Easter Tablescape & Celebration

There is nothing I love more than to gather family and friends for a holiday celebration. Easter, when the garden is starting to be in glorious full bloom is a wonderful time to set up a buffet inside, and have lunch in the garden.

Some years I love serving at the table, other years a buffet is perfect for my crowd. If you are anything like me, you like to have everything set up ahead of time, and a buffet is the perfect way to do that so that on the day of Easter, you can go to church and not be frazzled by the time you serve lunch or dinner.

Here are a few ideas on how your tablescape can make your buffet the real star of your Easter. Buffets are so easy to set up so that everyone can serve themselves, gather all the things they need, and enjoy the meal and company in a relaxed, easy going setting. When I set up a buffet for a holiday celebration, it's usually elaborate enough so that the table settings themselves are quite simple and plain in contrast.

I always start by creating a large floral centerpiece. This one is a few bunches of spring flowers I just bought at the market. Cut their stems on an angle and insert in lukewarm water. For this bouquet, I arranged all the shorter stems on the outside of the vase, then grouped the taller flowers in the center. The large Pink flowering branches are actually faux, and in an antique French Body Pitcher behind the floral bouquet, to give the table more floral impact.

My antique gardening trug is in the center, filled with dessert plates and rolled up napkins, I tucked in a little silk lavender for added interest. I used it to emphasise the garden theme. The small plates I've had such a long time, they were quite inexpensive, their leaf shape and color are just the thing to use for spring. For this buffet, I used them for dessert.

I corralled my antique mother of pearl flatware in garden pots, knives in one pot, forks in another. Smaller pots hold easter grass and chocolate eggs. The bunnies were a last minute buy at Kohl's {50% off!}. The mats are simple and inexpensive, too....they add a little texture to the otherwise plain white tablecloth.

Next to the bunnies I placed a twig basket I've had for years. I lined it with some green moss, and for this photograph, plastic eggs. On the actual day of Easter, there will be hard boiled colored eggs in there.

On this photo above you can see the plain white plates I used for the main course of the meal. A stack underneath the pedestal holding more smaller plates for the desserts, and one behind them. I like to stack pedestals on plates, and elevate other elements of the table to add some visual interest to the buffet table.

Here is another view of those stacked small dessert plates, with a cute salt and pepper set I bought this year for $10.00 from Cynthia's Heavenly Hostess shop in Orange, Ca. How sweet are those birdies?

Our FrenchGardenHouse Easter Menu:

Spring Mango Salad

Lemon Chicken in the oven

Confetti Rice

Parmesan Twists {recipe coming later this month}

FrenchGardenHouse Iced tea with Raspberries

FrenchGardenHouse Watermelon Lemonade

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Pistachio Cake

Coconut Cupcakes

Chocolates

Next time, I'll show you the outside set up!