How to Set A Very Merry Holiday Table

*This post contains affiliate links and gifted product from Grain Designs. As always, the opinions and design are my own.

Welcome to how to set a table – Christmas edition! To keep the cost down, we reused many of the items from our Thanksgiving table. See that post here.

However, a few small changes had a major impact on the appearance of our table and created a completely different vibe! We’re outlining what we did below.

Step 1: Arrange your centerpiece. For Thanksgiving, we did this later in the process. This time, we set up our centerpiece first because the arrangement, sans place settings, has had a place at our table all season long.

However, we followed the same basic formula as we did in November. The biggest difference is that we added a runner from Eco Chic Boutique.

We started, like last time, by setting out two wood chargers in the center to ground the display. Then we added our largest pieces, the black lantern and a potted fern we display in the house year round. We added a mixture of festive holiday items to the lantern, like fake snow, acorns and ornaments. The fern replaced the pumpkins we used in the fall.

Next we added birch candles from Grain Designs, which we spread out across the length of the table. Just like last time, we finished the arrangement off by strategically weaving greenery through the open spaces, this time adding in a garland of red berries too.

Keep in mind that you may have to adjust some of the greenery as you add items to the table.

Step 2: Set the placemats at each seat. Ours are from Eco Chic Boutique, but if you are not local you can purchase similar cloth placemats at Target. We skipped the tablecloth for Christmas, since we wanted to keep it more casual.

Step 3: Add a charger. We got our shiny red chargers from Michael’s for a steal! You can find very similar chargers from Target here.

Step 4: Stack your china on the chargers. You can purchase our Lenox china set here. For Christmas, we added small dessert plates from Target. Ours are not listed online, but these are similar.

Picking simple and classic china, makes it easy to mix-and-match fancy place settings with cost effective dishes. This allows you to create unique and different looks throughout the year for a reasonable price.

Step 5: Place a little token for your guests on the place settings. We chose a few small ornaments. You can find the snowflakes here and the bells here. Similar gold acorns can be found here.

Step 6: Add the water and wine glasses. You can find similar tumblers here and our wine glasses here.

Step 7: Fold your cloth napkins and place the forks. We used white cotton napkins. Real Simple has a great video on how to fold a napkin to hold silverware and you can see our photo tutorial here.

Step 8. Place the remaining silverware. The forks go on the left, and the knife and spoons on the right. This time we went with gold flatware. You can purchase our set here.