Five Simple Steps To Creating A Beautiful Spring Tablescape
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As a child, I can remember my mom creating beautiful spring tablescapes in preparation for Easter Sunday or a festive lunch. I would help her prepare the flowers, carefully trimming and snipping each stem to fit the perfect vase or gathering branches to make an Easter tree adorned with hanging eggs, chicks and moss. We would scour the cabinets for glassware of all shapes and sizes, while deciding which napkin set would most appropriately fit the occasion. And at last, after many pleas to start early, the moment would come when I would be tasked with lighting the candles, just before our guests would arrive. The preparation for such occasions was almost a dance, as we moved about our space gathering, creating and laughing until it was all finished and we stood back in excitement to observe what had been created. Even now, the preparation for inviting guests in makes me anticipate the joy of sharing it with others.
But for many, creating an environment that celebrates an occasion or pulling together a tablescape can be quite a daunting process. Seeing this, I wanted to put together a list of a few key elements that I believe make a beautiful tablescape! These tips do not make or break an occasion, as a gathering of people can be a blast without any of these things, but for me, it encourages my soul to make a space beautiful and bless my guests through each detail. By creating this particular tablescape to host my family for a Good Friday brunch, I was ecstatic to share my table and my home with each of them.
Centerpieces
As a true flower enthusiast, I typically start my tablescapes with deciding on my centerpieces. When beginning a centerpiece, you will need to ask yourself two main questions: what flowers/colors do you want to incorporate and what layout/ style do you want to use?
Choosing Your Flowers
In choosing flowers, it is important to consider what time of year you are in, as well as what color scheme you are trying to achieve and where you are looking to get your flowers from. For this particular spring tablescape, I brought together a mix of lilies, roses, spray roses, tulips, carnations, stock, golden rod, greenery and yellow jasmine that I either sourced from my yard or the grocery store. I made sure they each kept within the yellow, pink and white tones to maintain a cohesive appearance.
Likewise, be sure to have a mix of focal, secondary and filler flowers mixed with greenery to maintain balance. In this setting, the lilies, roses and tulips were my focal flowers while the spray roses and carnations were the secondary flowers. The stock and golden rod provided lovely fillers to then be paired with greenery.
Deciding On Your Layout
After deciding on the flowers to use, you must choose the format that you would like to display them in. In my dining room, I have a long live edge table which I LOVE (built by my dad at Bagley Built). Frequently, I will create several little vignettes of flowers, instead of one central centerpiece to run the length of the table. To do so, I used a gold vase for my center arrangement and smaller glass vases of varied sizes and shapes down each side. You can get varied vases easily at a craft store, or by saving cute glass bottles like Starbucks iced coffee which you can turn into vases instead of throwing them away. When doing this, be sure to keep an odd numbers of vases on the table to make sure it looks balanced. I chose to do 7 vases total, with one in the center and three on each side.
Dishware
The next important step to designing your tablescape is deciding on the type of dishware you want to use. As I was creating this spring tablescape for a Good Friday brunch, I decided to use the china and floral dishes that I already had on hand. I love both of these sets, as they are not only gorgeous, but they also are dishwasher safe which is a huge plus when it comes to clean up. Regardless of what dishware you are using though, a key element to making your dishware look elevated, whether it is melamine, paper, everydayware or china, is to layer the plates. Having a small plate for fruit, salad or a dessert, layered with a larger plate for the main course, immediately changes the tone of the table.
Linens
The third step in creating a beautiful tablescape is thinking on the variety of linens that you would like to incorporate. For most of my tablescapes, including this one, I use this fabulous white cotton table runner that provides a lovely neutral backdrop for my centerpieces while protecting the integrity of my dining table. While a table runner is certainly not necessary, I find that it helps to protect the table from any scratches or spills, while also helping to break up the wood tones.
Likewise, you can add an accent color to your place settings easily by including colored napkins. I utilized several light blue cloth napkins that were not only a lovely fit with my floral dishes, but also highlighted the color that I have incorporated through other areas of my house. Typically, I opt for unique paper napkins that fit the occasion to ease cleanup, however for this brunch, I decided to use the cloth napkins since I was using my china.
Glassware
In regards to glassware, I have found that this area is largely dictated both by what you will be serving to drink and by what shapes and sizes you already have brought into your table setting. If you are offering a colorful punch or juice option to drink, you might lean to using clear glassware to allow the punch to become an addition to the color of tablescape. Similarly, by repeating similar silhouettes and forms, your tablescape will feel balanced and appropriately proportioned. Both the silhouettes of these wonderful glasses from Magnolia Home and of the monogrammed glasses from my mother-in-law, mimicked the shapes of the centerpiece vases lining the table which helps pull together the entire vignette.
Ambience
The last step in creating an inviting tablescape is addressing the ambience incorporated both within the table and within the room. One easy way to soften the tone of your space is to add candles. As this was a special, but not completely formal, occasion, I opted to use small tea light candles placed among the centerpiece vases. Adding candles immediately puts people at ease and makes them feel extremely special, so for only a couple of dollars, you can add these tea lights to give just a touch of intimate light, while completely changing the tone of your space. Likewise, for an even greater affect, you can add candle sticks or pillar candles to increase the drama of the room.
Final Thoughts
By processing through centerpieces, dishware, linens, glassware and ambience, you can create a beautiful tablescape that makes you both excited to host and your guests encouraged to be apart of your gathering. Whether getting your flowers from Publix and your napkins from TJ Maxx or china from Bed, Bath and Beyond and glassware from Target, you can create a beautiful space that blesses your soul and all those of who enter your home.
Happy hosting!
