Setting the Table for a Springtime Dinner Party

I love to set a nice table when friends are coming.  Actually, I love to set a nice table regardless - like a well-made bed, a nicely laid table makes every meal feel more like a celebration.

Last night we hosted two other couples for dinner.  I decided in advance that I needed some new place mats and napkins.  Since we are constantly laundering the sets that we have given their daily use, after a few month they are either buttery soft or looking quite worn.  Spring time is a good time to refresh our supply, so I went downtown to a charming little shop and purchased 8 new place mats in a spring bouquet motif, along with eight fine cotton napkins.

I took the opportunity to cut three daffodils from my garden, since they were almost face down on the ground, due to the heavy rains we had the day before yesterday.  There is nothing sadder to me than a drooping flower.  They just look so woe begone!  But when I brought them in the house, they perked right back up.

Isn't that a cheerful pattern?

And then I couldn't resist bringing in one of the hellebores...

He didn't really match, but he got a lot of attention, which I think pleased him quite a lot.

When I set a table, I typically mix and match plates and I am always looking for new and interesting ones.  We do have nice ivory everyday plates and lovely Wedgwood china that I inherited from my mother, but I also collect plates with bird motifs on them and then mix and match:

Last evening, everyone got the same square dinner plate (which coincidentally has birds on it, too!), but a different salad plate.

The chickadees above we especially appropos, as we have a family of chickadees nesting in our inner garden.

I prefer little votive candle holders scattered around the table to formal candlesticks.  Maybe that's because I am a klutz?

And voila, the entire table.  Simple, but very spring-like in the colours.

The dinner was a bit of a potluck.  One couple brought cheeses and fruit to munch on while we drank our kir royales.  Dinner was chicken kebobs, a salad made by the other couple and some saffron rice.  The kebobs were especially good and marinated in a pomegranate molasses mixture all afternoon.  You can try the recipe by going here.

Dessert was skewers of fresh fruit - kiwi, pineapple and strawberries, brushed with a honey-butter mixture, then barbecued as well (covered the BBQ with foil for that).  I made my own dip for it - greek yogurt mixed with honey and pure vanilla.

It was a great dinner and we had a lot of laughs and told some good stories!  All in all, a great success!  Would love to hear how you like to decorate your tables for a dinner party!

I know - you are going to be sick of me going on about my hummingbirds and I promise to stop, but...  So far, only one has arrived, which is fairly typical for the first few days.  However this fellow spent almost all of yesterday at the very tip of my little (25 feet) elm tree out back.

My husband says he is guarding the feeder that hangs nearby.  I like to think he is waiting for his friends, which I believe makes me the more romantic of the two of us!

I hope you have a lovely Sunday - we are puttering this morning, then off to see a movie.  Tomorrow, I plan to hit the local plant nursery and do some serious damage to my wallet!  I can't wait!  Stay safe out there!