Hosting a Party for The Garden Club of Mount Desert at Skylands
Last Friday, I had the pleasure of hosting The Garden Club of Mount Desert Patron Party, which kicks off the Club’s 2012 Open Garden Day Tour. The Patron Party honors the garden owners whose homes are on the tour and the patrons who support the club. We welcomed two hundred guests at Skylands, my home in Seal Harbor, Maine. The day of the party, I busied myself by helping Chef Pierre Schaedelin prepare the hors d’oeuvres. His friends, Cynthia and Justin, who own the wonderful Oliva Italian Eatery in Keller, Texas, were also assisting Pierre. Out of the kitchen, I decorated the house with some fabulous floral arrangements from my own pretty amazing Maine gardens. The weather that day was cloudy with storms predicted throughout. However, at 5pm, we were thrilled when the clouds rolled away, making way for a gorgeous sunset on the terrace. The party was a great success and the weather held out for the tour the next day, which was attended by one thousand people. I am told that this was the most successful Open Garden Tour ever - a record breaker! All of the proceeds from Open Garden Day support many wonderful organizations and gardens on Mount Desert Island. I’ll share photos of those six special gardens on a future blog.
1 Lilies, lilies, and more lilies arrived from the garden.
2 I believed that this was enough lilies for three great hall arrangements, but one can never have enough flowers.
3 You cannot see it in this photo, but I am totally covered with yellow and orange lily pollen! Dressed in work clothes, I didn't mind one bit - the fragrance was phenomenal!
4 This is the arrangement I constructed before I added more flowers at Alexis' insistence.
5 The pot is a very early Chinese bronze vessel. The drips on the pot are just water from filling it. It took so much more water than I anticipated - Kevin, where are you???????
6 After adding more lilies, the arrangement started to look like it could be in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Alexis was right - more is better!
7 In every light the flowers looked amazing. I actually made this for Diana Wister, who always has the most incredible arrangements in her home in Northeast Harbor. Sadly, Diana didn't get to see these, for she could not attend the party.
8 The big faux bois cement table in the Great Hall is always covered with new and old books about Maine and especially about Mt. Desert Island. These books are very interesting reading. I also place current periodicals here.
9 All of these lilies came from the Dutch Bulb Association. We have a very nice relationship with that group and find the Holland bulbs superior to most others.
10 We put orange tiger lilies in the dining room on another giant faux bois table, which was made by Carlos Cortéz in San Antonio, Texas. Carlos is a true artist. http://www.studiocortes.com/
11 When we started to set the terrace up for the party the sun came out, the skies cleared, and the foliage glowed!
12 Beautiful bars were made by covering tables with Chinese rugs. We used copper trays, old Martha-by-Mail glasses, and gray linen napkins, which were sewn by my mom for my very first big party at Skylands several years ago.
13 Old bronze Chinese urns made for great wine coolers.
14 There are lots of large brass pails in the house, which looked great as ice buckets.
15 This is Matt Frongillo, one of our handsome local bartenders, who is so nice!
16 And this is Rachel Sisson, another bartender, who is also terrific.
17 Jennifer Rau was stationed at another wine bar set up in front of our really giant lilies!
18 I had these teak tables made 12 years ago and they have held up fabulously. The wood has mellowed to a glorious gray and the glass tops show off the intricate wood pattern beneath.
19 The faux bois bird bath was a great wine cellarette.
20 One of the servers standing in front of yet another lily garden on the terrace.
21 This is what the sky looked like right before the guests began to arrive.
22 All the chaises were lined up for guests to use.
23 A giant medinilla was planted in the giant green iron urn down the terrace stairs - it is doing very well.
24 I love my vodka very well chilled in a bucket of ice.
25 Gail Clark - Chairman of Open Garden Day and Tanny Clark - President of The Garden Club of Mount Desert, brought some friends from Atlanta with them and the Club gave me a present for hosting the Patrons Party.
26 The council circle fire stone was lit for the party and it certainly was a conversation piece.
27 The ferns and other plants are growing very well amidst the stones of the council circle, a favorite Jens Jensen landscape idiom.
28 My favorite hors d'oeuvre that evening were the Parmesan cheese straws, which were so light, fluffy, crispy, and cheesy. These brass epergne-like holders were perfect for serving them.
29 The fantastic Dick Wolf (Mr. Law and Order) admired the height of the lilies growing on the terrace.
30 The guests really enjoyed the festivities.
31 The food trays were unbelievable! There were crab cakes with sauce tartare, minted garden pea soup, angel biscuits with ham, gougeres, lobster medallions with rouille on brioche, corn soup, and more crab cakes.
32 This is Cynthia, who has cooked and served for me many times.
33 On my Scrabble table, I left this message - only after the party did I notice the mistake!!! Sorry!
34 There were great comments written in my guest book.
35 Chef Pierre Schaedelin, in the kitchen arranging the cheese straws in my brass epergnes
36 For serving the three soups - carrot, pea, and corn - we used these votive candle holders. They are the perfect size for small servings.
37 Justin and Pierre made quite a team.
38 Setting up the bars - I found the great Chinese rugs years ago at a tag sale.
39 Ostrich ferns were used to line trays for the service of stuffed mussels.
40 The many angel biscuits we baked - The recipe is an early one from my cookbooks. The biscuits are light, airy, and delicious. http://www.marthastewart.com/344643/angel-biscuits
41 Arranging the trays
42 The stuffed mussels, from Maine of course, were a favorite appetizer.
43 Another great looking tray
44 A better view of the lobster hors d'oeuvre
45 The staff who helped put the party together - Heather, Truman, Cynthia, Justin, Cheryl, Jamie, Pierre, and Gretchen
46 Some of the staff actually enjoying the garden tour the next day. Thanks everyone!!!!!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Wow, Wow, Wow!!!!
Everyone must have worked really hard to accomplish all of that.
Thanks, Martha!!
Posted by: Gloria | August 2nd, 2012 at 12:24 am
You are just so inspiring, Martha! What a beautiful party. Your
attention to detail never ceases to amaze me. I love the touch
of your mom's napkins. Oh, those lilies are just outstanding. I
can't wait to see the photos of the gardens. Thank you soooo
much for sharing. Enjoy the beauty of this day.
Kathy
Posted by: Kathy Peterson | August 2nd, 2012 at 4:51 am
Wonderful photos of you, your family, and great times in Maine. I know the feeling "having had a party is better than having one" Will be happy to see other gardens.
Posted by: ann | August 2nd, 2012 at 5:33 am
Wow Martha, what a tutorial on entertaining and creative use of objects to display and serve food and beverages! Love it, the urns and buckets holding the beverages, the chinese rugs covering the bar tables, the votive candle holders for the soups....genius! The lily arrangments looked gorgeous and how cute did Jude look inspecting the tiger lilies! What a pleasant surprise to see how big Truman is getting, such a cute baby! Congrats on a successful party Martha, you're such an inspiration.
Posted by: Cindy F | August 2nd, 2012 at 6:19 am
Hey I know Cynthia in #32. She and her husband own my FAVORITE eatery in Keller Texas. Love love love them!
Posted by: Pat Rousseau | August 2nd, 2012 at 9:28 am
Martha,
You sure do know how to throw a party! Everything looked great! Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | August 2nd, 2012 at 9:32 am
Hi Martha, WOW! OMG! What a fantastic blog today about You hosting a party for the Garden Club of Mount Desert at Skylands! This is one of your best postings so far and I love every bit of it! How great that the weather improved for all of those delightful people to enjoy seeing the beauty of your fabulous Skylands! It's easy to see why yours was the most successful Garden Tour ever-It sure would have been fun to be there, but this tour for us is wonderful! How great to have Pierre, his friends, and your workers at Skylands for this event! Everything that he provided for everyone was so delicious looking and once again my mouth is watering! Everyone of these photos is stunning and I enjoy viewing them again and again! Those lilies are gorgeous and you look so cute in photo #3! How great to see darling, little Jude in photo #10-bet she had a great time! How fun to finally see handsome, little Truman in photo #45-bet he had fun, too! Was also special to see Dick Wolf in photo # 29-great guy! The inside and outside of Skylands look absolutely fantastic and I'm sure everyone enjoyed being there! Thanks so much for sharing this terrific blog! Sure hope you are having fun in Maine again and tomorrow is a special day! Sure hope Alexis, Jude, and Truman are there with you again! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | August 2nd, 2012 at 9:55 am
Hi Martha,
I think Gail Clark pretty much summed it up with her comment - "Fabulous Party - Wow", and I couldn't agree more. That was such a big undertaking! I liked the idea of soup in votive candle holders, you are so clever, and your flower arrangements were gorgeous. I have an urn exactly like the one in picture #13 but I didn't know it was Chinese. Maybe I'll use it at my next pool party. Once again, you are the best hostess and what a wonderful blog this was! Thanks. Trish
Posted by: Trish | August 2nd, 2012 at 10:45 am
Wishing you a very Happy Birthday tomorrow, Martha. Today is my dear mother's 83rd birthday. We sat perusing a magazine in the carport, looking out at the lush MD greenery. We were wondering which of your guests was you on pages 82 and 83?
Posted by: Susan Louise | August 2nd, 2012 at 12:47 pm
How positively lovely! Martha, have you ever been to the Nantucket house and garden tours? Someday I will make it to the island for this...when life slows down a bit
Visit my blog to see what's been happening in my Massachusetts southcoast garden this summer.
Posted by: Nantucket Daffodil | August 2nd, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Just seeing all those lilies cut and ready for arranging makes me once more want to order and plant a couple of hundred..... where are those bulbs catalogs again?
Actually Diana CAN see your creation for her.....it is here on the blog.... but no fragrance which is at least 50% of the enjoyment.
Now you have tiger lilies on the table....and who else is on the table??? a cutie !!
Now time to do some research on Oliva Italian Eatery in Keller as I am just a stone's throw from Keller.
Posted by: Susan | August 2nd, 2012 at 6:18 pm
Martha,
Thank you for opening up your gorgeous home to us for this party. The food, the setting, and the guests were incredible. I enjoyed to opportunity to chat with you especially after missing you at Auldbrass. You are very gracious and charming. If you ever get the chance, I would love to take you riding in Chicagoland in the equestrian community I live in (Barrington Hills). We have over 70 miles of private trails and it is only 30 minutes from O'Hare. You could see my "Martha Inspired" gardens.
Thank you again for your hospitality.
Happy Birthday tomorrow! You look fabulous!
Fondly, Peg Judd
PS ... Where did you get your Friesians? That is my next horse. Gorgeous!
Posted by: Peg Judd | August 2nd, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Beautiful lilies and specially love the cheese straws arrangement. Thank you for sharing Martha.
Posted by: Jimmy Ng | August 2nd, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Happy Birthday Martha...dance like nobody's watching!!!
Posted by: Terri Springs | August 2nd, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Dear Martha,
Happy Birthday To You!!! You look fabulous, keep up the good work!
It ain't easy being beautifu, is it? LOL
Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow!
I see your Tweets that you are at the Bedford Post. The food sounds delish!! My Aunt and I came to see you talk at the Apple store in Soho last week.
Your new Craft App looks great. I know my 13 year old daughter will love it.
Thanks once again for providing me on this post with some lovely pictures to set my computer's background to for my home screen! Warmest wishes on your special day!!!
Posted by: Kim from N.J. | August 2nd, 2012 at 11:23 pm
The beautiful photos are the next best thing to being there. They capture the details of yet another elegant Skylands event. Thank you for always sharing with your devoted Facebook Friends.
Posted by: Marsha Miles | August 3rd, 2012 at 1:23 am
Martha, your library of Maine books are so exciting displayed flat on your library tables!!! How do the guests ever go have fun around the property? I would get lost in there for hours with my nose stuck in all of the books. This is the one hard thing about digital publishing, it loses something in shared browsing with friends. I love browsing hard copies. I love all of your book posts and would love to read more posts about your opinions on digital publishing and how it will effect the industries of publishing itself and also interior design of library-type spaces. It would be fun if you did a blog post with shoutouts to your favorite Maine books and stories.
I LOVE everything else, especially the lilies and your council ring. The closest Midwest equivalent I have experienced is Door County which has beautiful lillies every summer and cherishes Jens Jensens history there.
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Karen | August 3rd, 2012 at 5:44 am
Hello Martha,
Of course the party was very Martha-like. Only you can throw a fabulous party like that. Did it bring back memories of catering? Making all those biscuits must have. Love that Truman is part of the staff now. He did do some of the flower arrangements as we saw in the photos. Cute. Miss your show.
Xoxo
Posted by: Tim | August 3rd, 2012 at 10:04 pm
What a beautiful party! I am going to use several of these ideas for our future gatherings! We missed Cynthia and Justin while they were gone from Oliva here in Keller, TX.....
Posted by: Dana | August 6th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
! Ms. Martha ......Trmn looks just like you in your baby pictures.....what fab eyes!!! ,,,,,,,a modern Kewpie Dollll!!!!!,,,,,,good job Alex and ??,,,,,,,couldn't resist that tease.....after all, you never had a kid sister.......LOL M.......
Posted by: memoir | August 8th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Dear Martha,
I cannot begin to tell you how much I LOVE your blog and your Martha Stewart Living Site. I often think I'll just pop in and have a look, and hours later, I'm still on your site having cruised through floral arranging, house organising, recipes, etc. I end up going to sleep much later than I intended. You have been a wonderful inspiration to me..... so much so that this year, I have renovated and built on a gorgeous laundry a la Martha Stewart and decluttered and revamped my home office. Thanks for kicking my butt to put my house in order. Blessings and much love, Ann (Cape Town South Africa.)
Posted by: Ann | August 18th, 2012 at 6:16 pm