
The Ultimate Guide to Setting Your Table This Christmas
Having to cater to a larger crowd gathering around your dinner table for the Christmas festivities can make the task of setting the table that much more challenging, even if you may be the master of decorating your tree and your home for the season, let alone getting it to look as spectacular as you’d want it to!
Obviously, the most important part of how you set your table is the food you choose to serve. Whether you’ve gone the traditional route with a home cooked spread, or chose to add some pizzazz by searching for “clambake catering near me” and serving seafood, how you present you dishes is very important.
And that’s why we’ve created a simple, three-step guide to make it much easier for you to create that WOW factor you’re undoubtedly looking to achieve with the setting of your dinner table for Christmas.
Step 1: Decorating and Dressing the Table
Starting off with a completely blank canvas (take everything off the table), consider how many people are going to come around for dinner, which will give you a good indication of how much space you will require. Since your cutlery and crockery will be eating up a lot of space, when playing around with decoration ideas for your table, you have to consider how it will look with the cutlery and crockery forming part of it, as well as how much room it will be taking up.
Dress your table with a plain patterned or coloured table cloth to keep your table dressing simple if you suspect that you won’t have that much space left. That should be more than enough to dress the table a little differently and more elegantly than how you’d dress it for your regular dinners, otherwise the table can be dressed with beautiful coasters, accessories and placemats if you want to show off the table itself.
If you want to achieve both effects discussed for longer tables, you can use a table runner. If you have the room to work with then you can apply both approaches uninhibited, brining together your beautiful table cloth with spectacular, layered placemats of different sizes and textures. Make sure to stick to a colour scheme so that you offset the risk of things becoming too busy and chaotic.
Step 2: The Correct Way to Set Your Table
Since the festive cheer of Christmas time is all about family and fun, the regular rules and regulations of table setting can be bent and stretched to your liking. The vital aspect lies in the practicality of setting the table correctly, and you have the flexibility to infuse your personal touch.
You can start by laying a beautiful piece of tablecloth that matches the Christmas season vibe. Also, consider placing the main dinner plates at the center of each setting, and arrange the forks to the left, knives to the right, and spoons to the right of the knives. When it comes to glassware, position the water glasses close to the dinner knives. In addition, consider adding a personalized touch by arranging specific beverage glasses for the right kind of drink. For instance, if you plan to serve American whisky, you can set up whisky glasses and for wine enthusiasts, you can arrange beautiful wine glasses.
Step 3: Adding the Finishing Touches
Ultimately, setting a table for Christmas that looks fit for the spectacular occasion it undoubtedly is, while taking nothing away from the practicality, is all about the number of people who will be enjoying the occasion with you, and how you balance out your tableware and table dressing. It’s perhaps an exercise you’ll have to take through a trial run in more of a visual sense to match the picture you have shaping up in your head, because what might work mentally may not necessarily translate practically.
Don’t be afraid to add your own special touches to the more classic table setting and dressing traditions!