I stewed and stewed over how to do the napkins for this and finally decided on the most simple style after rewatching the movie. This is my favorite place setting yet! I used silver chargers and my Emma plates from Pottery Barn. It’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs but what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom.” – Jack Sparrow It feels sexy, mysterious, and very different from an arrangement you would typically see. I love the red and purple color combination for Pirates because it’s unusual. I used red alstroemeria (also called lily of the Incas), red roses, and purple spider mums. I did two centerpieces for Pirates because I just so happened to have two old-world-y pewter vases. Notice the green apples also formed a Hidden Mickey! Jack even teases him at one point by taking a bite out of a nice, juicy apple, knowing it will bother him. He offers a green apple to Elizabeth during her time on the ship and (*spoiler alert*) drops a green apple after he dies, never getting to take the bite he so longs for. Green apples are featured throughout The Curse of the Black Pearl, as Captain Barbossa loves them.
I brought in another side table for Pirates and styled with another pillar candle, a chest full of edible pirate coins, and a pewter dish full of green apples. That is not a decoration: that’s the real deal from a tiny island much like the one Jack and Elizabeth are marooned one. My friend Sarah and I actually ate that conch for lunch! Read the story behind the conch shell here. I styled the side table with a lantern, pillar candle, and conch shell I brought back from Turks and Caicos. “Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.” – Jack Sparrow
Going with the 1700s theme, the time period that the movie is set in, I used four taper candles in silver candleholders. I found the adorable octopus at Michael’s to be a nod to Davey Jones. I styled the table with a black tablecloth, fishing net cut into a makeshift table runner, and shells I pulled out of the ocean on various trips to the Caribbean. I decorated the back wall with fishing net draped on a canvas print of the Caribbean, a photo I took in Turks and Caicos.Ī fog machine added to the Black Pearl atmosphere (pro tip: we had a window open so the fog did not stay trapped in the house) and my lanterns helped illuminate the dining room. I used sheer black cloth to cover my china cabinet and to hang from the opening to my dining room.
I was originally going to go with much more of a modern Caribbean theme but seeing as Moana is next month, I decided to take a hard left turn and go with Pirate decor, inspired by Captain Barbossa’s dining room on the Black Pearl. I wish my dining room always looked like a captain’s galley. Here’s how I hosted my Pirates of the Caribbean dinner party, recipes and all! This is the only non-animated film that’s part of my Disney Dinners series. This dinner was especially fun for me now that I’ve spent so much time in the Caribbean these last few years. To me, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl has everything you could ever want in a movie: pirates, swords, adventure, a supernatural curse, beautiful scenery, an epic soundtrack, pirate ships, humor, romance, Johnny Depp at his finest, an old-timey setting, fantastic quotes, rum, more humor, more adventure…even a horse drawn carriage makes a brief appearance! “This is either madness… or brilliance.” – Will Turner