I enjoy entertaining during the Holiday season since it gives me a chance to spend quality time with my close friends and share my home with them.  The house is already decorated for Christmas, so all I have to focus on is setting the table and hopefully having one of my culinary friends help out with dinner.

When my guests arrive, I like them to be greeted with a welcoming arrangement, usually something brought in from the garden.  This amaryllis arrangement is a good example of this.  Planted in a rustic wooden container, these bulb plants can be transferred back outdoors and enjoyed again next year.

When I create arrangements for my home, I always like to add cuttings from my own garden to the flowers I buy from the Floral Studio.  Here is a casual arrangement of florist quality roses mixed with hellebores, hypericum berries and rose foliage cut from the garden.

You don’t have to be a professional florist to create impressive centerpieces for your Christmas events.  One great tip is to repeat vases of single flower statements down your dining table.  Here is a table setting of vibrant ilex berries, roses and carnations along with a bowl of pomegranates with foliage added between the fruit.  It’s good to have a collection of colored glassware and votives to use to create your own tablescape.

I like to vary the location where dinner is served to make it more interesting, especially for returning guests.  Here is a party I created for a client’s Christmas Eve dinner.  We moved the table into the library for a more intimate setting.  Notice how all the elements on the table don’t necessarily match, but blend well together to create the perfect table setting.

If you don’t know where to begin when it comes to decorating your table, take inspiration from the tablecloth you are using.  These arrangements for a January birthday party were inspired from the pattern and colors from the cloth.  Garden roses, anenomies and the first crop of sweet peas set the tone for a night of celebration.

My  favorite way to draw inspiration for an event is from nature itself.  This holiday table evolved from the coloration from the forelle pears.  Their unique green and red speckled exterior provides a palatte for the centerpieces of fresh lotus pods, protea foliage and the perfect shade of cymbidiums.

Celebrating the holidays or any event during the year is always enhanced with the beauty of nature.  Swaging fresh garlands, adding cut boughs or creating your own floral tableaus for your table create holiday memories for you and all those invited.   Using your collection of dinnerware, and tablecloths as your inspiration, will let you can create an event that shows your own personal style.