7 Sweet Table Setting Ideas For A Dinner Party, gathered in one list

Ever since Hands-on styled their way through our home we have been especially excited to rearrange our own pieces (many of which used to spend most of their time tucked away in our cabinets) to refresh every shelf, side table, and bookcase in our house. But why stop at those surfaces when we can play around with place settings? And thanks to the abundance of flowers and produce leftover from the shoot, I was able to whip up a few lively and festive table setting scenarios with everyday objects that I already had around the house. All in under five minutes per place setting. I could not believe how straightforward and lively it was- as evidenced by the fact that this post was originally going to be about three place setting ideas and I simply could not stop myself…

First I pulled out my basic white plates and bowls (John and I are not fancy china people, we simply have one plain white set of dishware that we use for everything from Domino’s pizza to fancy anniversary dinners). Then for some brought in color I brought out some green fabric napkins.

I also brought in our stemless wine glasses to keep the whole table feeling swanky and low profile, and kept the centerpiece plain to work with the casual green & white theme. I also grabbed two little green bowls and brought in an apple inside each one for interest. Then I pulled out four artichokes (also leftover from the Hands-on shoot) and popped them each into a bowl with a handwritten card stock name tag slipped under one of the artichoke’s spiky-thingies (I believe that is the scientific term). Voila, a sweet and plain table setting with a bit of unexpected charm (thanks to the place-card wielding artichokes). And a little grocery store bouquet, two apples, and four artichokes is all it takes to recreate this whole setting in your home.

My next tablescape was a bit more flower focused. I created three distinct bouquets (all in distinct shades of pink) and in fact used three distinct vases for a mixed & matched feel (well one was a candle holder, one was a mercury glass cup, and the third was an actual vase). Then I filled two of my old collected wine bottles with water (but wine would truly do the trick- even lemon or cucumber flavored water to be fancy). Out came the green ceramic bowls again (for serving fruit or salad) and our cute lemon & lime paper napkins (still leftover from our 7/7/07 wedding) brought in some more interest and color. Again I chose my stemless wine glasses which nearly disappear, and also grabbed two pink and two yellow vases (picked up at Ikea a few weeks back) and placed them on each plate with a single bloom in the center. I imagined that these would make pleasant favors that you could send home with guests at the end of the night. Cute, right? And all you will need to recreate this look is a few old wine bottles (cleaned and de-labeled), a few small bouquets of flowers, and some compact low-cost-o vases (that do not even have to match).

My next setting was more on the natural side. Three of my go-to succulents (they are called Burro Tails) lined the table and out came the recycled wine bottles again. Then I brought in some cute little drinking glasses with natural woven sleeves and dug four corks out of a glass jar in the kitchen (we have slowly amassed a little collection). I then stood each cork on its end and cut a horizontal slit in the top of each one simply deep sufficient to slip a compact piece of card stock that served as a place card. White fabric napkins wrapped up the natural and clean look. And all you need to recreate this look is the aforementioned recycled wine bottles, a few corks, and some house plants to repurpose as centerpieces for the day. Oh and the woven cups are extra credit.

After such a low key and natural setting I hoped to kick things up a notch and do something extra sparkly, so I in short simply pulled out all the candles I could find and used a hurricane that typically lives on the den’s mantel as the centerpiece. Some coral and a ceramic flower tea light holder brought in a bit of interest and I in fact pulled out our regular drinking glasses and repurposed our stemless wine glasses as candle holders on each plate. Again these could be cute little favors (any type of candle holder with a tea light in it would make a strong little gift) and this whole look can be yours for next to nothing (assuming you have a bunch of mismatched candles in your home already- and perhaps even a few other white ceramic objects for brought in dimension).

After my white on white scheme I was itching to inject a little more color again. So I stuck a plain bouquet into a glass cup, threw out a few lemons and limes for casual charm, and whipped out some Pellegrino along with my recycled wine bottles and a few other smaller glass bottles that I happened to have lying around. All that green glass paired with the lemons and limes made me want to add even more green. So I used those same green ceramic bowls, but this time for a totally distinct purpose. They easily became festive place card holders thanks to two lemons that I cut in half and then placed cut-side-down in each bowl. One compact horizontal slit in the top of each lemon allowed me to slip in some card stock place cards and our lemon & lime wedding napkins polished things off. For this setting all ya need is a few bottles of Pellegrino, some recycled wine bottles, a small bouquet and some fresh and fruity lemons and limes. Straightforward peasy.

Anyone who knows us knows that we adore pale blue. Not only is it our go-to paint color (both our bedroom and our kitchen are painted a subtle gray-blue) but we enjoy collecting pale blue accessories, like these glass vases. After snatching up all the blue glass that I had in the house (from candle holders to vases and bottles) I set everything down on the runner to create a gleaming tablescape accented with plain white plates and napkins and our regular old drinking glasses. And for a bit of brought in interest and color at each place setting, I brought in compact blue dishes that I had laying around (they are meant for soy sauce when you serve sushi) and popped a place card in each one to give them a bona fide purpose. And all you need to create this look is a few colored glass bottles, cups, and vases (in any color, all pink or all orange would be excellent too!) and a few contrasting blooms for height and interest. Piece of cake.

And this last place setting is a lot less formal than the rest. I imagined this might come in handy if a few of the girls are coming over for some snacking or a light fruit and salad brunch or something. I have consistently enjoyed a buffet, so setting out a few small fruit bowls (those trusty green dishes), salad bowls (those lively scalloped white bowls) and some small plates (for any little snacky things) would fairly much do the trick. Then laying out some fabric napkins and some cute little glass bottles of pink lemonade or even Orangina would truly add charm (along with a bouquet of flowers if you simply happen to have one laying around). Presto, another plain place setting with that oh-I-simply-threw-this-together appeal.

So there you have it. Seven plain ways to create a fresh and festive table that says “sit down and stay a while” without breaking the bank. I think one of my go-to things was creating unexpected place card holders (with everything from artichokes to wine corks) and seeing how swiftly our plain white everyday servingware could look transform when paired with a few carefully chosen accessories. Now it is your turn! Tell us about your go-to centerpiece and place card ideas and of course feel free to send us some pics as well. We are consistently up for learning new things, and we cannot wait to see what table setting pointers and tricks you folks have up your sleeves.