My mother-in-law asked me to come over and set the table for our Thanksgiving feast, and considering how little I’ll be contributing food-wise I was happy to oblige. In all honesty, setting her table was a lot like playing dress up….only better. She requested a casual but elegant look. She didn’t want anything too formal. She just wanted something pretty to make our holiday meal a little extra special. Then she turned me loose and like a kid in a candy store I went to town playing with all her pretty things.
In keeping with her casual-not-too-formal request I decided to spread the flowers out in staggered mismatched vases down the center of the table. There really is no better way to get a lot of bang for your buck from a bouquet of grocery store flowers, and using a collection of mismatched vases in different heights adds some interest while keeping your centerpiece from looking too fussy. A grocery store bouquet also takes all the guess work out of “which flowers work well together” because the florist has already figured that part out for you. (A little tip – I find when dressing a dining table where there are upholstered chairs choosing at least one flower to coordinate with the chair fabric makes the whole space really pop.)
I had a hard time choosing which plates to use because my mother-in-law has so many beautiful options! I ended up going with her blue italian spode. To keep things from looking overly traditional I used some fun gold polka dot napkins folded into sweet little bowties. (To make the bowties all you do is fold your napkin into a square then pinch in the middle and tie with twine or ribbon.)
The napkins are all different colors – red, pink, orange, yellow-orange – which also adds some color and whimsy to the table.
So now that the table is set…………I’m ready to fill my plate!!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!
So pretty and festive, Carmel! Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving!