Diner en Blanc began in Paris in 1988 when Francois Pasquier decided to organise a picnic for his friends. As the number of guests grew, he decided to hold the dinner in a public space and ask everyone to dress in all white to easily recognise one another. These days the tradition continues in different locations around the world! This year was the first time it was coming to Perth!

The event is ridiculously exclusive. You need to be invited and escorted by someone who has attended previously. We were lucky to be invited by friends who had attended in Singapore. The rules are as such;

1. Everything must be white. Clothes. Tableware. Tables. Chairs.
2. Everything must be fancy. Clothes. Tableware. Tables. Chairs. No plastic or paper. Porcelain all the way.
3. Everything (except alcohol) is BYO. Tableware. Tables. Chairs. Food.
4. Everything is a secret. You can’t know the location until you’re on the way there.
5. Everything is expensive. Just jokes, that’s not a rule, just a fact.

We were meeting the group leader from Leederville (haha, zing) so we met up with our “sponsors” at their house nearby prior. We had to drag our things from their house to the Leederville Station, from there to Elizabeth Quay station, then across the road to the Quay itself. Once we had set up in a row we collected our booze and waited for the official waving of the napkins, indicating that dinner could begin.

After dinner we waited for the lighting of the sparklers, which is the official opening of the dance floor. We danced and carried on until our feet were sore…. and then realised we had to drag all our tables and chairs home again. D’oh.

Although a fun experience, I would say this about it; it’s a once in a lifetime experience, as in – you only need to do it once. It’s such a pain the the butt to drag your stuff around, and so expensive for something you provide practically everything for. But I would go again in a different city, just to experience the different surroundings.