00:00My banana bread was not tall enough.
00:02And then I called my husband and he was like,
00:04yeah, you're Nara Smith, you can't bring a flat
00:06banana bread to this dinner party.
00:08So then I restarted and that's why I ended up being 1am.
00:11So I hope you eat every crumb of it.
00:13Hi, I'm Nara Smith and I'm gonna walk you through
00:16how I like to throw a dinner party.
00:21Every dinner party starts with a set table.
00:24There's many different components that go into it.
00:26I like starting with a tablecloth.
00:27I prefer a linen just because it's versatile.
00:30In the winter, I do like a darker color,
00:33but the summer is creams, whites.
00:35If I'm feeling a little extra,
00:37I like to add a runner just for some dimension,
00:39like this gingham one.
00:41I love a gingham.
00:42The older I get, the more I love a pattern.
00:44Oh, ruffles as well.
00:45They look really cute and I think they add dimension
00:47and kind of break up the table a little bit.
00:49You can even add a runner that's similar to your tablecloth
00:52just to add a little something to it.
00:54After we've got the base done, we do plates.
01:01I'm the most indecisive person,
01:03so we're gonna do both and we're gonna mix and match.
01:05I want this one to go in the middle.
01:07We're gonna go three across, three across right here.
01:10My kids usually sit at the table.
01:12I'm very particular about that because growing up,
01:15that was one of my dad's biggest pet peeves,
01:17kids standing up and running around,
01:19and now it's one of mine.
01:20So I make sure that once we have dinner,
01:22we sit and we sit until everyone is done,
01:24which sometimes can lead to frustration.
01:27My rule in my house is,
01:29I need you to at least try everything on your plate.
01:32Regardless of what it is, you have to try it at least twice,
01:35because the first time you might have whatever in your mind,
01:38and then if you try it for the second time,
01:39a lot of the times they'll like it.
01:41So far, I think my kids would love this.
01:43They love color, texture.
01:45They love a small, cute plate.
01:46Next, we're gonna move on to napkins and flatware.
01:51You know what?
01:52The older I get, the more color I like.
01:54I don't know what that says about me,
01:55but I think today we're gonna keep it simple,
01:57because there's already so much going on
01:59with the gingham and the plates
02:00to where I don't want the napkin to overpower any of that.
02:03The left side is where it's at.
02:05There's something so fun about creating a fun experience
02:09with the meal and the plates.
02:11Let's move on to the flatware.
02:15Good job, guys.
02:16That was real good.
02:17This is really hard because they're so similar.
02:20So let's mix and match.
02:21So we're gonna do the smaller fork on the outside,
02:24then the big fork.
02:26Everyone does it different.
02:27So do it your way or Google.
02:29Whatever makes you feel comfortable.
02:30There's something so cute to me about little cutlery.
02:33Big spoon and then little spoon.
02:36And then you repeat it for all your plates.
02:38I didn't like it growing up, but now I love that my dad did that.
02:42He was very big on posture,
02:45especially at the dinner table.
02:47Anytime someone would hunch over, he would be like,
02:49no, don't do that.
02:50And then we'd forget, blah, blah, blah.
02:52And then he would get a broom and put it in the back of the t-shirt
02:55so that we wouldn't hunch.
02:57And it actually helped my posture so much.
03:00And it was like the funniest thing.
03:02And we would just all laugh about it.
03:04And now in hindsight, I'm like, that was a really smart tactic actually.
03:09They actually don't have a posture problem.
03:12So no, but who knows?
03:14It looks like we're missing one flatware set.
03:17So we're going to move on and just leave it as that.
03:20Now for something to drink, we'll need glasses.
03:24I already chose these glasses because I really enjoy them.
03:27So we're going to go ahead and set those.
03:30I just do the right side because I'm right-handed.
03:32And it just makes the most sense to me.
03:34I like a good ginger beer or a little mocktail situation.
03:38I love anything with cucumber and mint as well.
03:40So it really just depends on what the meal is.
03:42I like bringing a non-alcoholic beverage.
03:45Something that still feels fancy.
03:47Just because I don't know whether people drink or not.
03:49And I don't want them to receive a bottle of red wine
03:51and not know what to do with it.
03:53I mean, they could cook with it.
03:54I also weirdly enough like bringing candles
03:55or anything that I harvest for my garden.
03:58A little harvest basket.
03:59That always lands really well.
04:02One thing that I find really cute are name cards.
04:06There's something just really special about them.
04:08I don't know what it is, even if it's just my family
04:11and we all know each other's names,
04:12it just feels like a touch of whimsy.
04:14So I'm just going to write down my family's names
04:17on these place cards.
04:18There's Slim, my son.
04:21He needs to be opposite of me.
04:23Need to see what he's doing.
04:24He loves messing around.
04:26He's just a boy.
04:27He loves bringing his cards to the table
04:29and playing with them in his food, the usual.
04:31Where does whimsy go?
04:33She'll go right next to me.
04:35My family had rules around the dinner table,
04:37but it was also a very fun and bonding time.
04:41She'll go right here.
04:43I love this.
04:44We have fun conversations at the dinner table.
04:46It's kind of the time during the day
04:48that we get to really just sit with each other
04:50and have fun.
04:51There's only five people.
04:55So, who do we invite?
04:57Do you know what?
04:58I really want to see Martha at my dinner table, so.
05:02As in Martha Stewart?
05:03Yeah.
05:03She is so iconic, of course.
05:06Now that we've got everything we kind of need done,
05:10I like to accessorize and decorate
05:12in whatever way that matches what we're doing.
05:14So, we're going to do florals next.
05:18Perfect.
05:19Thank you, guys.
05:20I love a good wildflower arrangement
05:21and anything that feels more organic.
05:24So, I love the colors that are going on here.
05:26My favorite flower this year actually ended up being
05:28Lily of the Valley, which we grow at home.
05:31In the beginning of the year, in spring,
05:33there's this hill behind my house.
05:35Gutted it all and sprinkled a bunch.
05:38When I say a bunch, I mean thousands of wildflower seeds.
05:41So, all my wildflowers are coming in.
05:43My Cosmos, Three Eyed Susans, like all the wildflowers.
05:47And I just pick them and make little bouquets out of them.
05:49Let's move on to candles.
05:53I think I have a lot of green going on,
05:55so we're going to do the glass.
05:57Okay, let's see.
05:59How does that look?
06:01Is it too uniform?
06:03Can I see the monitor?
06:06I'm going to mix and match because I'm realizing two candles
06:08isn't going to cut it.
06:10So, we're going to bring in the green candles.
06:12It doesn't feel proportionate.
06:14It feels very random instead of intentional.
06:17So, we're going to play around with different heights
06:18and different places.
06:20This takes a minute.
06:21I feel like with the tablescape, it kind of always evolves.
06:24And you're going to find that you might like the florals here at first.
06:28And then when you bring in other elements, that those shift.
06:30So, it always depends on what you want your end product to look like.
06:33But it's all about height and dimension and different placements.
06:36So, we're going to figure that out.
06:37These candles are stressing me out because they're so tall.
06:40Usually, I like a shorter candle.
06:42Or if we play with height, I want there to be more dimension
06:45in terms of the length.
06:47But I think with what we're working with, this is great.
06:50I also like burning them a little before guests arrive.
06:54So, right there, just so they look lived in.
06:59Lucky is very good at little details and seeing things that I don't really see
07:03and having ideas and putting together mood boards.
07:05Whereas, to me, it's all about prep.
07:07I don't want to be stressed on the day.
07:09So, anything I can prep prior, which usually is the tablescape.
07:12If it's a dinner party, I'll set it early in the day and make sure I prep dishes
07:16earlier in the day.
07:17So, that when dinner comes around, I can just plate them or put them together really quick,
07:21rather than standing in the kitchen.
07:23Which is also why I like making dishes for dinner parties that are hands-off.
07:27I don't want to be in the kitchen stressing that something's burning or something's not going right.
07:32Anything that I can pre-prep and hands-off.
07:34That's kind of how I go about things.
07:36Now that we set the table and it looks just about finished,
07:40I couldn't cook you guys a full meal today.
07:42But I brought you guys some banana bread that I baked last night at 1am.
07:46I got in my head about it because I usually bake in a ceramic loaf pan.
07:51But metal distributes heat better, right?
07:54So, then I was like, oh, I'll do the metal pan today.
07:56Turns out it was bigger than my ceramic one.
07:58So, the dough spread out more because the dough didn't fill the loaf pan properly.
08:02Long story short, my banana bread was not tall enough.
08:06And then I called my husband and he was like, yeah, you're Nara Smith.
08:09You can't bring a flat banana bread to this dinner party.
08:12So, then I restarted and that's why I ended up being 1am.
08:15So, I hope you eat every crumb of it.
08:20Banana bread has been this massive thing.
08:23I never really had it when I lived in Germany, but when I moved to the States,
08:26I was living with my husband's sister and she made a really good banana bread and everyone loved it.
08:31Then I came up with this recipe with all the spices and the pistachios
08:35and it has chocolate in it.
08:36And it took a long time to perfect because I don't necessarily gravitate towards cakes.
08:42But when I had this one, it was actually really good.
08:45Let's cut into this.
08:46This was a labor of love, guys.
08:48Who wants a slice?
08:58So, how was it, guys?
09:01There you have it.
09:02In the beginning, I was very much just flatware, tablecloth, and that's it.
09:07And then I kind of worked my way up.
09:08So, I think it all depends on what you feel like is manageable
09:11because you want this experience to be fun.
09:13I like starting with a theme, then based on the theme, I do the menu.
09:18Based on the menu, I do the outfit and then I move on to the tablescape.
09:22So, give yourself a week or more to really arrive at this destination
09:25because the more you prep and the more you plan, the easier the day of becomes.
09:30Be bold in your choices and be confident in what you do.
09:33It's your dinner party, so you get it the exact way that you want.
