The First White House State Dinner Serves Up Modern Design

President Obama and First Lady Michelle hosted their first official State Dinner on November 24, welcoming Indian President Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur to their grand Washington, D.C. home -- with a couple of hundred other guests. The State Dinner stands out for its modern decor and especially elegant ambiance. Here's your seat at the biggest (and most stylish) event in the nation last night.

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The Obamas greeted their guests at the North Portico of the White House. Here, they meet the guests of honor -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur. Just wait until you get inside.

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The White House set up a large tent on the South Lawn to hold the dinner. Chandeliers were woven with greenery -- an ode to Michelle's love of gardening, perhaps -- and tables were lined with candles. On the walls, you might notice arrangements of magnolia branches. Also serving as decor, locally grown ivy and nandina foliage.

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The round tables were draped in apple green linens, and in honor of the Indian Peacock, deep purple flowers were placed at the center of each table. Designed by White House florist Laura Dowling and her team, the centerpieces are meant to evoke "the classic American garden," says the First Lady's Office. They're made up of purple, plum and fuchsia hydrangea, garden roses and sweet peas. All of the bouquets will be re-used throughout the White House after the dinner, a purposeful act of recycling.

Gerald Herbert, AP

The tables were set with dishware from the White House's historic China collection. The service plates are Castleton China from the Eisenhower administration and Lenox plates from the Clinton years that were commissioned to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the White House. The dinner plates, also designed by Lenox, hail from the George W. Bush years, a gift of the White House Acquisition Trust in 2009.

Gerald Herbert, AP

Some of the food hailed from Michelle's famous White House gardens. Guests nibbled on a dinner cooked with herbs and lettuce from the White House garden. The honey used with the poached pears came from the White House beehive. Desserts were garnished with mint and lemon verbena growing in the White House Kitchen Garden.

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White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford and Guest Chef Marcus Samuelsson created the menu. Since the Indian Prime Minister is a vegetarian, there were lots of healthful choices, including potato and eggplant salad, red lentil soup and green curry prawns with collard greens.

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A view of the exterior of the grand tent.

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Presidential china patterns date all the way back to the nation's fifth president, James Monroe (or, more likely, his wife Elizabeth Kortright Monroe). Some first ladies, like Rosalynn Carter, don't commission a china pattern of their own, while others delight in the activity. So far, the Obamas have eaten off reproductions of Abraham Lincoln's place settings at the inaugural luncheon and the Woodrow Wilson pattern, which Michelle Obama chose to mix with pieces from the 1939 World's Fair for the administration's first state dinner on Feb. 22. Asked before her first hostessing duties at the White House whether she would get to work on a china pattern, Mrs. Obama replied, "I think that's part of the job."

At left, Mrs. Obama discusses the menu for the 2009 Governors Dinner on Feb. 22, 2009 as White House Chef Cristeta Comerford and White House Pastry Chef William Yosses look on in the White House kitchen.

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The George W. Bush State China Service.

Ron Edmonds, AP

The White House Magnolia Residence China Service, chosen by Laura Bush.

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A plate from the 300-place service costing $240,000 designed in part by Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 200th anniversary celebration of the White House.

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Soup bowl, fish plate, dessert and dinner plates, ramekin, and fruit bowl from the Ronald Reagan service of 1981, courtesy of The White House Historical Association.

Will Brown, The White House Historical Association

Lyndon B. Johnson Service Plate from 1967, on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Will Brown, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Dwight D. Eisenhower Service Plate circa 1955, on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Will Brown, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Cocktail cup, oatmeal bowl, after-dinner coffee cup, and dinner plate from the Woodrow Wilson service of 1918, courtesy of The White House Historical Association.

Will Brown, The White House Historical Association

Purchase reproduction Benjamin Harrison Presidential China at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum Store.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston

"On Chesapeake Bay" game platter from the Rutherford B. Hayes state service of 1879, courtesy of The White House Historical Association.

Will Brown, The White House Historical Association