Last Saturday, approximately 4500 lucky guests attended Washington D.C.’s 4th annual all-white outdoor dinner picnic event, appropriately titled Dîner en Blanc. Dîner en Blanc is flash-mob-style dinner that began in Paris in 1988, when Frenchman François Pasquier invited his friends to an elegant outdoor picnic one evening and asked them to all wear white so they could find each other. The event’s presence has grown to over 70 cities, with almost 15,000 gathering for the 25th-anniversary event in Paris and has since spread to more than 70 locations, drawing more than 120,000 people worldwide.
Although this is my fourth year being invited to this exclusive event, this was my first year attending. I’m very happy I experienced the magical gala first hand.
Tickets for 2 are only $98 and that only includes the privilege of attending. You have to provide your own all white everything. And the rules are very straight forward and strict. You must bring your own table, your own chairs, dishes, silverware, table cloth, napkins, glasses, tablescape/table decor and gourmet picnic. Attendance is mandatory and non-transferable or you will be blacklisted from attending the following year. And you absolutely must wear all-white including your shoes and accessories, with the exception of metallic accents. As a self-proclaimed “rule follower,” I actually don’t mind the rules and enjoyed every bit of the planning leading up to the event. And white is my absolute favorite color to wear. This party is so up my alley!
The event took place this year on the iconic Pennsylvania Avenue NW with the U.S. Capitol as our backdrop. Prior to discovering where the event was taking place, our group met at Lower Senate Park where we hung out, socialized and took pictures until it was time to walk as a group to our secret surprise location.
I was invited by my friends Barnette of DC Fashion Fool and Diego of Diego Downtown to be seated with their group. Barnette was our Table Leader and Diego was our Pedestrian Leader. I was extended an opportunity to sponsor a friend. Dani of Blonde in the District was the obvious choice. She is an amazing friend who epitomizes fashion and all things glitz and glam and I knew we would have a blast! My husband decided he didn’t want to go and my friend Karima enthusiastically volunteered to take his place. Karima is a minimalist like I am and we packed and carried everything we needed in a systematic and simple fashion. We were seated alongside Dani and her hilariously funny husband David, our very good friend Alison of Wardrobe Oxygen and her awesome sister Debbie.
We had the most perfect weather at a pleasant 75-80 degrees throughout the evening. Walking from our first location to our secret location was a breeze because we packed so light. We packed our gourmet picnic, dishes and silverware in a large white styrofoam cooler box, a portable camp table, two light chairs, our centerpiece on a very petite luggage cart. Everything probably weighed less than 15 pounds.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with great friends and meeting new people. The outfits ranged from very casual white muscle shirts and shorts to all white silk and linen suits on men to white rompers and very elegant gowns on women.The majority of the guests went all-out and really wore elaborate and very beautiful outfits. People watching and the chance to see all of the outfit choices was better than any fashion show I’ve ever attended.
I purchased my chalk white dress from ELOQUII and wore “vintage” alpine white grecian sandals from Nine West. I wanted to be simple, fun and very comfortable. But, I’m already making plans for next year—I think I’ll go as far as to buy a new wedding dress for the event next year—yes, I want to be that glitzy!
Fresh Direct sponsored our delicious gourmet dinner picnic. And guess what? I’m excited to partner with Fresh Direct to provide one lucky winner a $100 Gift Card to purchase your own Dîner en Blanc gourmet dinner for 2 that you can have wherever you’d like! You can create your own Dîner en Blanc at home or at your local park!
The Menu
- Cheese Board
- Charcuterie
- Sandwiches
- Olive Bar
- Salad
- Caprese Salad
- Fruit
- Sparkling Water
- Rose Wine
- Dessert
Enter To Win
For additional entries, please follow me on Instagram and leave the comment “This is Fresh” on the most recent post!
{Thank-you to Fresh Direct For Sponsoring our Diner En Blanc Dinner and this awesome Giveaway!}
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