Setting a Beautiful Table
Whether you are having a weeknight family dinner, or hosting guests for a party, setting a pretty table always lends a graciousness to the occasion. One of the most rewarding parts of entertaining at home is creating a beautiful table, at least for me! Whether you are planning a sit down meal or a buffet, the table should look inviting and create the mood for the event.
I hosted a breakfast meeting for a team of volunteers last weekend, and the mood I wanted to create was “bring-on-spring”. We’ve escaped most of the winter months relatively unscathed here in the frozen north and even had a few teaser spring-like days, and I wanted to celebrate that. Our meeting was to discuss the events and responsibilities for our team in the coming months, so a spring table seemed appropriate!
A bronze metal trough of pink hydrangeas sets the tone for a spring breakfast table #centerpieces #springtablesetting
The Colors
I chose colors that look good with my room decor and felt spring-like, obviously. PRO TIP: always take the room decor into account when decorating your table for an event - you want the room decor to enhance the event not clash with it!
In my case, I chose pink and spring green with white for my color scheme. This looks nice on my dark cherry table and plays well with the colors in the window treatments, rug, and upholstery.
Miniature plants in white tote boxes make excellent favors at each place setting and, with the addition of a name tag could double as place cards #partyfavor #placecard #tablesetting
The Ingredients
We were planning a sit down breakfast, so the table was set with charger plates in a spring green with scalloped edges, floral vintage china, and a variety of different teacups from my collection - I chose all floral designs in pastels that blended with the china. The centerpiece is the same bronze metal trough I used for winter greens and pinecones, but I switched those out for an abundant display of faux hydrangeas in shades of pink (more on the best faux flower choices HERE). Stemware was used for juice glasses.
I like to provide a small token of appreciation to our guests - especially since this was a volunteer team and we could not do such fabulous work without them! In keeping with the theme, I found tote bag shaped favor boxes and pink shred at the Dollar Store, and filled them with candy and miniature flowering plants from Trader Joe’s. It was an inexpensive detail that looked festive at each place setting and gave all our guests a thoughtful little gift to take home!
Lemon-ginger and cinnamon chip miniature scones are two delightful pastry choices for a breakfast or afternoon tea menu #breakfastpastry #scones #afternoontea
The Food
Since this was advertised as a light breakfast, we offered the following menu:
Quiche Lorraine (best ever quiche recipe HERE)
Fresh fruit salad
Two varieties of miniature scones, lemon-ginger, and cinnamon chip (basic recipe HERE)
Clotted cream (this is the food of the gods!), ginger jam, and lemon curd for the scones
Orange juice, coffee, and tea
Elegant entertaining is not difficult, it just takes a bit of thought and the right essentials on hand. Also, it is an excellent way to justify an addiction to beautiful dishes and serving pieces (There probably ought to be a support group for that somewhere).
PRO TIP: You don’t even have to cook as long as you have a good resource to purchase prepared food, but PLEASE take it out of the carryout containers and transfer it to serving pieces. It is always nice to have an abundance of food for a bountiful looking table, but if you don’t want a ton of leftovers hanging around eyeing your hips suspiciously, offer your guests boxes or containers to take home some of that bounty. I offloaded quite a few of the all too tempting lemon-ginger scones this way :-).
The key to graceful host(ess)ing is to set the stage and then enjoy the party along with your guests - this puts everyone at ease!
Related posts you might enjoy
Elegant Entertaining Made Easy: The Key Ingredients