How To Throw A Chic Autumn Dinner Party With LSA International Glassware
These are the OTIS red & white wine glasses. The flower arrangement is in the UTILITY range of pots with leather handles. This is the DAME storm lantern and HOST bowl. All by LSA International.
If there is one thing to make me add a restaurant to my 'never to return' list (apart from no-reservation policies - what is all that about???), it's serving me a glass of wine in the kind of tumbler you used to get your water in with your school dinner. Being a grown up, and probably paying way over a fiver for a glass of wine, I'm pretty partial to having it in a decent glass. As you can imagine, when LSA International (the official sponsor of the Amara Interior Blog Awards 2016) wanted to gift me some of their glass pieces for making the Best DIY & Craft Award shortlist, I was delighted!
LSA International are celebrating 50 years of production this year, and you can see why their products are still regular features on wedding gift lists with their beautiful collections of handblown glass, porcelain, leather, wood and enamelled steel. I am particularly drawn to the handmade glass; mouthblown and finished by skilled artisans in Poland, it tugs at my creative heartstrings. It is also incredibly well designed - the OTIS and CITY BAR wine glasses have a contemporary straight-edged vase on a sleek, tall stem:
The OTIS red wine glass range by LSA International
As it officially turned Autumn this week (according to the reliable old internet, the last day of summer this year was the 22nd September) I decided to take full advantage of my new LSA gifts and throw a chic Autumnal dinner party!
STEP 1: GET THAT AUTUMNAL SCENT IN YOUR HOME...
This is the 9.5cm HOST bowl in gold, a special edition in celebration of LSA International's 50th year.
To evoke an autumnal scent in my home for my guests, I soaked some conkers (collected from a conker tree in my street) in a scented oil. Try and get an oil that smells woody, or is based in berries, apples or oranges. Put a cluster of these conkers in a decorative bowl in the rooms where your guests will frequent.
STEP 2: CREATE AUTUMNAL TABLE DECORATIONS...
Using LSA International's thick handblown DAME storm lantern, some autumn leaves, acorns and conkers; I created one of my Autumn dinner table centrepieces.
This is the 20.5cm DAME storm lantern by LSA International. Conkers, leaves and acorns were all foraged locally.
In your empty storm lantern, line the base with the dried leaves - allowing the tips of the leaves to point upwards against the side of the glass. Use conkers to weigh down the leaves so that they stick to the sides of the glass and will not be near the open candle flame. Position your candle in the centre of the lantern and then fill up the lantern around the candle with acorns and more conkers. Slightly dislodge the leaves so some conkers and acorns can be seen in-between the leaves:
This is the DAME storm lantern by LSA International.
STEP 3: KEEP TO BROWN, WOOD, ORANGE & COPPER TONES...
These LSA International EDGE glasses have hand-painted metallic copper bases.
Autumn is all about earthy hues, so use brown and orange colours in your table decor. I used Chinese lanterns as my floral centrepiece, as the burnt orange colour of these flowers have a contemporary yet warming feel. I placed them in the UTILITY 39.5cm pot with leather handle by LSA International, as the brown leather really complemented the large orange heads.
Use wild Autumn foliage where you can. Even if you live in the city - acorns, conkers and wild blackberries grow everywhere. Take a plastic bag and a pair of hand cutters and collect what you can to add to your table.
These are the CITY BAR white & red wine glasses by LSA International, which come with a Walnut coaster.
The CITY BAR collection by LSA International is perfect for an Autumn dinner party, as the glass comes with a walnut base. Wood really evokes Autumn for me, as it is the change in the trees that encapsulates the change of seasons.*
*[But, lets be honest here, the real reason I love the CITY BAR range is because the glass comes with a coaster so you can say to guests "this glass comes with a coaster", which they will then use, as opposed to just silently venting to yourself all night that no-one seems to be using a coaster on your beloved furniture!]
I want to thank LSA International for sending me some of their fabulous products as a gift. The LSA International glassware used in this post can all be brought at Amara.com