Nov 12, 2010
By New England Design and Construction
After spending so long preparing for your Christmas dinner why put it on something so boring and dull? It’s one of the few times in the year when we actually prepare the dining table for festivities, so lets make it special and do it correctly!
Now, holiday meals should be special, its the time where you should get out your best silverware, dishes, crystal stemware for candles, fine cloth napkins, and nice tablecloth and placemats. Now the point of all this is to create an atmosphere for your family and guests to talk and mingle while enjoying the food and beverages your prepared.
How to set a formal dining table- Some tips how to set a basic formal table
- Forks on the left, spoons and knifes ( direct the blade towards the plate) to the right.
- Remember, the utensils are placed in order in which they are used. Ex, Salad fork goes on the outside.
- side plates to the left of place settings.
- place whineglass at the tip of the main-course knife. Water glass should be also arranged in order in which they are used.
- Napkins under the knife and spoon or on the side plate. You could also put it ontop of the main plate
So depending on what kind of table you have, you could go either way with table clothes and decor.
Something above like the dark wooden table doesn’t need to be covered with a tablecloth, the natural beauty of wood gives it a nice touch, but otherwise, either white or green tablecloth will do.
Now depending on what you have chosen for your tablecloth, your placemat color should contrast it, meaning, you don’t want to mix green on green, its best to do something like red cloth vs green placemat or vice-versa. I don’t tend to use white tableclothes because it’s not really festive in my opinion, I like something deep red or green to really bring out the decorations on the table.
Now, for the dining centerpiece it’s important not to go all crazy about it, shouldn’t be huge or anything, and should be something sturdy, meaning try not having it in a vase or tall. What’s more annoying than trying to talk to someone with a giant glass vase with flowers in it right in front of you? So something quick and easy you can do is something like this. Or try making a small christmas tree for a centerpiece. We have a great tip at https://www.nedesignbuild.com/articles for how to make your own alternative christmas tree.
Simply get some kind of long pan or dish and just decorate it with things you have outside. From pine cones, to branches of pine, you have lots of option. You can put some traditional bulb ornaments to highlight colors or you can put fruits instead just like the one above. This is a great chance to use othercolors besides green and red, such as gold and blue. You want hints of other colors don’t overuse it. And then, matching a candle with the centerpeice helps bring out the colors too, especially if you have lots of glasswares and ornaments it enhances the overall look and brings out colors.
Now that you have the table setup, we have some examples above for you to get an idea of what you can do, what else is there left? Well, what about chair decorations? Maybe some cieling decorations? Give it the one extra mile! Simply tie a bow onto the chair, some smaller pine brances and a pinecone makes it so much better. So maybe you have a chandelier over the table? What can you do with that? Well, make some snowflakes out of white paper to make it even more fun! Makes it seem like its really snowing! Now you’re utilizing everything around you… and above 🙂
Come check us out at https://www.nedesignbuild.com/blog/ for more holiday themed tips and info this up coming few months.
