by LeeAnn Carlen, Puckett’s Events Coordinator
Happy Holidays!
I am so excited to have the tree up, Christmas music on, and twinkling lights everywhere. Christmas is my favorite season, in part because of the entertaining and decorating opportunities that abound.
Many people think they aren’t skilled at creating a beautiful holiday table, but think of it this way–you decorate your tree, right? A table is very similar! Below are some photos of a Christmas tablescape that I put together and step-by-step instructions on how to make your dining room the star of the season.
Step 1: Take a good look at your “canvas”
Determine if you want to showcase your table and use only a runner or placemats, or if it might need a little bit more coverage (ahem, like mine) and require a full tablecloth. I was decorating our Director of Operations–Claire Crowell’s–Farm Table in her dining room, and I knew that I wanted to showcase it and not have it fully covered. I wanted to incorporate some traditional Christmas colors and decided that the Cherry Red dupioni/satin runner from our dear friends at Southern Events would be a perfect accompaniment to the farm table… and would lay a nice color base on our table. I selected the Silver Fairmont runner to use as an accent color (and “fluff”), and this is where the foundations of our table started!
Step 2: Determine what you have
We rented all of our dishes so we could leave the clean up to someone else and fully enjoy our time together, but take a look in your cabinets! Do you have beautiful wedding china that you never use? Dishes passed down from your grandmother? Now is the time to bring them out! I used the Artisan Dinner Plate from Southern Events to anchor the high/low combinations of our table. It looks beautiful on the silver charger (more on that later), but the casualness of the plate pairs nicely with our farm table while our red charger pulls out the subtle red accents on the plate.
Decor is often much easier than we think. Take a look around your dining room at what you might already have and then head out to your yard! Claire had beautiful mercury glass hurricanes on her entry table that I knew I wanted to incorporate as well as some adorable candles in the shape of Christmas trees. Outside, pull stems from a holly bush and pick up pinecones, pineleaves and even branches from your yard to add a juxtaposition to your holiday table. Bonus? These items are nature’s Christmas gift to you and cost nothing!
Step 3: Determine what you need
Linen placemats or chargers are a great way to add a little excitement and variety to your table and those we definitely needed to rent (or check out the deals at Hobby Lobby–all Christmas decor is 50% off!). I decided to grab a silver charger to put our plates on and then focused on our linen napkins. Because I wanted to incorporate another traditional Christmas color without it looking too garish, I decided on the Moss Green Crush napkin over a true Christmas green. It really pulled the table together nicely!
Step 4: Final Touches!
This is the fun part–put everything together! I didn’t want our napkins to be folded so fancily that guests were afraid to use them, but at the same time I wanted them to have a little flair. I folded them into a triangle then took about an inch at the bottom and folded it under. Then I took the corners, brougt them up and tied them into a double knot. The hammered flatware and a little sprig of sparkling, silver holly berries then tucked nicely inside. I added our Recycled Wine Bottle glasses and a little ambiance with our mercury glass votive holders, lit our candles and voila! Our tablescape was complete.
If you’re stressed about preparing the meal that goes on the holiday table, we’ve got you covered there too! Puckett’s offers extensive to-go menus full of holiday favorites, with that special Marshall touch. If choosing the perfect spread intimidates you, Claire created this special “How To Guide” just for you!
We’d love to see photos of your Christmas decor and your family around the dining room table! Tweet your pictures to us and use the hashtag #averypuckettstable.
LeeAnn Carlen, Events Coordinator
Being born in Texas and growing up just south of Nashville in Columbia, TN made our Nashville Coordinator a true, well-rounded Southerner. After getting her Music Business degree from Belmont University, LeeAnn worked in Artist Management on Music Row for a number of years and it was there that her love for events grew. She started branching out and planning weddings on the side in her “free time” and jumped at the chance to work at Puckett’s when it appeared. She currently facilitates all catering and events in the Nashville area and would love to hear from you! Email her at leeann@puckettsevents.com.