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This post is a little bit late but too good not to share with y’all! At the end of last month I was lucky enough to attend the chicest picnic in DC with my friend Julien! I have been wanting to attend Diner en Blanc since I first heard about it a couple of years ago but unfortunately never was able to get off the waiting list. This year was different, I got my registration time and I cleared my schedule to make sure I was online and ready to go the minute the clock hit 10:00. It was beyond worth it.
With everything going on this summer, the back and forth between CA, DC and Boston, a few days before the event I didn’t have a date, a dress, or a plan. Thankfully Julien was able to join me and big time help me pull together a plan!
After figuring out food and dresses we made plans to go to The Drybar pre festivities and get ready with a little bit of champagne to start off the night. I wore the most fun and gorgeous Allison Parris dress from Rent the Runway with Kendra Scott earrings. After being pampered and getting ready and armed with our picnic basket, picnic gear and gorgeous flower arrangements courtesy of Urban Stems we were ready to go.
For those of you who don’t know what Diner en Blanc is, it’s a surprise picnic. There are anywhere from 3,000-10,000 attendees, depending on the city, who are given a meeting spot but not told where the final destination of the picnic is. You are required to wear all white, bring all white chairs, tables, and linens and pack a picnic, which if you’re anything like us will consist mostly of cheese. Everyone meets at their designated spot and is led to the secret location where set up commences to transform a public space in the city. In this case it was the Carnegie Library in DC and it did not disappoint.
The dinner is kicked off by everyone waving their napkins (white ones of course) in the air and then lots of toasting to your neighbors, who in our case were strangers at the beginning of the night but friends by the end. After dinner the party is kicked off with sparklers! It’s gorgeous to see and so much fun to be a part of.
Being a part of a sea of thousands of people donned in all white carrying picnic baskets, tables and chairs descending into the metro was awesome. Everyone was so excited, trying to figure out where the final destination would be.
dress / earrings / bracelets / shoes (mine are so old but these are similar)
Saving our deserts for later we headed off to explore, we walked around and did some people watching. It was the best people watching ever, no joke, and I consider myself a bit of a people watching aficionado considering how much time I spend in airports.
We listened to the band, admired the beauty of Carnegie Library and questioned if we were in Rome or DC because it most definitely did not feel like the latter. I did a little #kstreetflip in honor of Julien and my incredible hairdresser Nadine. Seriously, if you’re in DC go say hi for me. She’s a goddess and I miss her!
We met up with some other amazing bloggers from DC and danced the night away.
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It was an incredible night with great company and I’m already dreaming of next years.
