Settings, favors, and more

Some basic ideas for place settings, menu display, and more

Place Settings:

For easy and eco-friendly place settings, why not try birch bark? This time of year it’s not unusual to find loose birch bark on the ground when walking in the woods. Pick up a couple handfuls, and use the narrow part of a pen cap to write your guests’ names on it. Easily biodegradable at the end of the night!

The next time you host a dinner party, consider placing a small potted plant at everyone’s seat with their name card tied around the pot with a pretty ribbon.  You can write care instructions for the plant on the back of the name card.  This makes a great favor that makes a positive green impact.

Menu Display:

I’ve long seen empty wine bottles reused as flower vases and candle holders, and I recently came across something different really cool. You can turn your empty wine bottle into a chalkboard!  By spraying them with chalkboard paint (I did not know this existed) after removing the label, you have a surface you can write on with chalk, which is great for displaying a menu during a dinner party or acting as an unusual centerpiece.

Favors:

J and I hosted an engagement brunch a few years ago for his brother and his now wife, and for favors, I planted paper white bulbs and painted the pots with a stripe of green, one of the colors of their wedding.  I was thrilled with how easy and inexpensive clay pots are to work with, and I highly recommend using them for your next party, whether as a favor, centerpiece, or place card.  If you don't want to use paint, chalk works well, too, and while flowers or bulbs are an obvious choice, you can also fill them with candles, fresh flowers, sand, or really anything else to fit your theme.  Go to a bulk floral supply shop for the best deals.