5 Tips for Designing Long Tablescapes on a Budget

Whether you're celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, a birthday party, a wedding party, a graduation party, or any other event, the first thing that comes to your mind is "tablescape." Tablescaping, the art of decorating a table, is the ideal way to impress guests with your creativity and express your style.

Tablescaping is rapidly gaining popularity as we look to change everyday eating spaces into something spectacular and memorable to entertain our guests. A wonderfully decorated table enhances the taste of the food being presented.

Long tables create a space-maximizing layout. Additionally, the long table arrangement allows for more attractive and powerful decoration.

For your next party, we recommend some budget-friendly tips for a long tablescape to transform boring parties into glamorous ones.

1. Be Specific With Tablecloth and Table Runners

Dressing up a table is more important than you think it is. For this, the first thing to consider is what type of event you are hosting? You should keep your event in mind when choosing table runners and tablecloths because they have to do a lot with the nature of your event.

Tablecloths

Tablecloths are great for hiding a long, imperfect table and creating an appealing look. In addition, a table can be revitalized and given more color with the addition of a vibrant plastic tablecloth.

Before buying any tablecloth, ensure it also goes with the rest of your table décor, including table runners, placemats, and napkins, so it doesn't look bizarre.

For instance, if you are having a Christmas Party, of course, you want to create Christmas vibes - so don't hesitate to use red and white table linens as they are the perfect Christmas colors.

Table Runners

Next on the list is a table runner. Table runners can change the entire look of any table. They are perfect for layering on a tablecloth to create a unique appearance.

A table runner is a perfect solution if you love the aesthetic appeal of your table but want to offer some protection to keep its top safe from spills, stains, or food. It is simple to enhance the look of your table without obscuring its beauty.

If you are hosting a Thanksgiving party, rather than using a table runner made of fabric, you can use a floral table runner by combining some flowers and leaves together to give your tablescape a rustic touch. Floral table runners go very well with long tablescapes.

2. Choose Your Colors

The theme or color palette you want to use to evoke the right mood is one of the most important things to decide before creating your tablescape. Holiday celebrations are simple, but birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, engagement parties, reunions, etc., could require much more planning.

A fantastic place to start with is the color. The most powerful element of a table is its visuals. Therefore, you should have one or two main colors, and complementary secondary colors should be used.

You can stick to one color palette while building layers with different shades. Or, for a bright, contrasting look, pick colors from opposite sides of the color wheel.

Red and green are classic color schemes for Christmas table decorations, but you can give them a modern touch by combining them with unexpected shades of color. Consider using shades of blue, lilac, and pink for a more lively touch on this classic combination.

However, if you celebrate New Year's Eve, you should go with white, gold, red, silver and purple. Try incorporating these colors into table decor elements to create a beautiful look.

3. Choose Appropriate Servingware

Before organizing an event, always count the number of dishes, including serving plates, platters, soup bowls, and dessert bowls. Then, when serving your guests, you don't have to worry about space because long tables can accommodate many dishes.

If you're short of elegant disposable plates, then worry not! You can always head to The Kaya Collection's website and get the best disposable plates for all your needs.

If you want a hassle-free party, we recommend buying disposable serving ware, including disposable party platesdisposable charger plates, and bowls from Kaya.   

While buying disposable serving ware, you should ensure that the color you choose perfectly goes with the theme of your decor, as it has a huge impact on your overall tablescape. For example, if you are hosting a birthday party, you can mix a splash of your favorite colors for serving ware.

For instance, if your party is themed around Christmas, we recommend going with white disposable plates with green napkins and red bows to wrap your flatware in napkins. This table setting is definitely going to look fantastic and will enliven your tablescape.

4. Centerpiece

When planning tablescapes, a centerpiece is an excellent place to start. Nothing beats candles on the tabletop since they cast a lovely, warm glow. Just arrange a few candles around the table to create a cozy atmosphere. Taper candles, pillar candles, and votives are the best for any occasion.

We recommend placing various small, eclectic vases for long tables to give them distinct heights and dimensions. Lastly, we advise layering vases between the arrangements with antique candlesticks, loose pinecones, cinnamon sticks, and tealights to energize your table.

Flowers add beauty and elegance to any table. Thanksgiving is a good reason to incorporate flowers in your centerpiece. No matter what kind of event you are having, flowers always make beautiful centerpieces. If you want to add more detail to your tablescape, you can fill these beautiful vases with flowers to complete the final look of your table.

5. Create Layers for Visual Interest

Layering as many pieces as you can on top of one another is a technique you can always use to instantly enhance the visual appeal of any table. For instance, always lay out a suitable tablecloth, a large dinner plate, and then either a salad plate or bowl on top.

After that, either lay a napkin on top of that or add a seasonal décor item and a place card. Finally, your perfect tablescape is ready. By stacking these items on top of one another, you can quickly elevate the magnificence of your table.