SOPHISTICATED TABLESCAPES
THOMAS BROOM-HUGHES
“Tablescaping is really set management. I always try to make a table look impactful for when people arrive. After that you can remove the decorative pieces from the table when the food is served. It’s worth thinking about each of the courses you’re going to present as well as who your guests are: if you’re going for family-style dining, you’ll need to tone it down.
Keep each place setting the same. Chargers are fine to use and add a nice layer to a table setting, so if you’ve got them, use them. If you don’t have a charger, put the starter plate on top of the main plate, with a side plate to the left of that. In the days of old you always put a napkin on the left of the place setting, but try putting the napkin flat in the centre, or ruched with ribbon or tied with rosemary. Cluster wine and water glasses next to your plates and if you’re in the garden you could use colourful glasses instead of plain ones. Never use anything too large and don’t use anything that will come up to eye-level, unless it’s candles that you can see past.
I normally base my table decorations loosely around whatever is in season and the setting it’s going to be in. If we’re eating out in the garden, I like everything to look as natural as possible so, for table linens, you might choose a floral pattern or use raw linen with napkins in the same fabric. Always try to use natural elements where possible, nothing too manufactured, overdone and embellished. I like to use the leaves of Magnolia grandiflora as a place marker – I just write the name of the guest on a leaf using a gold marker pen. You could also use a lemon leaf, or a slate plant label.
The things I like to use most on tables are potted plants, cut flowers and a combination of the two. Terracotta pots are good for this: they aren’t too fussy, you can source them easily and you may already have them in the garden. I enjoy using potted seasonal plants such as bulbs in spring. Later in the year I’ll use scented pelargoniums, which have interesting leaves. You could also use houseplants such as ferns or a small Begonia rex.
In terms of flowers, try not to use anything that is too highly scented, because it can a ect the flavour of the food. Cut flowers are always seasonal for us and garden-gathered flowers would be my preference. If you want to add greenery to flowers, climbing roses, trails of ivy, honeysuckle or jasmine will always soften a setting. I also love to use herbs.
Try the foliage of rosemary and lavenders in small pots and vases, as well as nestled among everything else that’s on the table.
Some of my most memorable tablescapes have been edible. If the dinner has a strong garden mood – perhaps you are serving what you’ve grown – you could theme it around vegetables, with butter lettuces or bunches of cherry tomatoes in vases or pots. You might have borage, calendula and roses that you could pick o and add to your salad. And if fruit is coming into season, potted strawberries and even wild strawberries will also work well. Decorating a table using seasonal produce can look incredibly striking. In autumn you could use small squash, for example.”