How To Set Up The Perfect Tablescape

Having meals together is one of the best acts of social intimacy. Food bonds people together - everyone is present at the moment, relishing delicious food and reminiscing about all the good things in life - all, in the presence of their loved ones. And that’s also why festivals are incomplete without friends and family over for meals! The festive vibe is all about sharing joy - and now that Christmas is around the corner, we’re sure you’ve already made plans to host people closest to you for a hearty festive meal.

Apart from cooking up a lip-smacking meal, if there’s one thing that you must be thinking about is the table setup. After all, when you call over your loved ones for meals, it’s not really a formal dinner, right? Setting up the tables like you usually do will end up making the entire setup formal, and that’s not what you want, especially during the festive season! You want to have a cosy, comfortable setup where your loved ones can sit back and enjoy the delicious food you’ve cooked for them.

 

So we’ve come up with a bunch of ideas that can help you set up the perfect lunch table while retaining the cozy, festive vibe - let’s have a look:

Get the Elements Right

The first step towards getting a table is knowing what goes on to it - plates, bowls, spoons and glasses. Depending on how elaborate the meal is, you need to have all your cutlery and crockery in place. Since it's a festive season and you’re going for the casual look, you can opt for the ‘casual’ setup, in which you have two plates (dinner and salad), a soup bowl, cutlery (spoon, fork and dinner knife) and two glasses (for water and champagne). Now that you know the elements to be added to the table, let’s help you understand how to place them for the casual setup:

 

• The first thing you need to do is lay the placemat on the table.

• Next, place the dinner plate on the plate. Make sure it is right in the middle of the placemat. On top of the dinner plate, you have to place the salad plate.

• Further, if you’re intending to start with the soup course, you need to place the soup bowl atop the salad plate.

• To the left of the dinner plate, place the napkin and keep a fork on the napkin.

• On the right side of the dinner plate, first place the knife and spoon. The knife is to be placed closest to the plate, and the spoon, beside the knife.

• Right above the placement of the knife, you need to keep the water glass. To the right of the water glass, you can place the other glass (wine or any other beverage you plan to serve)

• If you’re planning to keep salt and pepper shakers for every guest, you need to place them at the top of the placemat.

 That’s it! The casual setting of dinner tables is super simple and easy to remember as well. And yes, these are the basic requirements – you can always add in elements required according to the number of dishes you plan to serve. The formal dining table setup is way more elaborate and consists of many more elements, but as far as a casual setup goes, these couple of elements suffice.

Pick Festive Tableware

Because it’s the festive vibe, you can also consider getting Christmas tableware! There are so many festive dinnerware options available out there, that you’ll be left spoilt for choice. Depending on your personal preferences, you can opt for simple, chic tableware or choose bright and sparkly dinner sets. Irrespective of which ones you choose, this Christmassy tableware is sure to bring some festive cheer to the table!

Invest in Golden or Silver Cutlery

Instead of the plain old steel cutlery, go a bit extra and bring home the gold or silver cutlery to add to the festive vibe. This cutlery can instantly glam up the whole dining table, only adding to the Christmassy look. If the gold and silver cutlery blend well with your overall theme, don’t hesitate to put them out on the table.

Add in Some Extra Table Decorations

Cute little flowers, stars, garlands, candles, Christmas ornaments, hollies and other little bits of Christmas decorations too, would help glam up the dining table, without cluttering it too much. All you have to do is ensure you place them well - so that they go well with the entire setup of the dining table and not cause any obstruction to anyone while they’re having their meals.

Add a Floral Touch to the Table

If you have a large dining table, you can always add some foliage or centrepieces to the table. A tiny Christmas tree or some pine cones are perfect, considering the theme is festive. You can also add floral arrangements - do make sure the flowers you pick blend well with other elements on the table such as the tablecloth or the crockery.

Summing Up

Setting up a dinner table for dinners during festivals gives you the liberty to add that extra, sparkly touch to the dining table! And when you have all the scope to be creative and make sure your dining table looks warm, inviting and festive, why let go of the chance? So this Christmas, do try out the table we’ve mentioned above - because why should the Christmas decor be restricted to other parts of your home, your dining table deserves to be all decked up too!