Holiday Table Inspiration with Leigh Events

Today’s guest post is by the amazing, Leigh Events! I can hardly believe it’s that time of year again! Christmas is officially ten days away! With the holidays comes an abundance of gatherings, starting from unexpected family visits, to perhaps meeting your significant other’s family for the first time and of course who could forget the almighty, family reuniting – Christmas dinner. The holidays are a period where most of your time is spent around the dinner table. In celebration, we wanted to create a holiday tablescape to inspire you to think outside of tradition and to express yourself this holiday season.

Inspired by the overall glamour of the holiday season, our Harvest Glam Tablescape brings luxury to traditional rustic. Bold and luxurious, this dramatic and rustic design is centered around a fuchsia, red, gold and green color scheme with hints of crystal accents. The garland table runner accompanied by breath taking, vibrant florals, and lush greenery with gold and natural pine cones create the ultimate luxurious rustic holiday runner. Two stunning crystal and gold lanterns sit on either side of the centerpiece, allowing the viewers eye to trail along the entire tablescape and becomes one of the main focal points. Mini naked chocolate cakes designed with fuchsia icing topped with red and green florals bring a pop of color to the table. White china rimmed with gold stands out against beaded gold-hued chargers, glass blown pears add a festive twinkle to each guest’s plate. Evocative and comforting, stringed lights illuminate the garland table runner creating the right ambience for the holidays, highlighting seasonal festivities all while colourful glassware fosters a celebratory mood.

SCP: What inspired you to incorporate fuchsia within your holiday table?
LE: Picking a colour palette that speaks to you is one of the first steps in preparing for the holidays. Yes, the traditional colours of red, green and gold are stunning, but we were inspired by the want of pushing the boundaries of the traditional Yuletide colours. Immediately, we began considering the bold, beautiful colour of fuchsia; which typically is considered a tropical or spring pantone rather than being considered for a holiday colour scheme. We thought it would be interesting to see this colour be a part of a theme that is so vastly different than the usual.

SCP: What does the perfect tablescape include and how did you incorporate those elements?
LE: Subtle touches are something to celebrate—they add festive charm to your table, and can transform a simple dining table into a stunning display worthy of publishing. Subtle elements used within our tablescape include: DIY place cards & menus, gold cloth napkins, fuchsia & crystal glassware, china, adding seasonal elements such as pine cones, two brass partridge figures and having gold flake, glass pear baubles at each place setting.

SCP: What is your favorite aspect of the tablescape?
LE: This is probably my favorite holiday tablescape we have created to date. I adore the elegant, romantic, twinkling holiday vibe the table emulates, and the touch of sparkle coming from all the twinkling lights. The lights contrast the dark wooden dining table beautiful, the dining table just so happens to be 35 years old and has been passed down through two generations!

SCP: How did you create the garland runner?
LE: For a luxurious festive centerpiece, we ran a faux pine garland with pre-attached twinkle lights down the length of the cranberry red colored runner, where the garland curved we tucked in a few floral arrangements containing cymbidium orchids, roses, Mokara orchids, Hypericum berries, peonies, with lush white pine greenery. We also added some gold and natural pine cones, a couple of large crystal lanterns, berries, fresh cedar clippings to give it that heavenly smell we all love so much, and called it a day.

SCP: Was this look expensive to create?
LE: You don’t have to spend a lot to create a beautiful Christmas tablescape this holiday season. Aside from getting a few floral arrangements and naked cakes, we used mostly what we already had on hand. We even repurposed one of our “Give Thanks Trees” and hung left over ornaments on it. For anyone who would like to create this tablescape and would like to invest in any of these pieces to use again and again, all are inexpensive.

LE: The napkins, china, and stemware can be purchased at Bowring as well as HomeSense, the garland was previously purchased at Costco and lastly the holiday stationary can be found at Staples or Michael’s Craft Store. We are so excited to gather around this beautiful table and celebrate this joyful season with our family and friends.

Leigh Events’ Tips to help you create your own holiday table!

SCP: What tips or suggestions do you have for people who are inspired by your holiday table and would like to create something similar?

Tip #1: Use what you’ve got!

Use your existing formal china and everyday pieces as a starting point- they will look completely new with some decorative accents. You don’t have to have ‘holiday china’- take your existing pieces and pull some accent colors from them to inspire your table theme.

Tip #2: Make it stand out with fresh flowers

Go onto Pinterest and search florals, then you can create your table from there. Florals are a significant impact to the table. It can be simple greenery to glam and elaborate. There are no rules to Christmas decor pretty much anything goes but always remember to include elements of traditional where possible as it keeps a classic elegance.

Tip #3: Make it fun with DIY elements

When it comes to the finer details of dressing your holiday table; create some elements yourself. Establish your seating plan with DIY tented place cards, this will keep the costs low and allow you to truly get creative. When creating a festive holiday table, incorporating custom made place cards will make your guests feel special, they can also be a cute takeaway gift the end of the night depending on the place card you make. For this shoot we made our own place cards and matching menus on our computer and printing them onto festive card stock. In addition to place cards, we suggest to place a bauble at each setting to add interest and fun.

Tip #4: Don’t forget the details

Remember, garlands tend to curve a bit. Don’t fight it, the curves are nice and make for nice little coves to add other décor elements. This is where you can bring natural elements to the table to make it cozy and familiar. Candles, florals, pine tree bunches and pine cones are the perfect final Christmas touch! If you wish to have a more luxurious and glamourous feel, try spray painting the pine cones gold or adding crystals within the garland.

Tip #5: Personalize it!

Add personal touches to your table that represent you or your family. Remember to include your favorite wine in an ice bucket, or have your family/children create napkin rings, place cards or any other accessories you would like to include. Including your family/children in the creation of your table adds a personal and sentimental touch! Who knows it might even become an annual family tradition.

If you were inspired by this Harvest Glam Holiday Tablescape, we would love to hear from you! Wishing you all the most wonderful holiday season! Cheers to you all!

Creative team details (Special thank you to everyone who took part!)

Principal Planner & Creative Director: Leigh Events
Florals: Delta Dawn Florals
Photographer: Samantha Clarke Photography
Cake Designer: Fruitilicious Creations & Cakes
Décor & Tablescape Designer: Leigh Events
Tablescape Accessories: Glamourous Affairs