Around the World in 80 Days Tabletop Design
Another beautiful tabletop designed for the Daytona Beach Symphony Guild Art of Dining event. This particular tabletop was designed and put together by myself and another lady from our Garden Club, using our personal items we had in our home and our private collections.
The inspiration for the table setting “Around the World in 80 Days” came from the 1956 adventure film based on the classic novel of the same name by Jules Verne. Set in Victorian times around 1872, an English gentleman Phileas Fogg claims he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days. He makes a wager with his fellow members of his London gentleman’s club to return by the 80th day at precisely 8:45 pm, and with his resourceful valet Passepartout, the journey begins.
The centerpiece is a richly jeweled multi colored globe. Reminiscent of Victorian times, the table is set with a delicate blue and pink floral with gold trim dinnerware. Unifying the table setting are etched crystal wine goblets that belonged to one of the designer’s mother. Candlesticks of varying types bring light to the occasion. The linens are a Venetian lace tablecloth with embroidered Battenberg lace place mats and napkins that one of the designer’s purchased during a trip to Venice. Assorted décor emphasize the world travels and modes of transportation that were used to traverse the globe, including a hot air balloon, cable car, schooner, and miniature Eiffel Tower.
A lady attending the event came up to me to compliment us on the table setting. She was quite enamored and said that her husband was retired military and they had lived all over the world, with a collection of found treasures from all of their travels and adventures. She never knew what to do with all the collections, and now we had given her a great idea to use them in her table settings to make for a great conversation topic during dinner. Til now, her collections were either just sitting on shelves, or packed away. This table top design had given her a whole fresh outlook on her dinner parties, of which she apparently had on a regular basis. She could change the theme around each time, matching the food to the collection of adornments.
We hope you enjoy our fantasy adventure around the world, and can use our ideas to use your collections of souvenirs to make your next dinner party exciting and different.
