Hello Everyone and welcome. Today’s blog is called Spring Blooms because the Dessert plate by Pier 1 that I’m using today is called Spring Blooms. The plates are covered with exuberant flowers appearing in the garden in late Spring. We all look forward to Spring flowers knowing that good weather is coming to stay for awhile.
I actually put together two different but similar table settings that I will show you today. We’ll be comparing them sort of side by side. Why? Setting a table is a creative process and you make small decisions at every step that can change the look of the table. Often I will start out with an idea and then have it change as I add each element to the table. Here we go.
Here’s an above table shot of the first idea. You will note that the crystal glasses sort of disappear into the background of the colorful tablecloth.
Watch what happens when I switch the color of the glassware.
This is the same basic shot with different colored glassware. You can see what a difference it makes to balancing the table. The glassware shows up and actually adds to the multiple shades of green in the tablecloth and the plates.
Now let’s look up close at the presentation of the plate stack and what your guests will see first. The table setting has a bit of a French Cafe vibe to it so I was thinking that using an orange to pull out the orange in the plates and the tablecloth would be a good idea. I like things in odd numbers so balanced a napkin folded into a rose with the orange and then added a sprig of Rosemary for the third element.
We can contrast that with the second idea which was basically a single connected element with the rose napkin lying on the sprig of Rosemary. All the other elements of the plate can be seen.
Both place setting ideas use the same centerpiece. It’s composed of an organic vase in green variegated pottery with some spring flowers from the garden. Snowball Vibernum, Japanese Iris and regular size Iris are incorporated in the design. I didn’t have a problem having the deep purple stand out in the flower arrangement. The whites and yellows tied it to the plates and tablecloth.
The plates pictured above are recent acquisitions from the Thrift Store. The charger is by Lenox in the Poppies Rainbow – Green and the dinner plate is Sienna by Villeroy & Boch. I’ve been running into Villeroy and Boch plates a lot lately. I snatch them up whenever I find them as they are very expensive in retail stores. I was able to get 8 Sienna plates for less than $2 per plate. I had some internal debate about the color as it’s not pink and not tangerine but kind of in-between but I thought the tablecloth would work and it does.
Here are some additional shots so you can compare and contrast the two table settings.
I used the same silver-plate pattern for each one, a Community pattern called Coronation. I love how the flowers are actually cut out of the silver in this pattern.
What I changed: the glassware in one setting is more colorful than in the other; the napkin arrangement is 3 elements in one and 1 element in the other. By switching just a couple of elements I was able to change the look of the table. Which one do you prefer?