More than ever this Christmas, we’re looking forward to being together.
Family, cherished friends, loved ones, all gathered together around the table for a fabulously festive feast.
And whether yours is set to be the party of all parties to make up for the pared-back Christmases gone by, or a more modest gathering of your closest favourites, a beautifully-decorated table is surely the centrepiece of the very happiest of celebrations?
A thoughtful, well-designed table will help elevate your Christmas feast to special occasion spectacular, making your guests feel welcome and thoroughly spoiled.
Nature to nurture
Clove, Neptune’s new-season shade, is the perfect partner for Christmas decorating schemes and it’s most cocooning and elegant in a dining room.
Hovering between deep plum and rich walnut, even if you don’t use it on the walls, it’s a great starting point for your tablescape and works beautifully with golds and verdant greens.
Calming, grounding and restorative, these natural hues bring the outside in, nodding to a simpler time when the landscape around us was front and centre of our thinking.
Place Neptune’s Blyton candles in Fig or Juniper in a beautifully textured Stanton teak bowl at the centre of your table.
Add trailing evergreens from the garden, or faux foliage, and weave in pine cones and pretty string lights – you’ll find a huge selection in our gift shop.
Venetian glass baubles in gold or bronze will reflect in the light, adding subtle sparkle to this earthy scheme.
Love a brighter red? Neptune's new-season Emily linen napkins and Emily runner in Cranberry are fabulously festive, and make a suitably seasonal backdrop to a centrepiece of faux spruce and winter berries, foraged pine cones, wooden Neptune stars and glass baubles to catch the light from Cranberry pillar candles.
Gold, frankincense and mirth
Less isn’t always more when it comes to dressing your Christmas table.
A dazzling gold scheme brings a formal sense of opulence and occasion to your dining room.
Pair gold-rimmed china with crystal glasses and polished cutlery.
Along the centre of the table, place Venitian glass votives in shades from copper to bronze, lighting tealights for Christmas magic.
Wind trailing greenery among them, and add glass baubles in metallic shades.
For a real showstopper of a tablescape, add deep purple anemones to tall mirrored glass vases, then mark each place setting with a bauble, attaching a handwritten name label for a lovely personal touch.
Purple and gold is a key trend for this year – both rich and regal.
Silver surfers
Redolent of the wintry landscape outside - without the freezing temperatures - there’s something beautiful about silver and white tablescapes.
This year, though, this monochrome classic is layered with gold to add warmth and depth.
Frosted table centrepieces - think bleached twigs and pine cones intertwined with silver, gold and white baubles, shimmering in the light from tall candles – are right on-trend for 2021.
Add sprigs of mistletoe to each place setting and group Neptune’s ceramic houses with tealights flickering on to console or occasional tables. They’re a pretty, playful touch in an otherwise grown-up scheme.
Adding subtle blues and whimsical vintage finds to a predominantly silver table creates a frosty winter vibe.
Holloways gift shop and Neptune store-in-store are full of quirky decorations to inspire your tablescapes.
Circle of life
Wreaths aren’t just for front doors – they work brilliantly on circular tables, too.
Just as you would for your door, pack vibrant moss collected from the woods into a metal wreath ring – they’re readily available from florists, and online.
Then wire on little bunches of seasonal greenery – holly, ivy, mistletoe and spruce are perfect – miniature pine cones, berries and thin taper candles, making sure they’re not so tall your guests can’t chat over your centrepiece.
Alternatively, fill a favourite metal, ceramic or wooden bowl with moss, then add trailing greenery to it, letting it spill naturally on to the table. Dot with pine cones and tall candles in threes or fives.
Hellebores, if you can get hold of them, are a stunning addition to the display.
Home is where the heart is
Sustainability, unsurprisingly, is one of this year’s key decorating trends.
But treading lightly on the earth doesn’t mean you have to compromise on style.
Dress place settings with rustic, hand-thrown plates and bowls and handmade glasses, top with neutral linen napkins – we love Neptune’s Elden Snowflake napkins – and use sprigs of greenery from the garden, tied with garden twine and handwritten luggage labels.
Feeling creative? Make Neptune's sourdough stars and stamp your guests' names with vintage lettering.
Thin slices of rough-hewn timber make tactile place mats, and adding faux fur to dining benches and chairs adds to the woodland vibe.
Twisted twigs – birch and hazel work beautifully – hung above a long table, dressed with trailing ivy, clear and frosted glass baubles and woven with string lights, make fo an ethereal look.
Run faux eucalyptus or offcuts from the Christmas tree down the centre of the table, dotting with wooden stars, pine cones and other woodland treasures.
Simple glass votives and strings of pretty star lights – there are plenty in our gift shop – complete the homespun look.
