How to flower your tablescape

The completed tablescape, a pastel palette with a contrast of greens and whites with ivy branches for texture

Spring presents us with warmer weather fit for outdoor (or even indoor) dinner parties. We love to make our own tablescapes for these events – and make them ones to remember. Defined as an artistic arrangement of articles on a table, they can go from being “over the top” and elaborate to simple and affordable.

Designer Larissa Raywood recently created a tablescape for a small wedding on a $100 budget!  See her beautiful photo’s above.

Here are her tips and tricks for getting it done.

Early Morning Start: 

Waiting around for the local floral shop to open leaves ones pockets empty and time wasted. This is a do-it-yourself process that involves getting out of bed at 4am and heading off to your local flower market – in Sydney it’s located in the inner western suburbs. It’s definitely tough to get the creative energy flowing at this time in the morning – but to stay on track and on budget its a must!

Get Inspired

Gather ideas from pinterest or any other outlet so that you can narrow down the style you are looking to achieve. There are so many different flowers available, along with ways to present them, so figure out what you’re attracted to to make it easier.

It doesn’t even have to be all flowers either – you could think outside the square a little and include fruit, vines or branches to adorn the table.

tablescape inspiration

Prep

Look in your cupboards for existing vessels or even making a trip to the local Op-shop to keep the costs down but the quality up. Definitely consider the size and use either petite low vessels or tall ones that will stay out of the line of sight for your guests as well as make it easy for your serving ware.

Think about what you need before-hand or you may find you leave with a car-load you don’t actually need as you “ooh” and “ahh” your way through the flower market floor.  In the budget project I recently completed, we had a clear direction of colour palette but always leave yourself flexibility for what’s in season, inspirations (from Pinterest of course), and the actual quantities needed.

Presentation

If your putting together bouquet style centrepieces – stick to the triangle rule – keeping it high centrally while letting the rest fill in around.

If your creation is low to the table don’t be afraid to bulk it out – normally the more you put together the fuller and more dramatic it looks.

The simple tablescape that made a beautiful impact

Remember, there really aren’t any rules, so use your creativity to conjure up a tablescape that works for you and your event style!

An overall view of the final result!