Setting Holiday Dinner Tables for Thanksgiving and Christmas

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Enjoy Your Holiday and Christmas Menu When You Set Your Holiday Dinner Table or Buffet Table With Serving Dishes, Table Settings and Fabric Napkins

Set a table or buffet for Thanksgiving, Christmas and the holidays. Use Christmas and Thanksgiving dinnerware, table settings and serving dishes on beautiful tablecloths with fabric napkins. Get free Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and holiday menus and free recipes along with how to set a table instructions.

Everyone enjoys a beautiful holiday table, set for a tasty holiday menu and great company. When you (the hostess) are relaxed everyone has more fun. Plan and do things ahead so you can have fun and relax, relax, relax.

Following are ideas to set a table for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner and tips for your holiday buffet table, center pieces, serving dishes and plan ahead menu ideas.

1. Decide how you are going to serve the meal.

The most formal way, everyone is seated at the dining table. Someone serves each plate in the kitchen and delivers it to the table.

The more relaxed version of this is when the host serves each plate from the head of the table and passes it to the guest. The serving dishes are left on the table and can be passed for seconds.
Family style is great. The table is set with the dinnerware at each place ahead, the serving dishes are placed in the center of the table and each serving dish is passed from the get go.

Serving from a buffet table is often a favorite serving style when you have more than one table of guests or you have a pot luck dinner.

Plan your Christmas or Thanksgiving menu so it will work easily on one dinner-size plate. Avoid things that will run into everything else. If you're serving from a buffet, don't include soup. Think through the meal ahead of time and make sure everything will look appealing on one plate.

Make sure you have a serving dish and serving utensil for everything on your menu. Make these easily accessible before you start cooking. The plastic spoon from the stove in the mashed potatoes can really mess up a pretty table. Don't forget the gravy ladle!

Set your holiday table ahead of time, and figure out what serving dishes will go where. Use sticky notes, if necessary, to plan positions for each serving dish and table settings. Place the serving utensil where the serving dish will be. If all goes well draw a diagram of your set table for future reference. Stick it in your cook book for the next time you host the big dinner.

2. Set the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday table.

When you serve from a buffet table or from the dining table you will still want to set the table and have a holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas centerpiece..

Make your centerpiece festive for the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday. It can be as simple as fall leaves and colorful squash arranged down the center of your dining table with one, two or three fat, squatty pillar candles or more. Use an arrangement of fall foliage and fresh fall flowers. If your ceramic turkey is too tall, put him on the buffet table.

For a Christmas centerpiece a bowl of red Christmas balls can be stunning. Remember, keep it low. You don't want your guests peering through a forest of greenery and flowers to visit with the person across the dining table from them.

A table cloth is always nice. Definitely use one. If you don’t have one, a table cloth may be the only thing you want to buy. If you buy one that works with your décor or can be used for every occasion you will get your money’s worth for sure. Buy the best table cloth you can afford. Otherwise a quilt or other large textile will work. Check out several table cloth and fabric napkin selections below including Thanksgiving, Christmas and holiday table runners. (If you don't do the really nice table cloth, fabric napkins are what your guests will touch).

Set each table place setting with silverware and nice fabric napkins. Use big fabric napkins that have nice weight and are soft to the touch. No paper napkins allowed! This is one of the little things that make your holiday meals special. Nice cotton or linen kitchen towels in the right color or pattern can work beautifully instead of an actual fabric napkin. (Big looks for little cash!)

3. Holiday, Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinnerware.

Holiday, Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinnerware is nice to have. You don't need it to create a wonderful holiday table setting, however. You don’t have to have matching anything when it comes to plates, silverware and glasses to set a table. Mix it and match it. Have fun. Make it colorful, creative and festive for the holiday! If you are using two or more sets of dinnerware be sure they are arranged deliberately for balance and a pulled together look.

Set the table with different Christmas or Thanksgiving plates, you don't have to have any alike. This creates a colorful relaxed holiday table and works as a great ice breaker to get people talking. Buy your one of each Christmas and Thanksgiving dishes at yard sales and thrift stores. That is also a great way to pick up serving dishes for under two dollars.

Most people don't set a table with all the forks, spoons and knives required for a formal table setting.

The right way to set a nice table and still be proper is to place the forks to the left of the plate with the napkin on the left side. The salad fork goes to the outside, the dinner fork closest to the plate. Place the knife on the right side of the plate with the blade facing toward the plate. Then put your spoons to the right of the knife. Your soup spoon goes on the outside, the tea spoon closest to the knife. Your table is properly set!

4. Where Does Everyone Sit?

Mix children with adults. It is Thanksgiving, Christmas and the holidays. This is a family meal…. Each person can participate in grace by saying one thing they are thankful for, Thanksgiving, Christmas or anytime.

Mix your group, children and adults, family and guests. Place cards can be fun and take away any confusion. A take home place card at each table place setting can be a paper turkey made from a little hand.

Write the person's name in big letters and set the place card in the middle of each plate. If some guests don't know everyone, put the name on the back of the place card too.

If you have a collection of turkeys, Santas, reindeer, or angel ornaments, set one by each place setting. As a little dinner favor, you may want to place an ornament for each guest to take home.

5. A Few Extra Setting a Table Tips and Tidbits for your Thanksgiving, Christmas and holiday meal

Put your candles in the freezer for a couple hours before the meal so they won't drip too much.

Place a few little dishes filled with candy, nuts or cookies scattered through the house where your guests will be. Holiday dishes or pretty or little occasional pieces are great for this added little touch of hospitality. All of mine are fun colored glass in different shapes found at garage sales and thrift stores. No one knows when filled with cashews, divine chocolates or Christmas cookies!

Serve sparkling cider to the children so they feel grown up when you serve wine to the adults.

Have a stack of clean dish towels handy and ready in the kitchen. A couple extra aprons are good too.

Turn the television OFF. Family, friends and conversation have to be more important than the football game!

6. Where to find What you Need to Set a Table Now (Fabric napkins, serving dishes, holiday menus and free recipes!)

Ten plan ahead holiday things to do here.

Find holiday centerpieces, wine, gifts, gift baskets, dinner - all of it here!

Serving dishes, fabric napkins and everything you need for Tabletop and Entertaining to set a table and your holiday, Thanksgiving and Christmas Buffet. Get great buys at HomeVisions and Kitchens Plus including fabric napkins, holiday table cloths and table settings.

Everything to plan your Christmas, Thanksgiving or holiday menu, cook your turkey, serve your turkey and eat your turkey at Cooking.com

Menus At-a-Glance Menus and recipes for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner and holiday parties

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Create a beautiful tabletop with Domestications.com! including serving dishes, table cloths and fabric napkins.See what BHG (Better Homes and Gardens) has to offer in the way of serving dishes for your buffet table and fabric napkins for your table settings.

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