Jul 10, 2018

What originally started out as a blog assignment has successfully turned into a yearly tradition.  If you have been around here long enough you might remember this styled beach dinner and all my cousins agreed last year – we were picking it up as a tradition.

This year was much more laid back as I didn’t have a due date for the project and was only battling the temptation to not sneak a taste of my favorite Luna Nuda wines.  I was even a little worried the tradition might not make it (haha not off to a great start if at year 2) because most nights ended with thunderstorms.  Luckily, one evening the thunderstorms stayed away and we marched our way down to celebrate with a cozy beach side dinner.

This post is in no way sponsored by Luna Nuda, but they did send me a few of my favorites for our dinner!

I actually found Luna Nuda on Instagram and have happily moved into a working-friendship relationship with them.  Every time I find them on a shelf I grab a bottle for myself and sometimes they send wine out! It’s a win-win.

I waiver between my favorites with Luna Nuda, but it has to be their Pinot Grigio.  Which is pretty funny considering that I reluctantly even tried the Pinot.

I’ve always seen Pinot Grigio’s as “book club wine,” so I was happily enthralled with Luna Nuda’s Pinot! It’s a dry white that tastes of fruits and almonds that gives it a bit of a body.  (That’s about as close as I get to being a sommelier.)

I’ve received so many messages on how to afford throwing such fun summer dinners and here’s my biggest trick:

Use everyday things!

Don’t buy stuff just for dinners.

The magic doesn’t come from ridiculously expensive flatware or floor poufs. It comes from making the most of what you have.

We grabbed two boogie boards from the beach house and stacked them on top of each other. I threw a 10+ year white tablecloth my momma had on top of them and a few water glasses from the beach house held our flowers.

It definitely helps to have a photogenic beach bag like the one I bought from Fernweh Home last year.  And a few well placed florals never hurt anybody! But if I buy anything new for a styled beach dinner it’s always a few new napkins from World Market.  I find some to use no matter the season and they are relatively easy to store away versus always buying new plates.

Wine and tabletop ideas aside, I really love having beachside picnics! Being born and raised in the mountains means that white sand beaches feel all too luxurious to me. No styled beach dinner needed.