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Saturday, March 21, 2009

P.S. Ode To Big Gaudy Tablescapes

This post is dedicated to my friend Jonna who is getting married this October and even more cynical about impractical stuff like this than I am.

At the Chicagoland Flower & Garden Show a couple of weeks ago I ran through the obligatory tablescape section and although I still can't see why anybody anywhere would ever actually use something like this for an actual meal, I did find the ones from this year much cooler than the ones from last year.

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This wedding set up is probably the most realistic one of the bunch. The reason I was so drawn to this is that I'm absolutely in love with the stark white/light green color scheme used here. Unfortunately my photography skills don't do this justice.









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All I can say about this one is I love those big green balls!

But even though I love the way all this moss looks, I'm not interested in eating around it. Brushing up against moss all throughout a meal makes me think of how freaked out I used to get when my father made us swim in the lake and a fish would brush up against my leg.




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This was my favorite tablescape. I love that they made the structure from tree branches. Plus, maybe I could eat at this table. It's tidier. I also love the hanging green balls, the cone shaped hanging planters, and the sexy lighting.



These tablescapes were pretty but my opinion still stands - they are impractical and wasteful. I'd love to hear from somebody who has been to a function where the tables were decorated so lavishly. What did people think of them? How did it effect your eating experience and your opinion of the overall function?

Where do YOU stand on tablescapes?

5 comments:

  1. I went to a wedding at the Drake Hotel in the early '90's. I've never seen such excess at a wedding before or since - the wedding probably cost $100,000 or more. They had big gaudy tablescapes along with the rest of the lavish decorations and attire.

    The two funniest parts about the tablescapes were 1. You couldn't see your tablemates across from you - kinda stifled conversation. 2. the relatives who left early, taking about every decoration in the place that wasn't nailed down. (They brought plastic Wal-Mart bags with them to carry out as much as possible. Moral of the story: You can't buy class.

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  2. My event designer friend made a moss tablecloth for his outside patio. Very nice. But I tend to think low, understated decor for the home dinner party is better.

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  3. Wow! So that's what is called! I always knew that the arrangement on my dinning room table had a name.
    Let's see,
    This week's mail I haven't yet gotten to.
    My sons art from school I haven't put away yet.
    Some magazines.
    A box of wipes(for my just now 3 yr old who eats like a parrot)
    Somewhere under all that a napkin holder.
    A scented candle for ambiance. I know it's there because I can smell it.
    I gotta say, I doubt I will ever put my tablescape on any home show though...

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  4. All of these are over the top. As GG said you can't see your table companions.

    I have only seen this type of thing on a buffet where it won't obstruct conversation.

    I giggled when I read that the moss reminded you of swimming with fish nibbling on you. What a hoot.

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  5. i am a florist so i have definitely seen and even created some large table arrangements mostly for weddings and banquets, nothing this large and elaborate though, granted i live in a fairly modest town, so not very many $100,000 weddings going on here. the most elaborate wedding i have been to was my husband's cousin, his family is pretty rich and i don't even want to know how much they spent on that wedding (especially since they divorced 1 1/2 years later, ouch) their table arrangements were huge and gorgeous, they were on 4 foot tall wrought iron candelabras so it was good that you could see the paople across the table (just a skinny candlestick to look through), BUT i would not recomend having lit candles THAT close to your flowers and greenery, especially when most florists spray leaf shine on the foliage that is highly flammable!! a couple of the arrangements did catch fire, and after that they had to blow out the rest of the candles, haha drama!!

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