Elegant Table Settings

Elegant table settings can set the mood for a dinner party or festive family dining.

You don't need to spend a lot of money in order to create a feeling of elegance with your table setting. Style and a little creative flare can turn every day objects and items into a table setting your guests will ooh and ahh over.

Whether you have a big budget or are creating your table design on a shoestring, you need to decide on a theme for your centerpiece. This will steer the rest of your design, including the china and stemware you select.

The key to any successful design is to be consistent in execution of your design. This simply means that if you opt for a wildlife centerpiece depicting bears and other forest creatures lurking among pine boughs, then you need to carry the theme and style into your place settings. The same holds true if you're creating a holiday centerpiece with Christmas tree ornaments and Santa motifs. Let the motifs and themes repeat in your china and placemats and other aspects of your design. If you use silver accents instead of gold, repeat the silver throughout your setting. Silver candles, silver candle holders, silvery streams of ribbon, silver ornaments, and other objects can help your design have continuity.

Select one or two colors for your design and then one accent color. Think about your theme and decide which colors work best.

Textures don't always need to be fabric related. If you're using fresh greenery you'll want to consider the texture this creates and add other elements that will enhance, contrast or repeat the texture. For example, if you use glass candle sticks, you might want to add hand-blown ornaments, figurines or a glass bowl of ornaments. Repeating elements and textures that are different sizes can provide contrast while maintaining continuity of style.

In design, odd numbers work better than even numbers. If you're using candlesticks in your design opt for three instead of four, five instead of six and so on. The odd numbers create greater interest and contrast.

Falling into the growing trend of recycle, reuse and repurpose, you can apply these eco-minded principles when creating your masterpiece design. Look around your home and find objects you already have that can be repurposed into your table setting design. Just about anything you own can be repurposed into a table centerpiece.

If you collect figurines, you can display these within a floral table cascade or place between holly leaves or pine needles. If your collection includes miniatures, use these for name card holders at each place setting.

For a family dinner you're hosting, buy several, small, easel-picture frames and place family photos in these. Arrange in a fun and unique centerpiece complete with sprigs of baby's breath and greenery. Add some ribbon streamers and confetti. This is especially fun whenever holding a family birthday dinner.

If you collect bird figurines, repurpose a few cardinals to perch among your evergreen spray or cascade. Continue the red and green colors and highlight with sprinkles of white throughout the table.

The same bird theme can be done for a spring luncheon setting by using various songbird figurines and fresh flowers.

Once you know what your centerpiece will be, it's time to focus on the other elements of your table setting.

If your design is going to be used for formal dinners, then a tablecloth is a good choice. Think of the tablecloth as a backdrop to the story you're creating on the surface of the table. Select the best color to display your design. Elegant tablecloths are made from fine linens. Lace is always a good choice to convey this special ambiance.

Typically, you'll either use a tablecloth or placemats; however, if you want to take advantage of an opportunity to add more color and design elements, you can also use placemats on top of the tablecloth. It's your creation, so make it the way you want it to be. Napkins can either be a solid accent color or a pattern that repeats and complements the overall table setting. The right kind of table runner can be just as elegant as a tablecloth.

China is an important component to elegant table settings. What you use for this part of your setting can either make or break the overall effect. The wrong china can transform your elegant arrangement into something that sticks out as though it doesn't belong and vice versa.

If your china is not replaceable and you must use a certain set, since most people have only one set of fine china, then make sure it will go with your setting. Many people have a Christmas set of china or a set used only at Thanksgiving. Others may have seasonal china that's used at specific times of the year. Just be sure your china will enhance and not detract from your centerpiece. Buy gold or silver chargers to place underneath the plates. This framing of your china will elevate your design from nice to true elegance.

The test of a designer's creativity is the ability to work around limitations and still have a fantastic design. If you have limitations either by virtue of table size, style, budget, or other obstacles, stretch beyond the normal expectations of table setting designs and create something unique that can truly become a work of art as your expression of the occasion.

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