How to Prepare Tablescapes
Layering is the key to creating a dramatic tablescape. Start with a tablecloth and build from there, adding dishes, silver, crystal, candles and flowers. Vary the height of the items on the table. Tablescapes demonstrate a hostess's attention to detail and make any party seem special. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Tablecloth
- Dinnerware
- Flatware
- Stemware
- Accent pieces
- Centerpiece
- Party favors
Instructions
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Choose a theme for your event. Inspiration for your theme can come from a birthday, a holiday, a big game, nature or your guests. A tablescape can evoke a winter birthday, a picnic at the beach or a summer garden party.
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Drape a solid-colored tablecloth over your table. You can use a plain white tablecloth with nearly any theme, but a rich, deep color sets a dramatic mood for a formal event. Fabric print tablecloths are too busy for tablescaping, but a subtle stripe or tone-on-tone embossed pattern adds interesting detail to this first layer of the tablescape.
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Set the dinnerware at each place. For a formal dinner, place a colored charger under a dinner plate and top the plate with a small bowl or bread plate. For a Superbowl party, layer a white paper charger, a paper plate with a bright football theme and a small white desert plate. Arrange flatware or color coordinated plasticware at each place setting. Place stemware, disposable plastic cups or color-coordinated paper cups at each place setting.
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Place a centerpiece in the middle of the table. Build height at the table by stacking a pyramid of mandarin oranges on a tall cut glass pedestal, arranging cupcakes on a spiral stand or putting tall branches in a vase. Natural materials like flowers and fruit make stunning centerpieces, but a football nestled on a square of fake grass is just right for a Superbowl party.
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Add themed accents to the table. Tall tapered candles, figurines, seashells, strands of beads, gourds, garlands, nosegays, confetti and Christmas ornaments are some of the items that work well as accents in a tablescape. Suspend crystal beads or streamers from the ceiling to fill the space between the table and the chandelier.
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Finish each place setting with a party favor for each guest. A votive candle wrapped in a ribbon, a bookmark, a keychain or a compact are inexpensive party favors that let guests take a piece of the party home.
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Tips & Warnings
You can use mismatched dinnerware if it has some element in common. Different colored Fiestaware pieces are all round with rings along the outer edge. Mix and match blue and white dinnerware or floral patterns in similar colors.
Never leave burning candles unattended. Light the candles just before you sit down to eat, and snuff them out before you leave the dining room.
References
- Photo Credit The blue dinner service with a candlestick image by Arkady Chubykin from Fotolia.com
