Eight Holiday Table Settings To Get You In The Entertaining Mood

Part of the fun of the holidays is setting the scene for your guests. And for me, the dinner table is the perfect blank palette.  Here are eight completely different holiday themed table settings to get you inspired for the season!

BOLD AND BRIGHT

There’s something about pops of white and red that scream Merry Christmas in a cheerful way. Bold and bright with a youthful exhuberance, this setting mixes traditional red plaid linen and dinnerware with brass finished flatware, topped off with a linen napkin folded into an elf hat. Wanna make the elf hat? visit this link!

Red enamelware coffee mug: Amazon.com

Brass flatware: Target

Plaid table runner: Williams Sonoma

Red Plate and Red Placemat: Walmart

White tablecloth from just about anywhere. Come on! 😉

MAD FOR PLAID

I love skiing, But do you know what I love more? The ski lodge. Warm fires, cocktails, flannel and a comfortable chair. This setting is inspired by that. A warm flannel table cloth, (raw fabric from a fabric store – not hemmed or sewn in any way) in navy blue, forest green, white and black strays from the traditional holiday color scheme in favor of a warm, more rustic, wintery feeling. (That said, it’s hard for me to find a plaid that I don’t love, especially a Christmas plaid.) A pine cone Christmas ornament embellished with a pine branch and a gift tag tells your lucky guests where they’ll be sitting. The black flatware gets noticed in this setting because it’s completely unexpected. (And if a flatware could ever be described as fun and surprising, this would be it.)

Silver charger, white plate and silver plate, all from Homegoods.

Black flatware from Knork Flatware.

Stag martini glass (upper right of photo) from Pottery Barn.

FOR THE BIRDS

Looking for a more rustic theme? Go with natural woods and rustic fabrics. Here, when I couldn’t find a tablecloth or napkin I wanted, I ran to the fabric store. (In this case, Mood Fabrics, famous from Project Runway) and hemmed the ends of a fabric I liked. The bird house makes for an offbeat way to inform your guests where they’ll sit, and it was a steal at just one dollar. Wood chargers are super popular right now, but admittedly a bit pricey. When a tree fell in my yard after a storm, I grabbed my chainsaw (YES, I have a chainsaw, and yes I know how to use it) and cut a bunch of chargers. It wasn’t easy to make them all level, but it paid off. I’m guessing this isn’t a practical solution for you! So if you love them, buy some! I love this because it is so far away from the traditional classic red Christmas setting.

Navy bird stretch cotton twill fabric from MOOD.

Mini birdhouse from Michaels Craft Store.

Brass flatware: Target

Wood charger from a tree that fell in my backyard… or buy an acacia charger here.

THANKSGIVING IS FOR TURKEYS

Turkey is a holiday staple. And while you find a lot of turkey themed dinnerware out there, sometimes they veer so far towards rustic I thought it would be fun to juxtapose a more formal look with the theme. This Golden Hill turkey plate from 222 Fifth is really beautiful and I had to have it the moment I saw it. (I’ll admit I have a thing for dinnerware, which is why I have all these place settings around. I mean do we really need turkey plates? In my opinion the answer is apparently YES WE DO.) But I digress. The plate has a shiny gold finish in some of the detail and is completely gold on the back, which you can faintly see reflected on the silver charger underneath. Classic silver or stainless steel place settings (and a silver plated meat dome to cover the meal when it’s ready) give the look a more formal feel without getting too stuffy. That napkin fold is called a Bishop’s hat, and it’s EASY. A small picture frame for your guest’s name is a fun embellishment and a nice little take-home gift.

Table runner from HomeGoods.

Plate by 222 Fifth, half of them I found at HomeGoods, but when I couldn’t complete the set I found the rest online.

Flatware by Knork Flatware.

These silver chargers I got last year on clearance from Williams Sonoma, but you can find something similar easily online or at several retailers.

Silver metal meat dome (upper left corner) from Williams Sonoma.

Picture frame from Michaels Craft Store.

Here’s a youtube video on how to do The Bishop’s hat.

SIMPLE AND EARTHY COPPER TONES

A simple and natural earthy theme is easy, clean and sophisticated. Copper mugs, now everywhere thanks to Moscow Mule cocktails being so popular, make a cold drink of any kind stay colder longer. Copper flatware is unexpected and a nice complement to the theme. I love this white rectangular plate because it’s HUGE (11 by 8 inches!) and a great blank slate for the deliciousness to come. (These plates are also great as serving pieces.) A glass plate in amber looks great too, but I can’t for the life of me remember where I got it… they’re out there, just a google search away. But the winning piece here is the napkin and placecard holder. Three feathers tucked into a soft burlap linen napkin, tied up with raffia ribbon and a name tag make this a table setting people will appreciate.

(special thanks to Dennis St. Germain for his feather burlap placecard design here!)

Plate: Bed Bath and Beyond.

Flatware: Knork Flatware.

Moscow Mule mug: HomeGoods and/or Amazon.

BACK IN BLACK

I do love the pop of black dinnerware. Here the dinner plate is set off with a silvery salad plate and black flatware on a crisp white tablecloth. Pine branches frame the center of the table. The pop comes from a houndstooth napkin and a small gift for each guest wrapped in houndstooth wrapping paper, emblazoned with a red flower that was intended as a holiday ornament.

Matte Swirl Dinner plate from Walmart.

Houndstooth napkins of all kinds are HERE, but I actually grabbed a 97 cent quilt swatch from Walmart’s fabric section. 97 cents! The wrapping paper is from Bags and Bows.

Chalkboard name tag from from Michaels.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BABY!

Ring in the baby new year with a table setting inspired by the theme. A crisp white tablecloth and black flatware is given personality with a toile plate and brocade style ornaments. Custom make quirky (and hopefully prophetic) ‘New Year Predictions’ in a card with a brocade theme, embellished with a cute and quirky baby ornament. Mini LED string lights stretch across the table alongside glitter, beads, and crystals to reflect the light. You may not know what the new year has in store, but the evening is sure to be a festive one!

Plate: Adelaide Gray and White Square by 222 Fifth.

Flatware: Knork Flatware.

Baby favors: Michaels.

Battery powered LED String lights from Target.

Grab a 12 pack of those plastic babies from Michaels!

Some New Year’s stylin’ going on again from Dennis St. Germain!

For more holiday ideas, viral videos, drink ideas, and pop culture, click on our HOMEPAGE, or follow @BrianBalthazar on twitter!