For a lobster dinner by the sea, a red-and-white checked tablecloth creates a casual yet classic feel.
Whether you're hosting dinner for four guests or cocktails for 50, how you style the table sets the tone for your gathering. Practical considerations include what food and beverages you will be serving, what utensils will be needed and whether your guests will be seated or milling around. Design considerations include how casual or formal you want the occasion to feel and whether there is a holiday or other event you'd like the accessories to reflect. Budgetary concerns are important but don't have to be limiting -- a formal affair can be chic on the cheap when you know style a table to achieve the effect you desire. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. List the practical considerations for your gathering, including the number of guests you expect and the exact food and beverages you will serve. Determine how many and what sizes of glassware, flatware, serving dishes and plates you need. Know whether your guests will mingle or be seated for most of the evening; this will determine the height of your centerpieces. Decide how formal you want your event to feel.
2. Rent, buy or make tablecloths to establish the tone of the gathering. Select formal white linens to enhance a classically elegant mood. Rent them if your group is large. Find splashy cotton prints at any housewares outlet for a cheerful daytime baby shower. Buy disposable paper or biodegradable plastic tablecloths in the colors of your favorite sports team for a Super Bowl party. Consider vintage stores for a range of linens that are particularly suited for eclectic mixing. Make tablecloths yourself if you have the skills by buying yardage of fabrics that appeal to you.
3. Select flatware and dishes that reflect the level of formality you would like to convey. Adorn picnic tables at a casual wedding barbecue with checkered cloths, paper plates, paper napkins and biodegradable plastic silverware in the wedding party's favorite colors. Polish up your grandmother's silver for a holiday meal. Mix and match the silver with china collected from yard sales for a casual but dignified celebration. Unify this look by folding large white linen napkins into squares and centering them on each plate.
4. Design your centerpieces. Alter each centerpiece slightly for a dynamic impression, maintaining your theme by keeping flower choices or vase shapes the same. Try a bouquet of bold red gerbera daisies in a blue vase on one table, hot pink blooms in a yellow vase on another. Riff on the main centerpiece by scattering gerbera blossoms across place settings for an exuberant impression of summer. Select votives and short flower arrangements so that guests can see one another across the table if you are hosting a seated meal. Offer centerpieces of compact potted plants such as kalanchoe as parting gifts for guests. Place a prize ticket in the form of a vintage postcard or photograph of the guest of honor beneath several plates to determine who takes home the centerpiece. Use taller centerpieces at cocktail parties where guests will stand and mingle. Make the giant candelabra that has been hiding in the box of knick-knacks in the attic the star of a buffet table. Fill tall tiered platters with appetizers or desserts. Use multiple centerpieces for long tables.
5. Select additional table accessories such as place cards and gifts that reflect the theme of your event. Seek out quirky touches such as napkin rings adorned with plastic flowers for a birthday dinner. Browse the dollar store for playful parting gifts that complement the kitschy theme like plastic fruit refrigerator magnets or wind-up crabs. Float white candles in individual bowls for a peaceful evening birthday celebration. Continue the theme of elegant simplicity by placing a handsome box of chocolates beside a handwritten place card. Complete the look by placing a stem with a barely open flower bud in a sleek white bud vases next to the guest's name.
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