How to Perfect Your Table Setting With Christmas and Holiday Table Runners

Believe it or not, the holiday season is right around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about your Christmas decoration plans. One part of having a well-decorated home is having a spectacular holiday table setting.

Holiday table runners can help elevate your Christmas dinners and take your family gatherings to the next level. But how should you use them to decorate your table and impress your guests? Read on to learn how to set the perfect table for this holiday season!

Why are Table Settings Important?

When it comes to the holiday season, the gathering of family and friends helps bring warmth to our hearts, despite the winter cold. Having a lavish dinner table for your guests can help to make them feel important and welcomed in your home.

For more formal parties, such as corporate holiday dinners, proper table settings are even more important, since you are hosting a formal gathering of employees, guests, and potential clients. Impressing your guests with a lavish table and lovely meal can help establish a rapport, and may even lead to future business deals.

Tips for the Perfect Table Setting

Creating the perfect table setting for your holiday guests doesn’t need to take guesswork! Here are a few simple tips you can use when designing your table for Christmas dinner.

Choose a Color Scheme

Whether you want a theme or color scheme for your whole house, or you want a separate scheme your dining room, you should stick to an organized plan of colors or designs.

Red and gold bring a stunning and rich aesthetic to the table, and work great with all kinds of Christmas decorations. If you’re looking for more earthy tones, consider the green and brown of pine branches. For a more upscale and sophisticated winter wonderland, consider using whites with jewel tone blues and silver for a dining table right out of the frostiest of fantasies.

If you’re looking for something more specific than a color scheme, you might want to consider decorating based around a theme. You might have a candy-cane theme with luscious red and white stripes. Or, you might have an elegant reindeer and snow theme with a white cloth and silver reindeer accents. Let your imagination run wild, or, if you want some help coming up with ideas, we’d be glad to lend our assistance. 

Add Layers

One way to give your table setting a pop of color and texture is to incorporate layers into the design. Your base layer will be your tablecloth, or the table itself, followed by one or more decorative table runners, your placemats, and finally the dishes and decorations.

Consider the colors of your layers, and how you might use contrasting or complementary colors to make the different layers of your table setting stand out.

Delve into Details

Once you have your color scheme set and your dishes picked out, don’t forget about the details of the meal. If this is for a multi-course meal, make sure you have the correct amount of dishes placed just right.

The finer details can make your table stand out. Consider using decorative napkin rings, and for a personal touch, place settings with name tags and a personalized gift for your guests. You might also consider using candy or cookies as decorations for the table that guests can eat or take home with them.

Glittery snowflakes, sparkles, or sequins can make a nice finishing touch for weddings or corporate parties, and your guests will admire the layers of detail you put into your table decorations.

Styles of Holiday Table Runners

A handmade table runner is an excellent way to start off your holiday table decorating. Depending on the the size of your table and the theme you’re going for, there are many different kinds of Christmas table runners that you can use for your event.

Long holiday table runners go the full length of your table, and are great for large gatherings with rectangular tables. For round tables, you might use a shaped or circular table runner to form the centerpiece for the table.

Quilted table runners bring the cozy sense of Christmas with Grandma to any table. From simple red and green designs to more elaborate and quirky pieces, these are sure to delight your guests and make them feel right at home. You might consider using something like this quilted candy table runner to add a whimsical touch to your gathering.

Lace table runners are elegant pieces that look great year round. You might pair them with ribbons, Christmas ornaments, or fresh poinsettias in vases for a classic Christmas look. You can also use floral elements such as pine branches, garlands, berries, and pinecones to create an earthy texture to your table. These work well as table runners or to mix in with your other table decor. 

Simple yet elegant Christmas table runners in solid colors and different textures form a great base layer for candles, ornaments, or other decorations. For something a bit more rustic, you might like a burlap or plaid table runner. You could layer one on top of the other for a cozy chic Christmas aesthetic.

No matter which styles you love, we have the best Christmas table runners for all kinds of holiday parties and events. We have one-of-a-kind table runners to suit your unique style.

Placemats and Chargers

After you have the tablecloth and table runner set, your next step is to choose some placemats or plate chargers for your place settings. Placemats on their own are great for more casual family dinners and less formal gatherings, but if you’re looking for something upscale and chic for a formal dinner party, you’ll want to use a base plate or charger as well.

Make sure to stick within your color scheme, and select a placemat or charger that fits with the theme of your table, without taking up too much space. The base plate is a great way to add texture and character to each table setting, and it’s a great place to add color with your layering. Choose something that will contrast with the layers underneath it, and with the layers you’ll put on top (such as your dishes).

Don’t Forget the Dishes

Once you have the chargers set, you can start adding your dishes. If you have fine Christmas china that you plan to use for your dinner party, you’ll want to make sure it matches the other decorations on your table. 

Remember to use the correct number of plates for the meal! If you are serving salad, you will need the dinner plate underneath the salad plate. If you are serving bread, the bread plate goes above the main plates and to the left.

Silverware and Glassware

You can find crystal glassware in different colors to match your table’s color scheme! The water glass goes above the knife to the right of the plates. If you’re serving different kinds of wine, your wine glasses will go below and to the right of the water glass, above the spoon.

Consider using the different colors or designs of glassware for your guests to distinguish between the water and wine glasses. Cut crystal glassware looks stunning with silver and white accents, and you can find gold rimmed glasses for a red and gold color scheme. Make your glassware sparkle on your table by incorporating it into the design!

Setting your silverware correctly is important for formal gatherings, but you can also incorporate it into the napkin with some classy napkin folding techniques. You might also choose to use a set of golden utensils for a red and gold Christmas setting.

Fun with Napkins

For the color and style of your napkins, make sure they match the holiday table runner you have set, and the color scheme you’re working with. There are plenty of fun arrangements for your linen napkins that you can use to add a touch of class to your table setting.

Decorative napkin rings are the classic choice, and there are all kinds of ways to use them to fold your napkins. You can pull the napkins through the ring from the center, or fold or roll your napkins before putting the ring around them. Either place the napkins to the left of the forks, or on top of the plate for a formal setting.

You can also fold your napkins without rings in a variety of elegant ways. The scallop shell or fan fold is stunning and sure to impress your guests, and the knot fold brings a simple but fun twist to your standard napkin arrangement.

Decorating Your Table

Once you have your places set, you can focus on adding decorations to your holiday table. You can have decorations such as garlands or ornaments that span the length of a rectangular table, or you might have a few odds and ends strewn around a main centerpiece.

Snowflakes, glass marbles in a glass or silver bowl, ornaments, and other such trinkets make for some excellent table decorations.

Table Centerpiece Ideas

If you love candles and all things that shine, you might want to use a silver tray with some candles and glittery stones for an elegant table centerpiece. We have some tabletop accessories that you can use for Christmas and reuse for other seasons year-round.

Vases and floral pieces always make a stunning centerpiece on any table. Using a balance of colors and textures will help you to have an elegant piece for your holiday table.

Christmas Decor Themes

If you’re decorating on a specific theme, you’ll have a lot of room to play with the decorations on your table. You can browse our selection of Christmas decor to get some ideas. Gingerbread-homes, playful elves, and angel wings are just a handful of the features you can add to your Christmas table.

Gifts for Your Guests

On top of each place setting, you might include a name plate for your guests with a personalized gift, or party favors for larger gatherings. Christmas crackers are a fun tradition and make both a beautiful decoration and a fun party favor for your guests.

You could use a small tin with ruffled tissue paper and the name card for each setting, or a wreath for even more holiday cheer. Letting your guests know that you carefully thought out where they should sit can help them to feel important. Other party favors such as candy, cookies, or decorations that your guests can take home with them will help bring that Christmas magic to the table with the spirit of giving.

These final details serve as the finishing touches for your place settings, so make sure that everything fits well on the table and that everyone has enough room. With that, you’ll be ready to host a lavish holiday party in no time.

Decorate Your Chairs

For one last touch, consider decorating your chairs as a part of your table setting ensemble. Using linen chair covers to match your color scheme can be an added comfort to your guests. Match them with your holiday table runner to help tie everything together for your event.

You might want to use ribbons, tulle, or other accents on the back of the chairs in an an alternating pattern to help guests distinguish which chair is theirs if they get up from the table. These extra decorations can help to bring attention to the whole room, so you’ll want to make sure the rest of your dining room looks stunning, as well.

Make a Meal to Remember

Holiday table runners and other dining room decorations can help you to make a great impression on your guests. As you get started with your Christmas decorations this year, remember to consider the theme and color scheme for your decorations, and design your table to bring about the most important part of any gathering: togetherness. 

If you need assistance setting up your decorations for the holidays, we’re eager to help! Contact us today to schedule a consultation for us to transform your home into a holiday wonderland.