Three ways to style an Easter tablescape.
th friends and family and celebrate the season of rebirth and change. Whether you’re hosting a big Sunday brunch or a formal dinner party, make your Easter table the star of the show with these decorating ideas.
We’ve asked the experts to share their tops tips and favorite Easter table decorating ideas to inspire your seasonal tablescape that sets the tone for the celebration and establish an ambiance that defines the dining room for the day.
1. Choose a pastel palette.
Christmas is all about deep and dramatic colors like red and green, but there’s a freshness to the lighthearted colors of a spring table.
While there’s no right or wrong color schemes to use for your table, pastels of pink, yellow, green and blue are usually the go-to colors for Easter.
Whichever color palette you choose, select tablecloth, napkins and plates that all coordinate and work well together.
If you’ll be using a tablecloth (white or gingham works well), it should be the first layer, and make sure it lies straight and hangs evenly over each side and end of the table. If you have a pretty table, you can also use a runner as the first layer. Continue to layer decor items, including placemats, chargers and more, creating texture, contrast and color.
Placing silverware? Place the dinner fork to the left of the dinner plate and the salad fork to the left of that. The knife should be on the right, with the cutting edge turned toward the dinner plate. Spoons need to be placed to the right of the knife (the dessert fork and spoon should be above the dinner plate, with each utensil facing in the opposite direction).
Glasses and goblets? The water glass goes above the knife and, if serving wine, the wine glass to the right of the water glass. Napkins should be folded and placed to the left of the forks with the folded side facing the silverware. The truly ambitious could fold Easter bunny napkins. Several online sites offer a visual tutorial to walk viewers through the steps (and they allow you to forgo the napkin rings or clips).
2. Impress guests with a seasonal centerpiece.
Your table centerpiece sets the mood- from casual to formal, shabby chic to modern. Posh Petals owner Devony Wyatt suggests incorporating tulips, that come in a variety of colors from pink to purple to yellow, into your centerpiece along with kale for a touch of greenery.
The most important thing to remember when creating a centerpiece? “The number one rule is not to make it so high that guests can’t enjoy talking to each other from across the table,” she said.
She and her team are always trying to come up with creative centerpiece designs. This year, in a nod to the Easter bunny, she created a one-of-a-kind centerpiece, filling a clear glass vase with water and a bunch or carrots from Publix, topped with assorted spring flowers. “We try to be unique and I think it worked out perfectly,” said Wyatt.
Creating a buffet on a large island? Wyatt suggests opting for two or three smaller centerpieces instead.
3. Check your guest list.
While there’s something satisfying about pulling out your heirloom bone china, sterling silver utensils and Waterford crystal glasses that have been passed down for generations, sometimes, especially when your young guests are more concerned about the chocolate in their baskets than the china on the table, it’s okay to pull out “all the stops” by laying out pretty paper goods.
For one, not everyone owns fancy things and the people assigned clean-up duty hate spending hours cleaning and hand washing all those dishes after the nice meal. Even Miss Manners weighed in on this debate in 2018 after a dinner guest publicly shamed a host who invited her to Thanksgiving dinner where food was served using aluminum pans (the horror), paper plates and plastic flatware, encouraging guest to apologize for humiliating someone who showed hospitality.
