Easter Tablescape with Paige Minear 2019
When I first met Paige Minear (of "The Pink Clutch" blog), I knew I wanted to be her friend. She’s southern to the core, and shares the same design aesthetic I love. She’s also a delegator in her own way, and that combined with her great sense of humor, made us fast friends. We decided to collaborate on two Easter tablescapes together, and the partnership was natural and easy from the beginning. I wanted to showcase two table options that were both stylish but attainable to others. One was a more formal set-up inside my dining room. The other was a “paper table,” set-up outside in a more casual setting, and much of it could be thrown away after being used. Paige pitched some ideas and potential vendors to include, as did I, and together I think we came up with two beautiful Easter table options. Almost everything we used was either rented or made of paper/plastic so that others could source the items just as easily and affordably as we did. We of course did none of the floral arranging, baking or “heavy lifting” ourselves, but included talented local vendors to help us. Not only is the final product easier to achieve this way, but it’s more refined and helps support other small businesses in the Nashville community. Neither one of us were stressed during the process, which is also the goal I always try to achieve when setting-up any kind of event at my home. There’s no crying over a burnt cake with me because I never try and bake one. However, the lemon meringue pie from “Sweetie Pies n' Baby Cakes,” was absolutely delicious.
For the Easter Tables, I wanted to show two beautiful options, but one that was casual and one that was more formal. For the casual Easter table, I wanted to include "throw-away items" that are affordable and can be tossed after the event for easy clean-up. With such beautiful disposable tabletop options out there now, like the products we used from Hester & Cook, it's easier than ever to source items that look good and that you don't have to store after use. I also wanted to include some whimsical bunnies, but not over-do it. I think we achieved this by incorporating porcelain vases, candleholders and a few other details that touched on a theme, but din't overdo it. William Sonoma was a one-stop-shop for all porcelain bunny pieces. The wood table and chairs are rentals from Please Be Seated, so you could really substitute in so many other options, depending on your personal style.
As for the more traditional and formal Easter Table, I based our design around the current aesthetic and colors of my dining room. We kept the palette neutral, using greens and whites so that it didn't fight with all the blue in the existing tablecloth and dining chairs. We did incorporate the blue color on the table with the beautiful monogrammed napkins from The Preppy Stitch, as well as the calligraphy on the place cards by Val Cole. And how darling are these little glass vases that also act as place card holders that I found at You're Invited! This table didn't have a dominating Easter theme, but was more of a spring tablescape that could be set all month long, including Easter brunch or lunch. I used rental tabletop items on this table to show that there are many options for china, glassware and silverware outside of what you already own. The best part about renting items for holidays, is that you don't have to clean-up after. You just put all the scraped plates, glasses and silverware into the bins the rental company provides, and then they come and take everything away after the party is over. And since we also had a florist create the centerpiece, we really didn't have to work too hard on setting-up this elegant table. How simple, yet stunning are these all-white blooms from The FLWR Shop?!? A beautiful table that's easy to achieve for anyone if you know the right vendors to call, is always my goal, and I think we achieved that here. Happy Easter y'all!
*All images by Kristin Sweeting