An elegant pumpkin affair with French flare

For my twentieth Disney Dinner, I went classic Disney with one of the most beloved princesses of all time: Cinderella. When I think Cinderella, I think of her ice blue dress, pumpkins, a horse-drawn carriage, her adorable mice friends, and Disney magic all around. Cinderella goes to the palace for a ball, making this one of the fancier Disney themes. Out of all of my Disney Dinners, this one feels the most like a fairy tale come to life. Here’s how I hosted my Cinderella dinner party, recipes and all!

“They can’t order me to stop dreaming” – Cinderella

“Salagadoola mechicka boola
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!” – Fairy Godmother

The Ambiance

Cinderella is such a dreamy movie so I wanted to capture that with the decor. I hung my twinkle light curtains on either side of my dining room doorway and left them twinkling all night long. I tied blue tulle bows in the entryway as a nod to the little birds who help Cinderella tie the bows on her dress before the ball. I also had a Cinderella pumpkin on the coffee table and a broom in the doorway.

For the first time ever, I used chair sashes. I thought they screamed “elegant, royal ball,” which is what I was going for. Plus these particular sashes happen to look very similar to Cinderella’s headband!

I hung a silky blue sash from my curtain rod, which looked awfully royal, I thought, and wrote “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” on my chalkboard, also tied with a tulle bow.

I styled the side table with a dreamy fairytale pumpkin vase (which my sister-in-law got me for me Christmas; thanks, Sissy!) filled with white hydrangeas, pumpkins, and silver votive candles.

Most notably, I hung a large custom print from LG Creative Studios on my dining room wall. I lost my mind when I found this gem on Etsy! How special is this?! You can get your own here.

“Have courage and be kind.” – Ella’s mother

The Table

The table was really very simple! I styled the table with an ice blue tablecloth, a sparkly Cinderella carriage, two white pumpkins, and two small vases with a few white roses. I wanted understated elegance, particularly since the place settings are so dramatic.

The Place Setting

Hello, sparkles! I used the most fabulous silver glitter placemats, which I styled the whole table around. This is also only my second time using round placemats at a Disney Dinner, the first time being at Peter Pan. I used my white china with silver touches because I wanted pure white dishes. Each guest also had a white pumpkin soup tureen, which I scored last winter deeply discounted. It was these tureens that made me decide to do a Cinderella dinner!

Each place was set with a lacy white napkin tucked into my favorite silver crown napkin rings and each guest had their own twinkly candle.

The Fashion

For my Cinderella Disney bounding, I wore my ice blue Daily Sleeper off-the-shoulder dress with the most fabulous puffy sleeves. I tied my hair part up in a matching blue bow and wore a Cinderella carriage necklace.

“Oh, it’s a beautiful dress! Did you ever see such a beautiful dress? And look! Glass slippers. Why, it’s like a dream. A wonderful dream come true!” – Cinderella

My friends looked so dapper for the occasion!

The Drink

Meet The Glass Slipper: a blue champagne cocktail that tastes as fancy as it looks. With just a couple of ingredients, this drink is simple to make! I served the cocktails with magic wand stirrers alongside my own glass slipper, which I made using a silicone ice mold. How fun is that? Alternatively, you could make the cocktail as a punch and put the glass slipper ice in the punch. Get the recipe here.

For dinner, I served a wonderful French-style bottle of wine, Kuhlman Cellars’ 2017 Astéries. It’s a gorgeous old world Bordeaux style blend, perfectly on theme for our French dinner! A blend of Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec, this wine really went beautifully with the mustard cream sauce, tenderloin, and crispy leeks.

“A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep.” – Cinderella

The Food

I wanted a magical menu fit for a princess that had a bit of a French flare, since the original Cinderella story is French in origin.

Cinderella Menu:
Pumpkin Cheese Ball
Fairytale Pumpkin Soup
Cinderella’s Royal Roast
When the Clock Strikes Twelve

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

I’ve been making this cheese ball since I was a teenager but it’s never made it on The Rose Table before because I typically make it on Halloween! (And no one cares about Halloween recipes on November 1.) It’s super easy to make and it stays good for a week so it’s a perfect make-ahead party recipe. Plus, it’s adorable! Get the recipe here.

In a Disney Dinners first, I set this pumpkin cheese ball out with cocktails in the sitting room for a casual cocktail hour along with the cutest embossed carriage napkins.

Fairytale Pumpkin Soup

Like our favorite Fairy Godmother, I made this soup out of a real pumpkin! Roasting a pumpkin with garlic and rosemary will make your house smell divine. You can also make this a day or two before serving, making it a great option for Thanksgiving. You could get a fairytale pumpkin for decor all fall, then roast it up a few days before Thanksgiving for this gorgeous soup. How thrifty!

I served this soup in the darling white soup tureens, which I thought made it look all that more magical. Get the recipe here.

Cinderella’s Royal Roast

For the main course, I thought, What might the king have served at the ball?  So I served a Royal Roast: beef tenderloin with roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus, crispy leeks (so French!), and a fabulous champagne mustard cream sauce. It’s dinner fit for a Disney princess! Get the recipe here.

When the Clock Strikes Twelve

This might just be my favorite Disney Dinners dessert. It’s cute as heck! Here mini pumpkin cheesecakes with cinnamon whipped cream are placed on top of cocoa powder clocks with chocolate caramel mice, the idea being that it’s after midnight and the carriage has turned back into a pumpkin (cheesecake) and the horses have turned back into (chocolate) mice. When I tested this recipe for my mom and my friend Irene, we squealed at how cute it was. And it tastes even better! Eat it before the mice do – it is cheese, after all! Get the recipe here.

“On the stroke of twelve, the spell will be broken, and everything will be as it was before.” – Fairy Godmother

It was a delicious evening made even better by the joyous company. Thank you all for joining me for the first twenty Disney Dinners. It makes me so happy to share the magic with you. I hope all of your dreams come true and that you all live happily ever after! Comment and let me know what Disney themes (or other party themes!) you’d like to see me do next.

Want to see more? Watch the Cinderella episode of The Rose Table:

Thanks for reading! Binge watch all of my Disney Dinners here. Don’t forget! I now have a cookbook! Dreams really do come true. Order The Rose Table cookbook here.

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Make your own magic,

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