We mixed wrought iron and concrete faux bois furniture in this Kessler Park outdoor seating area to create a more interesting look.

An outdoor party takes a little more planning than an indoor one. Here are some of my personal tips for making sure everyone has a great time at your next barbecue, cocktail hour, or pool party.

1. Seating:

For this North Dallas project, it worked out better to have two small tables with umbrellas instead of one large table.

Once you’ve figured out how many guests you’ll be having, you can determine what your seating arrangements will be. Will your guests be seated at a long table? Or will you create a variety of seating arrangements for individual conversation groups? If there will be kids present, do you want a kids’ table?

You may want to rent additional tables, table cloths, linens, and chairs. In the past, I’ve ordered bamboo tables that seat four people and pushed them together to seat six people.

2. Table Settings:

I recommend decorative melamine plates because they are shatterproof and dishwasher safe. With melamine, you can hardly tell that it’s not real porcelain. Acrylic stemware is a sturdy alternative to glassware—after all, you don’t want glass near the pool.

3. Food:

It’s very important that the food you serve won’t melt or wilt in the heat. Some tried-and-true choices for outdoor parties include nuts, crudités and hummus dips, puff pastries, charcuterie boards, and dried fruit.

4. Drinks:

Self-service drink areas encourage guests to circulate the space and possibly cross paths with someone new to talk to. Stock your drink station with glasses, cups, straws, lemons and limes, club soda, and a cocktail shaker. Also consider including your own cocktail mix or punch (serve ice separately so that you don’t water down the mixture).

5. Games:

Food and drinks are not the only ingredients for a successful outdoor party: don’t forget to include games so that your guests never get bored. Good outdoor party games include horseshoes, croquet, giant Jenga, and badminton.

Cheese, olives, crackers, and cold cuts are all good snack choices for an outdoor party, even on a hot day.

6. Weather:

Here in Dallas, the window of opportunity for perfect weather is pretty small. If chill is a concern, provide throw blankets, outdoor heaters, or use a fire pit to keep guests warm. During the hot summer, guests will appreciate access to cold nonalcoholic drinks, misters, plenty of ice, fans, and shade.

Even if you’ve never entertained outdoors before, if you keep these tips in mind, you can plan with confidence. My firm also has a lot of experience with decorating both indoor and outdoor spaces, so if your outdoor living space could use an update, consider giving us a call, too. You can reach us by calling our Dallas office at 214-651-7665 or emailing us at info@chambersinteriors.com.

The table setting for this University Park dining room is garden-themed. The china has hand-painted botanical and butterfly motifs.

Although certain images and colors come to mind for holiday table settings, there is plenty of room for you to get creative too. In this article, I’ll go over best practices for table settings, so you can dress a great table any time of the year.

General Tips for Table Settings:

Step 1: Laying a Foundation

If you’re at a loss on where to begin, try picking a visual element that you enjoy—such as a color, type of flower, or a pattern—and basing the rest of your design around it. Another good starting point is choosing your tablecloth (which forms the foundation of your design) first. That said, many homeowners today prefer to use placemats and chargers instead of a tablecloth.

This green-and-white ikat tablecloth is custom-made from Vervain Fabrics.

You can also consider if you want to use a table pad under your tablecloth. Table pads protect your table from heat and spills. Your runner should have a color that matches at least one other element in the room, such as the upholstery on the dining chairs or the paint color on the walls.

Step 2: Place Settings

How you set the table depends on whether your event is a casual or formal one. For a formal dinner, there are certain guidelines to keep in mind in regards to silverware and stemware placement. Don’t be afraid to adjust the arrangement a bit if it makes more sense for your table. For example, although bread plates usually go on the upper left, they may look better on the lower left for your table setting.

If you’re buying a new set of dishes, go with a neutral color and an understated pattern. That way, your plates will mix and match with a variety of different tablescapes in the future. Old and new china patterns can coordinate as long as they share the same color scheme.

There are many ways to fold a napkin, the easiest of which is to pass the napkin through a pretty napkin ring. If your napkins have detailing on the ends, make sure that the details will still be visible after folding. Monogrammed napkins are particularly popular right now.

Step 3: Choosing a Centerpiece and Accessories

Most people use a large flower arrangement as their table centerpiece, but it’s not the only option. For contemporary dining rooms, a clay or metal abstract sculpture can be a good alternative.

This ginger jar contains paper lanterns, bittersweet, and willow branches, which add a burst of orange to the table.

A single centerpiece won’t be enough to balance a large table. You’ll want to even things out by scattering small vases or baskets across the table with a variety of greens. Regardless of what you use to decorate the table, nothing should be so tall that it blocks conversation between seated guests.

Decorating with fresh fruits is another way to add something organic to the table. Lemons, limes, oranges, pomegranates, and red currants all make beautiful table decorations.

Design Advice for Holiday Table Settings

By using natural materials, earth tones, and reds, we were able to give this table setting a cheerful autumnal feel.

Your holiday colors don’t have to be red, green, blue, or white—in fact, those colors may clash with the rest of the décor in your dining room. If you’d like to branch out, try jewel tones like raspberry, teal, or deep purple. You can also give your holiday table setting a more upscale touch by including metallic accents. As an example, you can pick a tablecloth or runner with a subtle gold pattern and use bright gold chargers on top.

Adding a woodsy element, like branches or pinecones, is one way to give a Christmas table setting a more rustic feel. Candles are a common table accessory any time of the year, but during the holidays, they’re a must. Stay away from scented candles, however: they can interfere with the aromas of the meal you serve.

Table settings are often one of the last home decorating projects that people do during the holidays. However, there is no need for yours to be a last-minute scramble. By picking your theme and ordering flowers in advance, you can make setting the table a more enjoyable and stress-free process this year.

Need some extra help getting ready for the holidays? Some of my clients ask me to come back and decorate their homes for Christmas, so my firm has a lot of experience with holiday decorating. Schedule a free consultation with us by calling our Dallas office at 214-232-9501 or emailing us at info@chambersinteriors.com.

Margaret Chambers and her team lead one of Dallas' top award-winning residential interior design firms.

6-Step Checklist for Making Your Next Outdoor Party a Success / July 5, 2022 by Margaret Chambers