I hosted a Mexican themed dinner this weekend for some friends and as well as putting on a spread of Mexican inspired dishes/drinks- (nachos, chilli con carne tacos, vegetable/cabbage salads and of course magaritas!!) - I wanted to get a bit of a Mexican atmosphere in our dining area to try and bring it all together.
I didn't have much time to go all out but I decided upon a sombrero as my perfect 'table centerpiece' and jazzed it up a little by using vibrant, colourful foods- chilli's especially inspire thoughts of Mexico, spice and heat! I wished I had time to get a proper Mexican rug/tablecloth as I love those classic striped materials that are so well recognised and just provide a colour explosion that would energise any table setting...like so:
But as a last mintue thing Iwas still pleased with what I produced
(even if my tablecloth is Asian inspired... red/green=Mexico??)
So then I got to thinking about place settings, table centrepieces and possibilities for other themed dinners, intimate dinners, vintage inspired parties and even weddings as it is always something I take note of and see as an important factor to creating the atmosphere you want...
For example a romantic Italian dinner - good wine, antipasto, rich pastas and all enjoyed over an entire evening - the Italian's really like to taste their food, eat and drink slowly- and dinners will last hours. So thoughts if intamacy, warmth and ambiance spring to mind- I love used wine bottles as makeshift candle holders, clustered together. Red and white candles - and as the wax drips down it builds up in a beautiful textured pattern- when one candle runs out it can be nice to replace it with a different coloured candle making the wax droplets mix and adding more layers/interest...
I'm sure you can find these in many places but I spottd some at http://www.beau-coup.com/
Asian inspired dinner parties can be simple, monochromatic and classy; or rich, colourful and lavish. A silk table runner is well recognised and easy to make if you don't want to buy one- choose your favourite material from a habidashery (take measurements of your table before you go! You want it to hang around 20-30cm off the end of your table), choose a matching or contrasting ribbon to stich around the edges to prevent fraying and a bold tassel for either end (which helps weigh the cloth down - curtain tassels are big and eye catching)...you could cut the ends of the material to a classic 'point' or leave then square and use a 'fringe' instead of a 'tassel'- choices are endless!
To draw the eye to the centre and create a focal point beautiful Asian flowers floating in a bowl of water amongst floating candles is an easy, classy and topical way to decorate the table. You can choose pale flowers with a big white lily as the central flowers or go multi coloured- up to you!
A gorgeous idea for an African theme was used at a charity ball I went to last year to raise money for a non profit organisation called 'Farm Africa' http://www.farmafrica.org.uk/ (they also have a facebook page) The charity provides education and training for rural farmers in poverty stricken areas of Africa so they can improve the ways they manage their crops, livestock and access to water- working their own way out of poverty.
Amongst animal print and lots of wooden and woven decor there were stunning hand carved, solid wood, animal shaped napkin holders:
Coming away from themed dinners I also love vintage or recycled centre pieces such as flowers and candles in jam jars, old tins and boxes- try stamping your own originality on them with ribbons, glued on sequins and buttons, or with glass paint....arranging them in a cluster with wild flowers spilling out over the edges is such a pretty, rustic way to decorate a table:
Well I could go onto place settings and name tags...but I don't want to be here all day and i don't want to bore you! Hope this is inspirational in some way and next time you have people over for dinner you dress up your table as well as yourself ;)
Has anyone any other centre pieces they find easy/fun to make and look beautiful too?? Please comment away!
Love Alice xx
