What’s so special about everyone dressing in white, anyway?
Why would I worry about coming up with a menu and cooking fancy food to carry in a cooler to a secret location, when I can either stay at home to eat it, or go to a restaurant?
Why would I want to even pack said picnic, including all the china, crystal and silverware needed for five courses, for four people?
What’s the point of trying my hand at a table centrepiece when I am soooo not artistic?
Once again, why would I want to lug all of this there and back, to then deal with the washing up in the wee hours of the morning?

The truth is, my friends and I didn’t look at it like that. Excitement for the event was too great for us to be too concerned with the logistics.

Two weeks before Le Diner en Blanc Kingston 2016 was set to take place, I thought to myself that I’d quite like to go. I’d read about the concept a number of years ago and in 2015 it made its debut in Kingston, Jamaica. So, when I saw one of the organisers at the Sunnation Breakfast Party, I asked if I could attend. I wasn’t sure which of my friends would join me, but I knew that my husband would not. As he said, when I threw the idea out there, I could ‘Kiss his @&$$’ if I thought he’d be caught dead wearing white. When my cousin called me a couple days later and asked if I would go, it was a done deal. Before long, we were a party of four gals planning a gourmet picnic.

Throughout the short process to prepare for the evening, there was no shortage of conversations with naysayers. This did not deter me, as I am a lady who likes to picnic, I am lady who loves to try new things and I am a lady who was trained to cook and cater for such an event. Doing it for four people was a no-brainer, but the truth is, we divvied up the tasks and, in doing so, we had a blast.

The menu was the easiest thing upon which to decide, as was the execution of cooking it all.

L’Hors d’oeuvre: Prosciutto Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Goat’s Cheese
L’Entree: Sushi Rolls – Griddled Lobster & Scallion and Smoked Marlin & Cucumber

Le Plat Principal: Thinly Sliced Bleu Beef Filet with a Thai Dressing
Roasted Vegetable Quinoa with Mint, Lemongrass & Chadon Beni
Le Plateau de Fromages: Goat, Manchego, Brie & Grapes
Le Dessert: Chocolate, Coconut & Raspberry Bark
Mini Chewy Chocolate Meringues

The tableware was as simple – we had everything.
The centrepiece for the table – use what we had and not worry about what we couldn’t get.
Vessels in which to carry all of the above – initially there were the ‘OMG’ moments, but between a picnic backpack, a pull-along cooler, a picnic basket and an oversized white handbag, we would be good. Somehow, the four of us would manage to carry it all.

Of course, there was the question of what-to-wear? Personally, I have a lot of white clothes – one item in particular is my favourite thing to don – my white Julan jumpsuit. I do not, however, own all-white shoes, so I borrowed some Italian heels from a friend. Nor do I own a white handbag in any shape or form, so I borrowed that too. The other three ladies were also sorted on that front, but I felt that we needed to add something. We needed a signature look. I set out to find four identical white sunglasses that would make us stand out. Well, I found them alright – from a man in downtown Kingston.

On said evening, before sunset, we were on one of the buses heading to the secret venue. While there was much chatter about where we would be going, none of us on the bus could have anticipated that we would be dining at the Usain Bolt track on UWI grounds. Practically thought out, the layout of the land was such that adjacent long tables (reminiscent of my English boarding school and Hogwart’s) could be set up by all one thousand of the participating diners.

Guests moved swiftly to transform trestle tables into beautifully elegant dining tables, adorned with various decorations that organically flowed from one person’s vision to those of the strangers sitting next to them, into what one could only describe as a magical union. The uniformity achieved by this all-white affair was quite apparent. Surrounding us all, the organisers had assembled a framework of lights and decor to encompass our efforts perfectly. The details were just really well thought out, none of which surprised me, frankly. If you knew anything about the two couples who spear-head this event in Kingston, you’d expect the same. They know what they are doing.

What I did not expect, despite having seen photos of people dancing in past DeB events and despite the fact that there was a huge dance floor set up at this DeB event, along with a stage upon which the DJ station was placed, was the party that ensued after eating. You want an OMG moment – this was it. Dressed as if we were all only there to chow on our posh picnics, drink Champagne, wine and sparkling water, and pose off in our white-wears for the countless social-media camera men and women invited to be there, we carried on as if we were either at carnival or in the most pumping nightclub known to man (and woman!). We danced, we danced and we danced some more…….and my plan is to keep dancing until Le Diner en Blanc 2017.