Dressed to thrill

Dressed to thrill

By MARSHA FOTTLER
 marsha.fottler@heraldtribune.com

If you‘d rather set a gorgeous table than prepare a gourmet meal, pull up a chair and prepare to be inspired. Two Sarasota divas of lavish tabletop décor, Barbara Roane of Annabelle‘s and Mary Fehily of Mary‘s on Main, have created holiday table settings exclusively for our pages and serve up advice about how to convert your table into a staging area for holiday enchantment.

A holiday at the beach

Roane chose the theme of seaside holiday and gathered up pearly seashells, sculptural coral and silvered sea creatures to accessorize a casually elegant table that expresses the Florida lifestyle. She used coastal colors of turquoise, sand, foam and coral, and elevated the glitz level with glittering gold and silver ornaments around a shell-encrusted candelabra centerpiece. This table could be on a patio, pool pavilion or even on a boat, if you‘re sailing through the holidays at a leisurely vacation speed.

Roane favors a round table and advises that if you‘re hosting more than eight, use place cards.

"Both square tables and round tables are the most popular with smart hostesses," she said, "because they provide the most intimate ambience for conversation. And if the table is crowded with things, it just seems cozier. Because of all the galas and weddings people attend nowadays, table favors are in vogue. For this table I‘ve set out white shell candles. I didn‘t wrap them because they are part of the décor. Each guest takes home the one at his or her plate and each is different."

The turquoise tablecloth with silvery embossed branch coral provided the inspiration for her creation. The napkins match the cloth and each is secured with a napkin ring featuring a single seashell set with tiny crystals, adding another element of sparkle to the table. In glass bowls around the centerpiece, reflective gold and silver tree ornaments nestle with nautilus shell ornaments. On the sideboard sits a vase of tall palm fronds spray-painted gold and a three-tier, silver seahorse serving platter that is part of a dessert buffet.

"I layer my table settings usually starting with the tablecloth, but sometimes a centerpiece," she said. "If I use a highly patterned cloth and napkins, then I keep the china on the plain side. And I love chargers because they provide another layer and just show off the plates so well. I just keep adding until the composition looks right to me. And, that‘s the key. There isn‘t any big secret or technique to setting a pretty table. Add and subtract items until your own eye says it‘s complete. Having a theme in mind helps you to know what to add and eliminate. Just play with it."

Barbara Roane‘s own holiday table this year will be Southern traditional.

"I‘ll set out my grandmother‘s china which is gold, rose-blush and sea foam and my mother‘s silver flatware," she said. "For the centerpiece, I‘ll probably use fresh orchids. Then at each place setting, I‘ll set a small pot spray-painted silver or gold and tied with gold ribbon that contains a tiny live orchid. The baby orchids will be the favors for my guests."

Whimsical elves and Versace

For her holiday display, Mary Fehily set a round table that is both lavish and haute but also child friendly and completely engaging. When you see it you smile.

"Since I used colorful and busy Versace china in the new Primavera pattern, I offset it with plain white cloths, one opaque and then the transparent overlay, which matches the napkins. The napkins rings are cherubs. The red Christmas elves and pixies were my inspiration for the table and I sat them atop silver boxes that contain candles, which are my table favors."

To create height for the centerpiece, Fehily used a fluted gold-rimmed cake plate, and she suggests that you do the same.

"If you set your centerpiece on a cake plate, pedestal or a tray, you can easily move it to change cloths during the season or to rework parts of it for different events," she advised.

For flatware, Fehily chose Waterford stainless steel in a mixed-metal pattern. It looks elegant but is dishwasher safe. Gold oval placemats hold chargers and soup bowls for the first course.

"Oval mats give you more space for the flatware because chargers take up so much room," she said. "But chargers add another dimension and glamour and really highlight your china. According to etiquette, the charger remains on the table until the entrée is served."

Fehily said to give the table a French flair, just turn the forks and spoons over with tines and bowl facing down. French silverware is monogrammed on the back and the reverse side of their silver patterns is as lovely as the front. Many restaurants today have abandoned the teaspoon as part of the table setting. Fehily always includes the spoon for her family and guests.

Mary Fehily‘s own family Christmas dinner for 12 this year continues a tradition that she started more than a decade ago.

"When my granddaughter Alexis, who is now 12, was in preschool she learned the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas‘ and used to have us act it out," she recounted. "So, my table ever since then has been themed to the ‘Twelve Days.‘ The children love it and when we sit down we all sing the song, each acting out a part before the meal begins."

Fehily family‘s Christmas festivities begin in the morning when the children sing "Happy Birthday to You" to baby Jesus, eat homemade birthday cake for breakfast and open presents.

How about background music for holiday meals? Mary Fehily said definitely yes.

"I play music all month all the time," she revealed. "Music expresses why and how we celebrate at this time of year. Besides, it drowns out football."

Creating an original holiday table

Decide on a theme, based, perhaps, on things you have in the house, such as a collection of antique porcelain boxes, a cluster of different-sized candlesticks, unusual ornaments or figurines. A favorite song, movie or holiday book also works for a theme.

Use one tablecloth or layer several, maybe one opaque and one sheer. Use placemats over the cloths for extra interest.

Chargers add a lavish touch.

Cloth napkins in white or ivory are for a formal table. Patterned or colored napkins express a more casual ambience.

You can make your own napkin rings with ribbons, sprigs of greens or tree ornaments.

Centerpieces should be low enough for guests to see one another across the table or high and thin enough so they see through it.

Background music should be low and not compete with conversation.

Include favors for guests as part of the table décor.

If you have more than eight people, consider place cards.

Opt for a round table; it‘s more intimate and encourages conversation.


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