Table Settings

[NickeeCoco]

We like hosting dinner parties in this house. I got into cooking because of my grandparents. They were always hosting dinner and cocktail parties. A large part of these parties was the table setting. My grandmother started teaching me about setting a table at a very young age. When I was about eight, it was my job to set the table. This meant choosing the linens, the centerpiece, the candles and and candlesticks, etc. This went for lunch just as much as dinner. She never did anything by halves. Her mindset about the table has rubbed off on me, so I often spend hours a day or two before the party setting the table and getting everything just right.

I thought it'd be nice to have a thread dedicated to the table, the place were we gather around to eat together.

Lets see some of your tables!

 

[NickeeCoco]

This was from a tea party I hosted not too long ago.

And this I set today for my husband's birthday dinner tomorrow.

 

[roadfix]

Very nice settings!!
We very rarely bring out our fine china and silverware. They're displayed in the china cabinet but over the years the china cabinet has slowly transformed into a curio cabinet.....lol...

 

[NickeeCoco]

Very nice settings!!
We very rarely bring out our fine china and silverware. They're displayed in the china cabinet but over the years the china cabinet has slowly transformed into a curio cabinet.....lol...

Thank you.

We use ours frequently. What's the point of having it if you don't use it, is my thought. That, and it just makes the act of eating seem more special.

 

[Cheryl J]

Beautiful table settings, Nickee! Very inviting indeed.

 

[Kayelle]

Your table settings are just beautiful Nickee and thanks so much for sharing them. I really don't entertain any longer, although I have my mother's beautiful fine china that I treasure, and my husband brought some treasured Waterford crystal into the marriage. I certainly admire a beautifully set table, so I hope to see more pictures here.

PS..I adore those little vase napkin rings for a fresh flower!!

 

[Dawgluver]

Lovely, Nickee. We don't do much entertaining anymore either, and don't have any good china, just substantial Noritake.

My former SIL would really put on the dog when she and DH's brother would host Thanksgiving a few years ago. The turkey was nestled on a bed of 3 bags worth of fresh cranberries. Then the cranberries were pitched after the meal . But they sure set a pretty table.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Very nice!!!

Your tea table reminds me of my grandmother.

She collected bone china tea cups and used a different cup and saucer at each place setting.

 

[Kayelle]

Very nice!!!

Your tea table reminds me of my grandmother.

She collected bone china tea cups and used a different cup and saucer at each place setting.

AB, my mother also collected bone china tea cups, and would use a different one every day for her morning coffee. She thought coffee mugs were for men, or less than lady like women. We adored each other anyway.

 

[Cheryl J]

I don't entertain here anymore either - my daughter has been wanting to host holiday dinners and special occasions at her house for the past few years, which is fine with me. And I live alone, so my everyday table setting for one isn't pic worthy. I used to do similar to Dawg's SIL, but I used bags and bags of curly parsley to adorn the turkey on its platter, and it really was fun to go all out with my grandmother's serving bowls and such.

I'll be very interested in watching this thread for beautiful table settings, especially since the holidays are coming up!

 

[NickeeCoco]

PS..I adore those little vase napkin rings for a fresh flower!!

Thank you. They, like a lot of things that end up on my table, were my grandmother's. I've looked for more, as I only have eight, and would love a set of twelve, but I haven't seen them anywhere. I should probably look on-line.

My former SIL would really put on the dog when she and DH's brother would host Thanksgiving a few years ago. The turkey was nestled on a bed of 3 bags worth of fresh cranberries. Then the cranberries were pitched after the meal . But they sure set a pretty table.

You've just given me a wasteful idea. The end of November is our annual Xmas for friend's party and I'm doing a turkey this year (yes, the menu is already made for that. Heh. It went on the invitations. When people have children they need advance notice to make sure they get sitters.). I really like that idea. Though, I might turn them into a jelly afterward. Eat as much of it as I can with turkey leftovers. Or use some of the cranberries to make a stuffing.

Very nice!!!

Your tea table reminds me of my grandmother.

She collected bone china tea cups and used a different cup and saucer at each place setting.

On my mom's side of the family, as soon as a girl turns thirteen she's taken out to choose a crystal pattern. Then everyone in the family is told what the pattern is, and from then on in, that's what you get from everyone at Christmas and your birthday. When my grandmother found out about this tradition, she decided to start me on an antique tea cup collection. She, herself, had a demi-tasse collection, which I inherited. I don't use them much, though I did use them to serve a salmon mousse at a party once. They were very pretty on the table.

it really was fun to go all out with my grandmother's serving bowls and such.

I'll be very interested in watching this thread for beautiful table settings, especially since the holidays are coming up!

It is fun! It's also fun to hear the oohs and ahs when people see the table. A lot of people don't go all out with a table any more, so it's always special when someone does.

And I agree! That's also when I started this thread now. Canadian Thanksgiving is next weekend.

 

[Addie]

Lovely, Nickee. We don't do much entertaining anymore either, and don't have any good china, just substantial Noritake.

My former SIL would really put on the dog when she and DH's brother would host Thanksgiving a few years ago. The turkey was nestled on a bed of 3 bags worth of fresh cranberries. Then the cranberries were pitched after the meal . But they sure set a pretty table.

About ten years ago I had Thanksgiving at my home. I set up the table with tablecloth and matching napkins. We each even had our own S&P miniature sets. My SIL said when he sat down to eat, "This is like having a meal at an upscale B&B." I considered that the highest compliment.

Like Nickee, I too grew up knowing which fork to use. Always a charger on holidays. Except for holidays, we mostly ate at the kitchen table. But I still insisted on a properly set table as my children were growing up.

Unfortunately my kids didn't keep it up when they had homes of their own. Pots are on the stove. Serve yourself. I cooked it, you can eat it.

Where did I fail?

 

[NickeeCoco]

We each even had our own S&P miniature sets.

I have salt cellars, you can see them in the second photo, but I don't have miniature pepper shakers. They're on the wish list. I also would love to start collecting mustard pots.

 

[tenspeed]

When we have dinner guests I defer to my wife to set the table. Like Dirty Harry Callahan says, "A man's got to know his limitations".

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Call me old fashion, but I just love, love
my china hutch filled with BOTH my Grandmothers'
Tea Cup collections and a couple of
newer ones that my Mother has brought
me back from her European travels.





I also have my Maternal GreatGrandmother's
Fostoria American.



... and of course a bit of my own flare.

 

[NickeeCoco]

Kaneo, I don't think it's old fashioned at all! It's an appreciation for the finer things.

 

[Addie]

Kaneo, I don't think it's old fashioned at all! It's an appreciation for the finer things.

I think a lovely table setting makes the food taste better. You remember all the manners your mother taught you. Chew with your mouth closed. Don't talk with food in your mouth. Elbows off the table. Etc. I think a nicely set table brings out the best in all of us.

 

[Andy M.]

SO is in charge of table setting. (That's a good thing.) We live in a relatively small home with no space for a china closet or similar piece of furniture for the good dishes. All the "good stuff" is in the basement and has to be unpacked for a special dinner.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Kaneo, I don't think it's old fashioned at all! It's an appreciation for the finer things.

Aloha Nickee, welcome to DC... you can call me k~girl that's much easier
Kaneohe is the small town in Hawaii that I'm from
and "girl in az" , well that's kinda obvious

I think a lovely table setting makes the food taste better. You remember all the manners your mother taught you. Chew with your mouth closed. Don't talk with food in your mouth. Elbows off the table. Etc. I think a nicely set table brings out the best in all of us.

+1 Addie!! BUT, I don't this applies to my husband

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Beautiful tables, Nickee! However, my idea of a well-appointed table is not by what is on the table, but who is around it. I miss the days of having our kids at the table every night, and the big family gatherings we'd have when my parents and various aunts would fill the table with happiness and laughter. Also, growing up in a family with a tight budget put the brakes on college, no less place settings of fine china, stemware, and silver. My "good china and silver" are hand-me-downs from my parents (service-for-eight silver flatware that were my Dad's work service awards, stemware from Germany from when Dad was in WWII) and my MIL (Franciscan china from her wedding in the 1940s).

Now that it's just the two of us, and Himself practically gets the hives when we entertain, it's usually just the two of us. AND we've become a lot more *ahem* relaxed in our approach to a proper meal. Usually taken in front of the TV, my settings now mostly resemble this: