The Sumptuous Spread: Setting the Holiday Table

By J. A. Young

Even if you prefer to serve your Christmas Eve dinner on snowy white Chinette, you can create a stunning table setting to suit any holiday meal.  Or, if you want to create a new look to surround your best china or crystal, you can update your traditional table with a new look that features a theme or special props.  The table - especially during the holidays - is where family and friends congregate, where stories and laughs are shared, where meals are savored; create a table setting that serves as the unforgettable backdrop for all the new memories you will share this holiday season.

First things first.  Creating a sumptuously set table does not have to entail Waterford Crystal or investing in the latest Wedgwood holiday set of china.  These items are elegant and can certainly enhance any table, but a lack of Tiffany materials will not make or break your holiday table.  What any host or hostess wants to consider is character.  Also, great originality will go a long way to competing with simply expensive materials.  If you have time far ahead of the holidays, you might want to consider scouring resale shops for red and green glass dishes, goblets, etc..and spend far less than on a new holiday set at the store for example.

The following text offers many suggestions for table settings; these ideas can be mixed and matched to suit your particular style.

Red and green are traditional holiday colors.  The red and green glassware as noted above can transform your dining room table.  Let this year’s table showcase a Venetian Renaissance influence.  Venice - a renowned leader in glassmaking during this period - boasted glasses, vases, beads, baubles and all sorts of trinkets made from colored glass.  The green and red glass table featuring splashes of silver and gold makes a festive statement. 

Consider the following: red and green plates at place settings; large red glass vase filled with red roses and greenery; green wineglasses on clear crystal stems; Venetian glass candy at each place setting; your crystal cake stand festooned with stands of red and green beads; ivory or lace tablecloth; homemade rock candy in red and green, crystal serving bowls of cranberries, cherries, green olives, red grapes, etc. Special small glass objects like angels, reindeer, ornaments can also used to show place cards for special seating arrangements.

If your extended family features many children, consider serving a holiday meal fit for Cinderella at your fairytale table.  You’ll have to locate the main prop for a centerpiece - a glass slipper (available online) and then nothing but clear glass and crystal to ornament the rest of the table.  If this is a Thanksgiving celebration, a large pumpkin designed as a carriage can be crafted into the perfect Cinderella centerpiece.  In addition to the crystal arrangement of glassware and plates, you might try interesting name cards listing characters from the story - Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming, etc. Invitations to wicked stepmother and sisters are optional!

The medieval winter celebration can provide rustic character to your table with its vitality and warmth.  Tin plates, large goblets (consider embellishing these with rhinestones for a jeweled effect) and hearty wood platters are the order of the day.  Incorporate a holly-strewn Yuletide log as your centerpiece.  Consider a first course of hearty Brunswick stew (as opposed to a more elegant serving of soup) and have plenty of fresh loaves of bread on to accompany.  Medieval couples often ate and drank from the same dishes - just a thought if your aim is to authentically replicate a medieval holiday meal.  Be sure to serve meade and wassail from gothic-looking vessels.

If these themes seem too extreme, consider a new approach for your traditionally set table.  If your holiday dishes feature an object like a Christmas tree, consider ways to play this up throughout the table.  For instance, small trees (arm length) can be purchased from the local craft store and strung with beads, tiny snowflakes, sequins, etc., and along the base strewn with doll-house size items like wrapped packages, tricycles, wagons, etc. In this way, you bring the holiday tree right to the table.  Similarly, you might feature a special tree-shaped cake and could employ pine cones as name card holders.

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