An 18th Century Weekend at Wagner House

This past September there was an 18th century themed weekend at Wagner House (Lakewold Gardens) in Lakewood, Washington, hosted by Vanessa of @pinksewing. The weekend consisted of a picnic and a dinner, plus a day of workshops. Jenny of Jennylafleur taught a historical hair class and Denise of Romantic Recollections taught fly fringe. Additionally, photoshoots were provided by Gloria and Mike of In the Long Run Designs and there were trunk shows from Redthreaded and Dames a la Mode.

Here is a photo of the attendees of the picnic, taken by In the Long Run Designs.

And the following are the beautifully attired dinner guests, photo also by In the Long Run Designs.

Wagner House is not huge but very elegant. The rooms of the house have been converted to conference/meeting rooms. Downstairs there’s a dining room, solarium, bathroom, marbled foyer, library, and kitchen. We were not allowed upstairs but could take photos at the bottom of the stairs during dinner. In my opinion though, my favorite parts were the gardens and the beautiful woods surrounding the property!

I am in love with this library!

Wagner House is not set up for overnight stays so most of us stayed in a nearby hotel or Airbnb and drove to Lakewold Gardens for the events. Some guests were local to Washington state.

In the first group photo I am wearing my 18th century shepherdess costume, and you can read more about it in my previous post.(Photo by In the Long Run Designs).

In the second group photo I am wearing a mauve silk Italian gown that I previously wore to the Casanova exhibit at the Legion of Honor, but added additional trim to for this event. (Photo by In the Long Run Designs).

I normally wear this dress with a large split bum pad, but it would have taken up half the space in my suitcase, so I opted for a smaller half-moon bum pad and a petticoat. More petticoats would have created a fluffier look, but sometimes we have to make allowances for travel!

And here are photos of some of the beautiful guests! I enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones.

Here is Beth in her beautiful candy stripes.

Ginger is so fluffy!

Laina and Cathyn made a striking couple.

The colors that Denise and her husband wore were luminous in person.

Lindsey looked so pretty in pink, and I loved her hair!

Sacque gowns are fantastic from the back!

A shot of Ginger from the picnic.

Taylor and Jenny in stripes during the daytime event.

Guests were milling about before dinner.

Dinner was delightful! Vanessa took care of every detail, including limiting the number of seats at each table to fit all our giant dresses. There was also a pianist and bartender! 😉  I’m afraid my camera wasn’t good enough to do the food justice under the lighting conditions, so I’ll just provide the menu here so I can reminisce fondly:

Appetizers:
Bacon Wrapped Chili Chicken Bites
Cranberry Brie Bites
Herbed Mushroom Puffs

Dinner:
Mixed Greens Salad w/Apples, Goat Cheese, w/Balsamic Viniagrette
Tuscan Chicken
Beef Bourguignon
Garlic Parmesan Pasta
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Herb Zucchini
Foccacia Bread

Dessert:
Rose & Lemon Macarons
Black Forest Trifles
Vanilla Cream Puffs

As a parting gift we all received an engraved fan as a memento of the weekend, as well as a champagne and macarons enamel pin by Aimee Steinberger.

Thank you Vanessa for a magical weekend!