River Oaks Hostess Creates Some of the World’s Most Beautiful Parties

It came as no surprise to friends when Sheridan Williams was named, earlier this year, to the Salonnière 100. The all-things-chic website saluted the native Houstonian and 99 others across the country for their fabulous talent for entertaining.

In a photographic salute to the grand dinner parties and luncheons that Sheridan and John Eddie Williams regularly host at their River Oaks home, we take our readers through the seasons in a photographic review of some of their most beautiful parties.

While the lady of the house is instrumental in planning her soirèes and midday fêtes, she credits Richard Flowers of The Events Company with the floral creativity and Peter Duffney with his own brand of inventiveness for orchestration.

What would a fabulous fête du bien manger be without exquisite place settings? And there, the Williamses are well set. In fact, Sheridan’s china closet, actually a walkthrough with glass cabinets displaying a world of fine porcelains and crystal, is one of her favorite rooms in the house.

From the shelves to the tables, regularly moves a stunning array of Royal Copenhagen’s Flora Danica, Wedgewood’s Wild Strawberry, Herend’s Bouquet de Rust and Royal Doulton’s Carlyle, to name a few. Of her three silver patterns, Romance of the Sea by Wallace is one she frequently uses. Her crystal is typically Saint Louis in various color incarnations, occasionally mixed with Waterford goblets and Baccarat stemware. The piece de resistance of her tablescapes, beyond the flowers, are the grand crystal candelabra from Baccarat.

And then there are the to-die-for napkin rings. She finds most of these sometimes whimsical, always divine pieces at Thomas Goode of London. Often, the bejeweled napkin rings are so fabulous that dinner guests can’t help but toy with them as dinner rings for the hand or over-the-top earrings.

Every entertainment at the Williams home presents a swoon-worthy table setting, frequently complimented by the catering talents of Elizabeth Swift’s Swift + Company, Barbara McKnight’s Culinaire and others.

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