Glamaour Era December edition Glamaour Era december edition | Page 41

Glamaour ERA
(BPT) - Every holiday season, you invest hours planning and preparing the perfect menu for each celebration you host. While easy and
fun may be the name of the game for buffet-style events, when it's a sit-down soiree, the delightful cuisine you produce deserves a presentation
worthy of your efforts. A beautifully set table can elevate your holiday dinner from just great to simply perfect.
“Table-setting is an art form anyone can learn to execute beautifully," says Mary Bernardo, director of product development at Princess
House, a leading provider of unique and exclusive cookware, food storage and home and entertainment products. "Simple touches like
elegant holiday plates, colorful linens and an eye-catching centerpiece ensure a holiday table looks as inviting as the food smells."
Bernardo and the table decor experts at Princess House offer these tips for creating a beautiful holiday dinner
table:
Layers look lovely
T
ablecloths, placemats, table runners and chargers not only help protect your table from spills and scrapes, but they also create a lovely
backdrop for dishes, glasses, stemware and - of course - the food. Layering these items adds depth and interest to the tabletop.
Consider starting off with a simple white or red tablecloth, and then add either placemats in seasonal patterns or a festive runner. If chargers
take up too much room on the table (or too much of your holiday budget), you can layer dinner and lunch plates to create the same effect. For
example, place a Pavillion Berry Dinner Plate from Princess House beneath a Poinsettia Lunch Plate. The solid deep red of the dinner plate
is the perfect complement to the elegant creamy background and poinsettia pattern of the lunch plate.
Keep dishware seasonal and simple
"It's been said simplicity is the soul of elegance, and that's certainly true when you're setting a holiday dinner table," Bernardo says.
Choose dishes with a basic white or cream background accented with a traditional holiday motif. Flatware should also be simple; if your
everyday collection is in good condition, feel free to use it for your holiday celebrations. If you don't have enough pieces, supplement with
basic atware that's free of embellishment or heavy designs. Glassware should also be simple and, whenever possible, multi-functional. For
example, stemless wine glasses can be used for soft drinks and water, as well as wine.