treat to see what you come up with. Love it all sweet friend and I would be so honored sitting at that beautiful table eating Peach Cobbler. 🙂 xo
Absolutely beautiful! What a stunning arrangement Kelley Nan! Thanks for sharing the recipe as well, I can ‘t wait to try it! Hugs to you!
Love, Joni
Kelley Nan! You never cease to amaze me with your talents. I’m loving the peaches with florals & those pretty plates. Thanks for being such an inspiration. Love ya, girl! And um… that recipe!!! YESSSSS.
Oh goodness, Kel!!! This is marvelous…. honestly!!! The sentiment behind it all from the peaches to the honorary place settings just warms my heart. Gorgeous and just precious! And I knew I loved you because peach cobbler is another one of my faves and I make my mom make it for me every August when I’m home! That reminds me… There is a peach dessert (family favorite) I need to share with you so I will be in touch 😉 Love this and love you, sweet friend! Thanks for this! Xoxo…
Kelley, Your tablescapes never fail to amaze! So pretty with the peaches and floral mix, so creative!
Xoxo
Kim
Kelley this should be in a magazine! The sentiment behind the whole idea is just beautiful. The table totally reflects it perfectly. Such s beautiful job
There was just soooo much eye-candy here to take in, Kelley!! This tablescspe is over-the-top beautiful and inspiring! And, what summer diet…I’m making that peach gobbler!!!???? I don’t know whether to thank you or curse you…but dang, that cobbler with the icecream had me at hello!!! ????. Beautiful, stunning post, my friend!!! ?????????
Lolol…I swear I was not inebriated when I typed that, Kel??!! ???. But, I kinda like the Freudian slip of peach cobbler to “peach gobbler”!!?? Fitting, don’t you think?! ??????. Buh-bye diet…hello Lane’s Peach Market!! ?????
DEBI! I am dying!! Yes!!!
My goodness what a beautiful table – so jealous you have impeccable taste
Hi Kelley,
This tablescape is gorgeous! What drew me to the picture initially were your chairs. I’m on the hunt for new dining chairs and love these. Thank you for including a link to them. Can I bother you with a quick question: did you order them from this World Market website? Are they of good quality and have they lasted well for you?
Thanks SO much in advance for any info on the chairs.
All the best,
Claire Barry
Claire, thank you! We have been super pleased with them (our kitchen bar stools that we use daily are the same). I actually ordered them in store but I saw today that they have free shipping. They are a true linen-creamy color and in my opinion, the perfect neutral. Super stable.
Absolutely stunning! You are amazing, and this needs to be on the cover of of many magazines!
Hugs – Joni
Hi! I’ve been on a hunt for a dining set and I love this one (from tables to chairs). Would you mind telling me where I can get both the table and chairs?
Thank you!!
Liana
Hi, Liana! I have them both linked at the bottom of my post 😉
What a gorgeous tablescape. Any mother would be lucky to sit here for a meal. Just a beautiful setting. The extra long sideboard with the glass doors is perfect for the space. A sparkling chandelier and lovely dishes – so pretty!