A dinner party is a fun way for friends, family, and even coworkers to gather. This type of event can be hosted to celebrate a holiday, birthday, or other event, or just for fun. Whether you opt for a big formal party, or a small casual gathering, there are a variety of decorations that you can use to set the tone and theme for your dinner party.
Types
Decide on the formality of the event. This will greatly effect the decor that you choose. Dinner parties can range from casual and laid back to very formal. The easiest choice may be somewhere in between. For a more casual event, you may not even need to set the table with full place settings. You could instead opt for a buffet and simply stack the dinnerware neatly at the beginning of the line. In this case your table should still have centerpieces, a tablecloth or place mats, and place cards. For a more formal event, the table should already be set in preparation for the meal. If you will be serving a meal with several courses, you may want to hire servers for the event. If the host or hostess has to leave the table several times to attend to the food, he or she will miss out on the actual party.
Features
Decorating the dinner table for any event usually consists of several standard features. First is the tablecloth. This may be short and simple for a casual party, but should be longer for more formal occasions. In addition to the tablecloth, you should also set the table with place mats. The tablecloth and place mats should not match exactly, but should instead compliment each other. If you have a patterned tablecloth, select simple solid-colored place mats. If you have a long table, you may want to include a table runner down the center. The center of the table should be the focus of your decorations. Candles are a popular feature for dinner parties. These should be either very short and wide, or tall and thin. You don't want your centerpieces to obstruct the view of guests seated across the table from one another. Flowers are another common decoration. If you want low-laying centerpieces, consider floating flowers or candles in a dish of water. You may also want to decorate your table with leaves, garlands, fruits, and flowers set directly on the table and running the entire length. You will probably want to include place cards on your dinner table. This is an excellent opportunity to further incorporate your decorative theme. You can find a variety of themed place card holders for any event. Napkin rings are another feature that can be used creatively to complement your color scheme or overall theme.
Significance
You may choose to host a dinner party for a variety of reasons. However, the theme of your event will help you choose the right decorations. For a Christmas dinner, include festive decor. You may want to hang white Christmas lights around the dining room. For Thanksgiving or another Autumnal event, you can use spice-scented candles, orange, red, and yellow flowers, and dishes of seasonal fruits or vegetables such as pumpkin and squash. Events held in springtime can use a variety of spring flowers in the decor as well as floating flower-shaped candles in a shallow dish of water. Summertime dinner parties may tend more toward the backyard barbecue type of theme. Use bright daisies or sunflowers in your centerpieces. For this type of dinner, you may want to place a selection of condiments on brightly colored trays at intervals along the table (or one on each table if you have several).
Size
The size of your dinner party will determine the type of decor that you choose as well. For a large event, you may want to focus more on the overall look of the room. Use lights and garlands that can be hung on the walls. If you have more than one table, focus on one centerpiece on each table. If you are serving a buffet style meal, you may want to put more care into the decorations on the buffet table than on the individual tables. Make sure that the food is presented carefully on attractive plates. Don't place candles on this table, as they may easily topple over. However, you can include festive greenery or flowers. For a smaller event, you can give more attention to each individual. You may want to include a small gift at each place setting. You can also use a variety of decorations along the length of one table, such as candles interspersed with low-laying greenery.
Function
While selecting creative decorations is often the most enjoyable part of decorating your table for a dinner party, the functional pieces on the table are ultimately the most important. First, you should select dinnerware that is in keeping with the formality of the meal. For a very special event, break out the fine china. For a very casual cookout, you may choose plastic trays and plates in bright colors, or even disposable dinnerware. For everything in between, you may choose to use your regular place settings. Make sure that you set out all of the plates and bowls that are needed for the meal you are serving. This may mean a bread plate, salad plate, and dinner plate as well as a soup bowl if you are serving a multi-course meal. If you are serving wine or other alcoholic beverages, don't forget to place a glass of ice water at each place as well.
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