Maybe, you think longingly, just maybe one of the guests will bring flowers so you won't have to pull the emergency candles out of the utility closet and stuff them into those candlesticks you purchased, inexplicably, at the church garage sale.
Too often, a centrepiece is the last thing hosts think about, which is a shame, because it is the first thing guests notice when they enter the dining area. With the purchase of a couple of staple items that can be reused over and over again, an inviting centrepiece is both easy to create, and a pleasurable part of dinner preparation.
Wendy Turner, co-owner of Artworks in Edmonton's City Centre East mall, says home entertainers don't need a big budget or a china cabinet full of crystal to create a stylish heart for the dinner table. The centrepiece she designed for the Edmonton Journal is simplicity itself -- three glass vessels filled with river rock, moss and orchids -- and could be put together in a short amount of time, and for little money.
A variety of inexpensive glassware and jars of polished stones ($3.99 at any Superstore) line the shelves at any big box grocery store worth its giant asphalt moat. A single stem of cymbidium orchids would yield enough blooms to fill several small containers. Depending on where you buy your flowers and glassware, a trio like Turner's could be put together for less than $50.
Turner says home hosts with a centrepiece fantasy should start by thinking about the tone of the evening.
"Is it elegant? Is it a casual get get-together? Or a few friends making their own pizzas?" she says.
A sophisticated evening might be reflected in a flower arrangement that leans towards soft greens, or neutral tones. A night that focuses on fun may demand a bold pop of colour, or benefit from a casual arrangement of flowering branches such as coffee berries, with their inviting red, orange and brown fruit.
Turner challenges decorators to get away from the concept of vases, and just think about "vessels" -- which can be anything from a teacup to a pop bottle. At her dinner parties, Turner likes to put "a lot" of small vessels on the table (as many as a dozen depending on the size of the table and the scale of the vessels). Each one may hold a different flower. She favours ranunculus (which looks like a tiny rose, but is actually a bulb) as well as freesia, miniature hydrangeas and tulips.
Another idea is to place blown glass flower floaters topped with, say, gerbera daisies, in a bowl of water. Then let them bob happily while the guests gab.
Turner says not to worry about making sure that things match. It's often better to let the creative spirit wander and see what emerges.
--Canwest News Service
