Our Favorite Easter Table Settings + Centerpieces

Spring has sprung which can only mean that Easter is right around the corner. Celebrate the holiday with our tips and tricks for setting a spring-tastic table.

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March 09, 2021

By: H. Camille Smith

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Get Creative With Containers

Take your Easter centerpiece beyond a standard vase and instead place it in a pretty vintage tin for an added pop of color and pattern. Protect the tin and eliminate any possibility of leaks by first placing the arrangement in a plastic or glass container that's just a bit smaller than your tin, then slide the bloom-filled container inside the tin for a guest-impressing centerpiece.

From: H. Camille Smith

Pick a Palette

Take a cue from our friends at HGTV Magazine and select one main color, then carry that hue through from the table linens to the plates, glassware and centerpiece. Sticking with that one color makes it easy to mix disparate patterns while still creating a cohesive look.

From: HGTV Magazine

Sweetly Save Their Seat

Place cards may seem unnecesarily formal for Easter, which is normally a family get-together, but they're an easy way to give your table more of a special-occasion feel. These vintage porcelain pretties (found for a steal at an estate sale) make it easy to personalize each place setting: You just write the guest's name with a marker which easily wipes off the glazed surface when dinner is done.

From: H. Camille Smith

Give Kids Their Space

Setting up a separate kids' table is a time-honored holiday tradtion that you've probably followed at Thanksgiving but may not have considered for Easter. If not, this year, give it a try by covering a card table with a cheery cloth, then setting a sweet scene complete with a few kid-pleasing surprises.

Mix It Up

Mix-and-match place settings aren't just super trendy, they're also the easiest way to display your favorite hand-me-down pieces — especially if you only inherited a few dishes from a particular set.

From: H. Camille Smith

Kids' Table: Create a Cookie Centerpiece

Give the kids a special treat by hanging iced Easter cookies on a bare, backyard branch that you've painted white. Anchor the branch in dry floral foam secured in a heavy ceramic pot, crock or bucket to ensure it won't tip as kids eagerly grab their treats.

Or, a Sweet Centerpiece for the Adults

When your Easter dessert is as pretty as this glazed fruit tart, make it the star of your table. We paired ours with a small arrangement of ranunculus and seeded eucalyptus and lined the center of the table with cut spring branches (use faux for a lasting look).

From: H. Camille Smith

Silverware: What Goes Where?

Setting a guest-impressing place setting is easier than you may think. Start with a charger (check your local dollar or craft store for inexpensive options), followed by the dinner plate. Top it with a smaller salad plate, followed by a place card. To the left, place the napkin and forks; to the right: the knife (blade turned in) and spoons. Voila, a beautiful place setting in a snap.

From: H. Camille Smith

Or, Keep Settings Simple

For a casual family brunch, simplify setting the table and keep the focus on the morning's festivities, by only setting out the utensils your family will need — if the menu is fairly basic without a long succession of courses, a standard spoon and fork will do.

Let Guests Help Themselves

Pretty up the dessert table with a colorful fabric, like this gingham throw, and a small centerpiece using either grocery store blooms or tulips from your backyard. Add your prettiest plates and a server so guests can help themselves to a sweet finish to their Easter feast.

From: H. Camille Smith

Pair Patterns Like a Pro

One rule to keep in mind when mixing disparate dishware patterns is to pair pieces with a consistent color or motif. For instance, this lovely place setting feels cohesive thanks to the pink palette and repeat of roses. For a spring-tastic finishing touch, we added a rose-filled nosegay in a coordinating teacup.

From: H. Camille Smith

Nosegay, You Say?

To really give your table a big boost of spring color, top each place setting with a vintage teacup, punch cup or small bowl filled with a mini bouquet, or nosegay, of flowers and greenery. Nosegay is just a fun name for a mini floral arrangement. Like a larger centerpiece, be sure to cut the plants' stems on an angle (to allow the stem to more easily draw up water), add floral preservative and remove all greenery below the water line to deter rot.

From: H. Camille Smith

Get Creative With Candy

A favorite trick of event stylists, placing a smaller vase within a larger one is an easy way to create the illusion that your centerpiece's blooms are surrounded by a candy-filled vase. Our-step-by-step instructions, below, explain how to create the look, plus offer tips for keeping this centerpiece looking its best.

Get the How-To: Create a Candy-Filled Easter Centerpiece

From: H. Camille Smith

Or, Pieces From Your China Cabinet

With flowers so readily available in spring, a single centerpiece won't do. Brighten up the center of your table with a grouping of small vintage pieces, like a sugar bowl and creamer, old apothecary bottles or punch cups, filled with an abundance of sweet-smelling blooms.

See More Photos: Spring It On With a New-Meets-Old Table Setting

From: H. Camille Smith

Short on Space? Try This Trick

If you're short on serving space, try this designers' go-to trick: lay a hollow-core door or thick piece of plywood over evenly-spaced sawhorses, cover with fabric and voila — a beautiful buffet table with plenty of serving space that can be broken down again and stored when the party's over.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Make It 'Eggs'cellent

Coloring eggs is a fun Easter tradition that also creates mini artworks to brighten up your centerpiece or as part of any spring display. We skipped the dyed eggs this year and instead gave wooden eggs 3 new looks. Follow our step-by-step instructions to learn how to craft watercolor eggs using office supplies or follow the link below for a tutorial on creating marbleized eggs using shaving cream.

Get the How-To: Use Shaving Cream to Create Easy, Marbleized Easter Eggs

From: H. Camille Smith

Go Au Naturel

The easiest way to give eggs a beautiful, natural touch? Head outdoors to gather discarded feathers (or just use pillow down, as we did here) and school glue to add a fanciful, feathered motif.

From: H. Camille Smith

Grocery Store Flowers? You Bet!

Make your last pre-party grocery stop in the floral department to pick up a few floral bunches in springy shades. Here, we paired peach, orange and yellow ranunculus with white stock and statice for a pretty pastel arrangement. Once home, immediately cut the flowers' stems at a 45-degree angle and place the cut ends in water so they'll stay fresh till you're ready to arrange them.

Save So You Can Splurge

For this cheery table, we saved by using a cotton gingham throw instead of a linen tablecloth and paper doilies (costing pennies each!) as a stand-in for much more costly chargers. We splurged on antique gold-rimmed porcelain plates to top each place setting. Pairing high with low is a failproof way to create a look that's uniquely your own without busting your budget.

From: H. Camille Smith

Take a Farm-to-Table Approach

Give your centerpiece a farmhouse-chic look by placing a vase filled with flowers in the center of an old wire egg basket, then surrounding the vase with fresh or faux eggs (available at your local craft store) in assorted colors.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Brunch: Serve Buffet Style

To really simplify your Easter get-together, serve buffet style and let guests grab utensils, a plate and napkin before helping themselves to the spread. Need menu pointers? Check our our favorite Easter recipes, below.

See More Photos: Our Favorite Easter Recipes

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Bring the Indoors Out

No flimsy plastic picnic furniture here — set the scene for an unforgettable Easter dinner by bringing your dining table and chairs outside so everyone can sit back and comfortably enjoy their lunch while soaking in the sweet spring sunshine.

Or, Bring the Outdoors In

Head outdoors to clip spring bloomers, like tulips and stock, to easily create a colorful spring centerpiece. For a rustic look, add in a few bare branches and swap the standard vase for a pretty painted pail or vintage ice bucket. Note: Be sure to use yellow tulips — not daffodils — in a mixed arrangement. Daffodils are a member of the Narcissus family. Once cut, their stems excrete a substance that is harmful to other flowers so it's best to always place daffodils in an arrangement by themselves.

Tuck In Sweet Surprises

Give your centerpiece a little extra character, like this mushroom bird nestled on a 'green ball' dianthus bloom, for a fun touch that's sure to make Easter guests smile.

From: H. Camille Smith

Give New Life to Old Chargers

Our bargain shiny gold chargers were looking a little worse for wear so we gave them an easy upgrade with sandpaper, chalk paint and a matte sealer. To ensure the paint will securely stick, thoroughly sand the charger's surface, really roughing it up with first coarse, then medium grit sandpaper. After the paint has dried, coat the painted surface on all sides with matte sealer and allow to dry.

From: H. Camille Smith

Welcome Spring With a DIY Bird's Nest

Bring spring indoors with an easy-to-craft decorative bird's nest you can whip up while watching your favorite show. Fill the realistic-looking nest with painted robin's eggs, dyed eggs or Easter candy.

Get the How-To: How to Craft a Faux Bird's Nest With Robin's Eggs

From: H. Camille Smith

Or, Invite Some Barnyard Friends

Designer Brian Patrick Flynn takes advanatage of warming spring days by moving his Easter get-together outdoors. For a quick-and-easy centerpiece, take his cue and pair weathered watering cans, filled with tulips, with vintage chick lawn ornaments.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Opt for Asymmetry

There are no design rules that state the centerpiece must be at the exact center of your table, an asymmetrical look can work as well — especially when you're grouping several flower-filled containers together.

From: H. Camille Smith

Add a Timeless Touch

Linen napkins are great and certainly make any dinner feel more special but to really kick your Easter table up a notch, swap fabric napkins for vintage handkerchieves. You can inexpensively purchase the real deal at estate sales and thrift stores or buy them in bulk online. The different combinations of detailed floral prints and embroidery look beautiful grouped together.

Finesse Old Flatware

Give new life to utensils that have seen better days with a pop of spring color. First, thoroughly clean utensils, then dip (or add painter's tape for a clean line, and paint) in enamel-based paint and let dry following manufacturers' instructions. Finish with a clear topcoat. The colorful, dipped look gives a modern twist to a traditional place setting but the finished utensils will need special care — be sure to handwash only.

Craft Pretty Place Cards

Your Easter guests will love this tiny terrarium that does double duty as a place card and take-home favor. Follow the link below to learn how to craft these sweet souvenirs.

Get the How-To: Design a Beautiful Easter Tablescape

Sometimes, More Is More

If one centerpiece looks good, four will look even better, right? For this cozy cottage look, designer Marian Parsons filled stoneware pitchers with grocery-store blooms, then piled them high on clear cake plates filled with moss.

See More Photos: Colorful Spring Table Setting

From: Marian Parsons

Light It Up

Those old brass candlesticks you have packed away in your garage or basement are actually back in vogue. Time to unpack them and put them to work adding a subtle golden glow to your table setting. Intersperse the tall candlesticks with lower floral arrangements to create visual interest by varying heights. And, don't worry about lining everything up perfectly down the center of the table, a meandering grouping creates a less formal, relaxed look.

Get Your Glitter On

Shimmering eggs in a bed of moss make a lovely (and easy!) Easter centerpiece. To create them, paint wooden, cardboard or blown-out eggs in soft pastel shades. Once the paint has dried, apply glue dots in a random pattern then sprinkle glitter over the eggs for a sparkling polka-dot effect.

From: Marian Parsons

Try an Edible Place Card

Deliciously invite guests to take their seat with a tea cup filled with fresh fruit they can nibble while waiting for dinner to begin. To create the pennant, print guests' names onto card stock, then cut around the names to create long strips. Glue the strip around a toothpick and cut the pennant's notched end with scissors.

Put It On a Pedestal

Take a cue from blogger Courtney Whitmore and nestle a flower-filled porcelain bunny vase on a rimmed cake plate filled with wheat grass and real or faux eggs in coordinated colors.

Add the Unexpected

Flowers are what come to mind when we think of a centerpiece but other backyard garden or farmer's market staples are equally beautiful. Small veggies still on the vine, like cherry tomatoes, pea pods or baby artichokes will add an unexpected twist. Or, you can make your centerpiece more fragrant by adding herbs, like lemon balm, mint or lavender instead of traditional greenery. Floral design by Poppies & Posies.

Spell It Out

Instead of a fabric runner or a single tall centerpiece, get your table ready for spring with a long, low centerpiece crafted from seasonal flowers and inexpensive papier mache letters.

Get the How-To: How to Make a Blooming Letter Centerpiece

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Make It Sweet as Candy

Take that antique glass candy jar out of the china cabinet and put it to work as a chic centerpiece. Just fill with wet floral foam that has been soaked till saturated, cut roses to size and push their angled stems into the wet foam. Don't forget to keep the foam wet for a lasting arrangement.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Swap Succulents for Blooms

For a sculptural centerpiece that will last (and last and last!), choose succulents. Most garden centers carry these low-maintenance relatives of the cactus year-round. They do well in direct sunlight and when planted together en masse. A shallow container, sandy, well-draining soil and an eye for combining succulents of various colors and shapes are all you need to create a stunning centerpiece that will look great for many months to come.

Get the How-To: Succulent Centerpieces

Box It Up

Instead of a vase, slip your flowers in an old wooden crate or box for a trendy rustic look. Be sure to first line the box with heavy-duty plastic sheeting or place the blooms in low containers to prevent leaks.

Clip Some Backyard Beauties

For this centerpiece, we paired full-blown peonies with delicious-smelling gardenias and lily of the valley. Depending on climate, your backyard blooms may differ but whatever you have in bloom, clip it and place in a low vase to add a big burst of color and lovely scent to your Easter table.

Create Casual Arrangements for a Casual Get-Together

For low-fuss affairs, keep the floral arrangements low-key as well. Just clip a bunch of grocery store blooms to the same height as your vase, then pop the whole bunch in water.

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Add Some Drama

Twisting bare branches hung with paper butterflies create an architectural centerpiece for this sunwashed spring table by thrifty diva Kate Riley. Vintage plates, pale blue dyed eggs and fluffy white hydrangeas work together to create a cool, eye-catching color palette.

Wrap It Up

Tying a simple ribbon around flatware adds a special touch to any traditional setting. Take it to the next level by tucking in a sprig of lavender or any small flower to coordinate with the pastel color palette and reap the added benefit of a beautiful fragrance in the room.

From: Katie Meyers

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