'Diner En Blanc' Squamish Style

Back in 1988, Francois Pasquier, threw a private garden party in Paris.  All the guests were asked to wear white.  It was an over-crowded affair that spontaneously spilled into the Bois de Boulogne (a wooded park in Paris).  Thus, the 'Diner en Blanc' was born.  

  

Diner en Blanc, Paris.  2012.

Since then, a pop-up picnic is held every June in Paris.  It is held in public, but the location is undisclosed until an hour before the event takes place.  

Diner en Blanc, Montreal.  2012.

Many cities around the world now hold their own dinners.  Montreal, Toronto, Berlin, Ottawa, New York.

Diner en Blanc, Toronto.  2012.

 You can now add Squamish to that illustrious list.  

My friend Colleen and I were talking several months ago and thought it would be fun to have a 'Diner en Blanc' in our little one-horse town.

There are only a few rules.  It is mandatory that everyone wears white from head to toe.  All diners must bring their own supper, wine, table, chairs, white dishes, glasses, white linens, and cutlery.

Colleen and I scouted out a secret picnic location, sent the invitations to a small group of friends and anxiously waited for June 23rd to arrive.  

Although we did have a few concerns while we waited.  The weather in Squamish has been TERRIBLE this past month.  Cold temperatures, rain and wind have been a daily occurrence.  We faithfully monitored the weather network every day to see what kind of weather was in store for us.

How lucky were we that June 23rd dawned bright and beautiful!  All day we watched as the clouds miraculously parted to reveal the sun.  We had it made!

Joe and I spent the day getting all of our ducks in a row.  We organized our food, wine, candles, balloons, sparklers, table, linens, and chairs.  In the late afternoon we welcomed our out-of-town guests  and sat out on our sunny deck for happy hour.

At precisely 5:30pm I giddily skipped to the computer to e-mail instructions to the awaiting diners.  The exact minute I pressed 'send', clouds blackened the sky, huge drops of rain pelted the ground, trees bent over in the wind, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and the lights inside the house flickered.

Two minutes earlier we were enjoying drinks on our sunny deck.

Happy summer!

We quickly put 'Plan B' into motion.  Colleen phoned everyone and told them to come to our house instead.  She and her husband came early to help set up.  The picnic would now have to be an indoor affair.

Colleen got drenched running from her car to the house.

The storm blew in so quickly that Dan didn't even have time to remove his sunglasses!

We quickly pressed our out-of-town guests into service.  We moved furniture around, arranged a long row of tables and chairs from one end of the room to the other, threw on some table cloths and placed flowers and candles down the centre of the tables.  All in about 6 minutes.

Sandy tied white helium balloons onto each chair.

Irene arranged flowers.

Colleen and Dan lit the candles.

We were ready!  Our guests arrived dressed in white, loaded with bags and baskets overflowing with food, wine, dishes, and cutlery.  Everyone staked out a place at the table.  We did not let the storm dampen our spirits.  Let 'Diner en Blanc' begin!

Keepin' it classy since 1958.

(I'm not the only one who keeps it classy around here.)

We toasted a successful 'Diner En Blanc' with sparklers which promptly set off every smoke detector in the house.

No party at our house is complete without dancing.

At the end of the evening, the gang gathered for a group photo before we bid our adieus.

Again, the out-of-town overnight guests sprang into action.  By midnight our house was swept, dishes were washed, tables were removed, furniture was put back, and chairs were folded and stacked.

Thank you everyone!  What a fabulous event!  Colleen and I will keep our secret picnic spot for next year's dinner.  We already have our fingers crossed for a balmy June evening in 2013!