Entertaining in Style – Dress up Your Dining Table For Your Next Party

If you are planning a dinner party, don’t even think about making your guests eat at the same boring dining table setting that you have your breakfast at every morning.

Dinner parties are special occasions, so take the time to give your table a makeover and dress it up for the evening. Paying a little bit of attention to the table setting doesn’t take too long, but it will make for a fantastic first impression when your guests walk in and see the table – especially if you have a beautiful dining table from ifurn.com. Here are some tips that will help you dress up your dining table and create a beautiful and elegant setting for your next party:

Take Stock of What You Already Have

If you want to create a beautiful dining table, you might not need to go out and buy all new table linens, napkins and decorations. In fact, you probably have most of what you need in your home already. Take a look around and gather the best dinnerware and decorations that you have. If you have neutral pieces, such as simple linen napkins, you can dress them up with colourful napkin rings to give them a little extra pizazz. If you have canning jars, these can make beautiful vases or can filled with coloured sand or marbles for a pretty centrepiece. Also, look to your own garden for ideas as well. A bouquet of freshly picked flowers in the summer or even an arrangement of berries and bare branches in the winter can look elegant and stylish. Acorns, moss, sticks and stones can also be used to put together beautiful centrepieces. You can even add fresh fruit to your centrepiece – which you can eat at the end of the meal! Just a word of warning about centrepieces – don’t make them too tall! You don’t want your guests to be struggling to make eye contact with each other and peering over huge bunches of flowers.

Do Things Right!

Although you can get as creative as you like with your tablecloth, linens and centrepiece – there is a right way and a wrong way to set up your table place settings. If you are not sure, take a look online and you will find a diagram of the correct placement of knives, forks, spoons and other utensils. It might seem old fashioned and stuffy to do it the correct way, but trust me – it looks so much more elegant than simply setting the table any which way. Also, be careful not to overcrowd your table. You don’t want guests to be struggling to find a place to put their wine glass down because there are too many decorations on the table. Sometimes less is more.

Personalise Your Place Settings

Imagine walking into a dinner party and seeing a spot set out for you at the table, with your name written elegantly on a beautiful piece of cardstock. Wouldn’t you feel special and pampered? This finishing touch doesn’t take long to do, but it will really turn your dinner party from a casual event to a special occasion. Try using coloured cardstock or metallic pens for a different look and if you don’t like your handwriting, you can always print the place cards off on the computer. This also gives you a chance to select where your friends will sit. You can put your most confident conversationalist at the centre of the table, so that they can carry the conversation along and engage the others.

Let Your Light Shine

Collect a few small votive candles and scatter them around the table, creating some lovely mood lighting. When choosing candles for a dinner party, make sure that you select unscented ones. Smelling the aroma of pumpkin spice or vanilla cookie can be distracting when you are trying to also smell and taste the food. These are just a few tips to keep in mind for dressing up your dining table at your next dinner party. Once the table is set and the food is served, you can concentrate on relaxing and having fun with your friends.

About the Author

Ben Grant is a freelance writer and blogger. He loves interior design, crafting, decorating and having his friends over for lavish dinner parties.