Simple Girl's Guide To Spring Entertaining
Something that Raymond and I have committed to this year is to open our home more. This usually translates to dinners or lunches. I let Raymond do the cooking, so I can handle the details like place settings and serving ware.
There is not a shortage of good china in this country and the estate sales/antique malls/thrift stores are overflowing with it. I’m like a moth to a flame when it comes to plates and dishes, but my obsession is in serving pieces. Nostalgia I guess.
My mom and I recently went thrift shopping and I came across several beautiful options. While it was slim pickings to find more than 2 matching plates, I’m always open to the notion of mixing and matching.
However, my preference is all white. It is classic and timeless. And it goes with everything.
You can always dress it up with details like flowers, vases, napkins, and servers,
But even then I still prefer white.
These adorable napkin rings were a great find at $3 for a set of 5. I ran them through the dishwasher when I got home and they were as pretty as ever! My preference would have been for white or a light blue cloth napkin, but I went with what I had. ;)
I’m all for cloth napkins as they cut down on unnecessary waste and I never mind running them through the wash. But my tip is to get DINNER napkins. Those tiny cocktail napkins are not big enough for messy fingers!
When setting a table, my first tip is to pull out what you have. Then you can sort it and play around with options. I’m a visual person so I need to see what I have before committing to a color theme.
In this case, I pulled out my mom’s flatware box and set the table with her vintage pieces. Items like this become conversation starters and they are memory pieces (may not be worth much to the market, but they are worth a lot to me).
The glasses were a happy find from the Salvation Army Thrift Store. I originally wanted a pair of blue glasses from the Habitat ReStore, but they were a little out of my budget at $3/glass.
Estate sales are my go-to when it comes to glassware. Most companies are happy to sell the breakables. (I once knew of a company that just trashed all the glassware because they said people don’t buy it and it’s a huge pain to pack up for donation. gasp!)
There is nothing better than a fresh arrangement of seasonal flowers. I scooped up three bundles of tulips from the grocery store (Harris Teeter & LIdl) and used a thrifted vase to pull it together.
Tulip Tips
They like really cold water.
They don’t play well with other flowers.
Remove the bottom leaf (or the bottom two). Just do it gently as they are delicate little creations.
Add a penny to the water. (no idea why)
Brunch Board
I had all the best intentions to create a brunch board full of snacks and fresh produce, but I realized I had the wrong vessels so more to come on that!
Wedding Update
As I gathered up inspiration for today’s shoot, I was motivated to dream up our perfect Wedding Brunch Reception. Nothing fancy. Nothing fussy. Just simple yet pretty.
We’ve tossed around the idea of having a morning ceremony and then follow it up with a brunch buffet. The wedding will be small which I thought would make the planning a lot easier. Turns out you still have to make the same amount of decisions but for a small number of people. :P
To watch how I pulled together today’s tablescape, click on the video below.
Shop The Look
To shop this simple spring table, click on the images below.
note: don’t forget about estate sales and secondhand stores in your area - perfect if you have more time to plan
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