Spring! It’s a favorite time of year! Fresh beginnings, the season of joy and Easter brunches.

 

WELCOME!  If you are here after visiting Randi of Randi Garrett Design, I know you are already SO inspired. Not only is Randi beautiful inside and out, she’s so talented at making things beautiful for her family!

I’m so glad you are here today!  I’m joining some of my most talented blogger friends for the Styled + Set Holiday Easter Entertaining Blog Tour hosted by Lory from Designthusiasm.  I’ll take you to all the other bloggers who are part of this beautiful Easter Tour at the end of this post so that you can see all of their beautiful inspiration.

 

Jardin de Campagne Spring Wreath

 

Easter is such a happy holiday, I always look forward to this day with the greatest anticipation. It celebrates the Resurrection. Spring. and all that is Fresh and Renewed.

If you have been a reader of my FrenchGardenHouse blog for long, you know we host a very casual “annual” Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch after church each Easter Sunday for our family and closest friends.

This year, I’m setting up the buffet at one end of the living room in front of our large French windows, to catch every single ray of the beautiful sun! Since its a holiday where we invite little people {our grandchildren and their friends} it’s not an elegant table setting. I prefer to err on the FUN side.

 

French Country Hare

 

Embrace the promise of spring, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the holiday and spring weather with a delicious brunch. Whether you are entertaining adults or kids, dreaming up an intriguing table setting or buffet setting lights up everyone’s heart. Adding some table accents that delight is a sure fire way to create a joyful table.

 

 

Celebrate the first sweet days of spring and host an Easter Brunch.  Here are some tips to help you dream up an intriguing buffet table setting.

1 ADD HEIGHT.

Go UP! One of the easiest ways to add some drama and interest on your table is to add some tall accents for your centerpiece.

 

 

Risers can be anything, I used this antique children’s chair to showcase the pink spray roses in their antique French enamelware milk bucket to their full advantage. A little nest filled with chocolate eggs {what else?!} completes this sweet little vignette.

To add just a little height to the large floral arrangement, one of the rustic vintage-inspired metal plateaus is just right.

 

2. MIX OLD WITH NEW.

 

Always a fan of the “old” for obvious reasons, when I go to market, I’m always looking for a few great new table accessories our clients can use to mix in with their antiques to make their tables really exciting and personal.

 

Belgian Linen Ruffled Napkins

 

These natural linen napkins fit the bill perfectly.  A little ruffle at the top make them just unusual enough to bring extra flair to the table. Here at FrenchGardenHouse I have these in white linen, and natural, to mix and match with our antique linens.  I put them in the washer, and dry on delicate, no ironing needed. {Unless you prefer an ironed napkin, of course!}

 

I love how they look with these rare ironstone floral plates.  Butterflies, bees and wildflowers, mixed with natural, fresh linen…what could be more like spring?!

 

Vintage Inspired French Grey Plateaus

 

Another all time favorite “new” table accent are these vintage inspired metal plateaus.  One is great to add to a table to add height. A few? Elevate all your settings to a whole new level!

 

3. FLOWER POWER.

We all know that spring means fresh flowers, and that doesn’t always have to be just one bouquet beautifully arranged in a vase. I go all out every year, this year’s flowers? A huge bouquet of hydrangeas with alstroemeria. A big faux blue hydrangea wreath. Small spray roses in an antique enamelware vase. Flower bedecked antique French ironstone plates. Flowers. flowers. flowers. I love it! Do you??

 

Hydrangea Stems Le Lac Bleu

 

For this year’s flowers, I opted for a large arrangement in an antique French glass apothecary jar. I mixed fresh white alstroemeria lilies in with our {faux} Hydrangea Stems in “Le Lac Bleu”, these silk flowers are specially designed to be able to be displayed in water. I mix them in with other “real” flowers, and no one can tell these gorgeous hydrangeas were not made by mother nature. {shhhh….it’s our secret, ok?}

 

French Apothecary Jar

 

4. BE BOLD WITH COLOR.

Especially in the spring, I am quite passionate about bringing color to the table.  The antique ironstone plates and platters that feature this gorgeous floral pattern along with butterflies and bees just make me happy.  Because they are fairly drenched in color, a neutral napkin made sense.

 

Antique Floral Ironstone Dinner Plates

 

Antique Floral Ironstone Luncheon Plates

 

If you want to add a dollop of fresh, bright spring color to your table, these plates are it!  Bought in France, they are actually English, so some enterprising French woman may have bought the set while on vacation across the pond. “Yes, dear, I really DO need to buy this set here. They’re shipping it to us at home in France. It’s the perfect souvenir!  And what could be more fitting for out country home?” }

 

5. MIX RUSTIC WITH REFINED.

It’s always about the mix at FrenchGardenHouse. { I think I’m rubbing off on all of you, because even my clients who used to only buy refined porcelain and silver sometimes acquire the more rustic, “every day” French pieces for their homes and tables! }

 

 

Using a cracked antique French plant pot as part of the decorations for this table? YES please!  It all works together to set a compelling table for the holiday.

 

French Horn & Silver Salad Servers

Mixing the refined with the rustic, the every day and elegant is at the very heart of our style at FrenchGardenHouse.  I am using these antique horn and sterling silver salad servers with the country ironstone and willow baskets, because why not?  Set a French Country casual table, then nudge in a few refined elegant elements to really bump up the look!

 

6. ADD A SURPRISING ACCENT.

Easter is the perfect time to add an element of surprise to your table. Even if you tables are usually on the “elegant” side, this is the time to bring on the whimsy! Our Monsieur Lievre, a large rabbit decked out with his blue gingham country bow and carrying his lavender planted “nest” is wonderful on this table.

I’m serving my spring salad in a vintage Steuben crystal pedestal bowl.  Usually reserved for elegant tables, sometimes it wants to play with more casual pieces and relax a little. This is another way to add surprising accents to your tables, mix in a fine quality antique piece with the more casual.

 

 

The real show stopper though, is the 1920’s French children’s wheel barrow holding an antique tian filled with colorful eggs, and the antique silverware wrapped in one of my very favorite linen napkins with a small ruffle. The linens are rolled and tucked into the side of the wheel barrow, so that everyone can just take one as they go through the buffet line.

 

 

It’s fun, quirky antique or vintage accents like this that make your buffet a stunner! {and fun…for me, any table setting must have at least one element of F U N!!}

 

 

 

As usual, I’m welcoming spring with wide open arms!

And I can’t wait for all the flowers to show off their dazzling selves in the borders, my little people poking through the garden plants in search of eggs to gather in their baskets, and celebrating all that is Easter with family and friends.

I hope you will come back here to visit me {for your convenience, you can get our French blog in your “in box” by signing up on the top right!} but just in case we don’t see each other before Easter, I want to wish you a happy and beautiful one!

 

 

 

 

 

Please go visit my friend Sarah at Life on Virginia Street next. She is always such an inspiration!

and don’t miss these other inspirational friends…

Hosted by Designthusiasm

Please click below to visit the posts:

French Garden House

Life on Virginia Street

Decor Gold Designs

ZDesign at Home

Setting for Four

Randi Garrett Design

If you missed Monday’s posts:

CitrineLiving | Maison de Cinq | So Much Better With Age
Celebrating Everyday Life | Town n Country Living | Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Tuesday’s posts:

French Garden House | Life on Virginia Street | Decor Gold Designs
ZDesign at Home | Setting for Four | Randi Garrett Design

Wednesday’s posts:

My Soulful Home | Cotton Stem | Maison de Pax
Taryn Whiteaker | StoneGable | Zevy Joy | Becky’s Farmhouse

Thursday’s Posts:

Designthusiasm | On Sutton Place | Shabbyfufu | Bless’er House
Sand & Sisal | French Country Cottage | Craftberry Bush