Dressing your table for Christmas festivities
Colour setting - using Kelling Home x Xavier China with Kelling Home tablecloth and napkins
SCENE SETTING
With family and friends gathering around this festive season, have fun creating a beautiful and thoughtful table setting. An elegant and comfortable table has a major impact on the sense of occasion. For those that know her in person, Emma is great at throwing a party where her decorative skills create stunning tables and memorable events.
Here are some thought starters from her which you might like for planning your own table:
Do you want to create a theme? If not, perhaps you could choose a colour palate to make a cohesive look. At this time of year red is often used for warmth and green is always a soothing colour whose multiple variants blend easily. Deep colours look fabulous in candlelight and can set a scene.
Think about the space you have and guests you wish to entertain - does your furniture and table need repositioning to allow for chairs? If you have the space, can your guests get easily around the table? You might like to move guests around between courses to change the dynamics!
Tablecloths set the stall, and we love Kelling Home own hand blocked cotton tablecloths - packed with pattern and colour to draw the eye to the table. Don’t miss out on our current special offer and choose one from the range of our tablecloths on the Kelling Home website . Oh and don’t forget the napkins too, we think something similar with a linking colour is ideal, but not the same to avoid being too matchy matchy!
Place setting - laying out the plates, cutlery, glasses, name cards and crackers
4. You likely already have a tableware, but if you are looking for some take a look at the Kelling Home x Xavier fine bone china set with a fabulous range of block coloured plates and bowls. You can choose to use just 1 colour, or blend 2-3 colours or, Emma likes to mix and match the whole range of 6 to create a more interesting table. However if you have plain coloured china, you might like to opt for colourful glasses to add some depth of colour instead.
5. Layering is important in many ways - both in colour and to create a variety of heights. Emma loves to use some greenery but it doesn’t need to be expensive. She forages in the hedgerows to find some convenient sprigs which provide a naturalistic touch to build layer and form into the setting.
Creating atmosphere by building up the table with lighting and foliage
6. Lighting is critical to set the tone. For the evening or darker days candles create a warm flickering atmosphere, gentle and alluring - something to encourage the conversation. With candles you can start by evenly spacing to ensure that there is some level of even coverage, but then building up areas in clusters to create a more relaxed and natural light. Don’t buy the cheap candles - they burn quickly and make a mess on the table which is a pain to clear up. Alternatively you might like something rechargeable - whether lanterns for bold impact or a scattering of more delicate fairy lights.
7. A truly layered approach will consider all the senses, not just the taste of a delicious meal, but the smell as you enter the room whether the warming rich aroma of a mulled wine or a candle of botanical ingredients. Then consider music - select a suitable playlist, something with energy to start and later evolve into a soothing tempo.
8. Finally for that Christmas meal, don’t forget the crackers….you can also buy cracker cases from Kelling Home to fill with personalised gifts - much more fun, if you have the time to curate them!
All in place and ready to party!