Cheers to Friday, my friends. I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. Do you remember when I went up to Napa to tour the Sterling Vineyards? Well I have had so much fun partnering with them and wanted to share my holiday entertaining tips for creating an elegant but simple holiday party. It doesn’t have to be over the top or a ton of work to invite your girlfriends over and really enjoy a beautiful evening.
This table was set up in less than 15 minutes. When I have my girlfriends over, I really like to have everything on our dining room table. Wine included. I like that people can gather around the table and as a host it’s much easier to focus on just one spot. For this table I pulled out my secret weapon. . . the white curtain panel from Ikea. I think I have used this as a table cloth over 20 times now. It’s a nice weight and is so long so it will cover any table. Once you have a white backdrop, it’s really so easy to pull off an elegant table.
SETTING A SIMPLY ELEGANT TABLE
- Begin with a white table cloth
- Add texture with a neutral runner (this one is from Target)
- Add two floral arrangements
- Use white platters for food
- Allow the wine glasses to serve as part of the table decor
- Add wine and enjoy!
Stick with white serving platters when keeping things clean and chic. These are from Crate and Barrel back when we got married. I use them weekly just for our family or when I entertain. I found an almost exact match here! When I host my girls, we always hang out after dinner so I really only need to set out some yummy appetizer type food. Always nice to have delicious savory and sweet snacks when enjoying wine. The Sterling Platinum wine is my very favorite and we have already picked up another bottle for Christmas dinner.
Shop White Platters
If you are having people over and serving wine, use those wine glasses as decor. They look so pretty lining the table. I chose to tie a bit of rosemary around each one to give them more of a holiday touch. And the green ties in nicely with the flowers. I also added rosemary to a couple of the charcuterie plates.
I mentioned earlier that the Sterling Platinum is delicious. It’s a bold, sophisticated flavor where blackberry, cassis, and graphite merge with layers of caramel, roasted hazelnuts and black pepper. How can you go wrong with that? It’s a treat and pairs so well with the salty salami and spicy nut mixes. It is also a great wine to serve with hard, aged cheeses. If you are serving it with dinner (as we will be for Christmas) it is really wonderful paired with beef, lamb and poultry.
The Sterling 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a great balance of intense fruits and well-integrated oak. For a girls night in, this wine is perfect to serve alongside truffle breadsticks, savory flatbread and a grilled antipasto (can be found in a jar in specialty stores). For main courses, this wine is fantastic with braised short ribs or authentic pasta dishes.
If you are entertaining this holiday season, consider adding dried fruit to your dishes. It adds pretty color that otherwise wouldn’t be there. And it’s an easy finger food.
Shop Other Holiday Dresses
I hope you’re enjoying this time of year and encouraged to open your own home to friends and family. It doesn’t have to be perfect or elaborate to be a really sweet night with friends.
Please note: I am working in partnership with Sterling Wines and I am being compensated for my participation in this campaign. All thoughts/opinions are 100% my own. Wine is intended for those whom alcohol is legal and appropriate. Please Drink Responsibly!
Ok, using the curtain panel as a tablecloth is genius! I was scrambling trying to find my white cloths to cover three tables-sit down brunch for 19 I hosted on Monday. This would have been a lifesaver. Love your dress. You look amazing as always.
I saw that big long beautiful table you did. I love that you hosted 19 people. So awesome. Now you know the next time you have 19 people over! Thanks for your sweet comment, Lauren.
I always enjoy your entertaining posts, Courtney.
Thank you so much, Barbara! That means a lot. I love posting about entertaining so I appreciate you letting me know. xo
Thanks for the info on the tablecloth! Also, you look beautiful!
You are so welcome! I realized long ago when I put the extension in that I didn’t have a tablecloth so I literally took the panel down from the play room! Ha. Now I used it all the time.
Courtney, I love this post on entertaining. This really gives me the encouragement and inspiration that I needed right now. I LOVE to entertain and we do so quite often but sometimes I get into the mindset that it all has to be just perfect and elaborate and end up stressing myself out. I love how out you keep it simple and have your white dishes set to use. You have it mastered and it looks beautiful and perfect!! Two floral arrangements are so pretty and the curtain panel is so clever! I need to pick one up for this week. Thank you! Thank you! This will really help me to relax more this week while entertaining. My comment is long enough but I have to say you look gorgeous! Beautiful color on you!
You’re so sweet, Allison. I am learning that people just want to be invited and relax with friends. The easier it is on us as hosts, the more fun we are to be around, right?! Nothing worse than a tired and stressed host. Wish you were closer to pop over for one of our evenings. xo
Beautiful table setting and food! I love that the wine matches your dress. 🙂 And I am so glad that when my husband and I got married, we had many people advocating for white plate registry! There’s nothing more classic than white dinnerware.
Smart friends to advocate for white! You are so right. Classic and everything looks gorgeous on them. I actually got rid of all of my fun accent dishes that are not white. Saves on space and felt good to pare down. Merry Christmas.
Beautiful table and great advice! Can you share what specific curtain panel from ikea? Thank you!
Hi Liz. . it has the silver grommets at the top . . You can cut that off and hem or just leave them. I can’t remember the name. I will look. Believe it’s around $20. Hope that helps.