Quick Centerpiece Idea for an Italian Dinner
One of our good clients called the other day in a bit of despair because she had ten guests arriving the next day for a dinner party and just didn’t have the time to make the table look right. The call came in like “designer 911, how may I help you? Uh huh, yes, uh huh…tell me what you have….ok, I’ll be right over.”
The theme for dinner was Italian, with the host preparing his grandfathers special “gravy” (tomato sauce) for the guests. They wanted a rustic Tuscan feel and hoped their friends would feel comfortable and at home.
What they had to work with was two sets of three hurricanes and candles for the two tables, and linen tablecloths. The dinner was going to be served on family heirloom dishes, framed with antique flatwear.
Janice took stock of the situation and was then off to the grocery store with a quick stop at a local craft emporium, and was back in an hour. What she came up with was fun and fresh! Artichokes, grapes, pears, and arranged breadsticks were gathered around the hurricanes, which were partly filled with pasta shells to hold the candles. A yard of Italian tapestry fabric wove its way through the display. Lastly, rosemary plants were added for color and fragrance. Janice wrapped their little plastic root containers with scrunched brown bags from the grocery store.
The only thing missing was a view of the olive groves.
Buon Appetito!
PS-Our client’s husband was very impressed and told Janice that we needed to make sure that people knew we can do things like that. Janice relied, “we don’t, but I did that for you.”
Love the cleverness and color and texture arrangements on this Italian centerpiece. I think I’ll have to us this idea for my next dinner group gathering. Thanks for posting it.