Working closely with event stylists all over the country, Table Art’s table linen hire experts have created hundreds of jaw-droppingly gorgeous wedding, birthday and event table settings.
We’ve also been called to the rescue of some less-than-impressive table settings.
Whether you’re in the thick of event planning and working with all sorts of suppliers, or are just about ready to begin, you’ll want to ensure that you have everything you need to create a visual masterpiece with your table settings.
Planning for an event can get stressful, especially if you’re doing it on your own. Not having the right team and people to support you can make it hard to ensure your event styling looks fantastic
Luckily, if you avoid the following event styling mistakes, you’re well on your way towards an absolutely stunning table setting!
This week, our table linen hire experts share some common mistakes you might be making… as well as not-so-common ones you mightn’t have even thought of!
Mistake 1: When your centrepieces don’t account for your dining style
Three-course dining is often associated with formal events, but in recent years, share platters and banquet dining has grown in popularity, encompassing a warm, festive, and caring ambiance amongst diners.
If you’re considering shared platters for your upcoming meal, you must take into account the way food will be distributed and displayed along your tables.
Avoid crowding your tables or making it hard for guests to access food with obstructive centerpieces.
Additionally, large centrepieces may look great from a distance, but guests would much rather see the faces of the people sitting opposite them!
Mistake 2: Tapered candles can be a safety hazard!
We love the romantic, delicate mood candles set, but they can quickly turn into a glaring hazard if they’re used without any thought.
If your diners will be serving themselves from platters, it’s best to avoid tapered candles and remove the risk of injury.
Instead, why not consider votives? These conceal an exposed flame, removing the risk of a wayward flame hurting your guests or setting a sleeve alight!
Mistake 3: Choosing the wrong flowers
Have you ever considered the impact of flowers on many different cultures and religions around the world?
If you’re a florist, or a stylist engaging a florist for an upcoming event, we strongly suggest taking note of some important meanings behind the colour of flowers.
Here are just a few examples of mixed messages associated with different types of flowers, and their colours…
Red flowers
In Western culture, red is the symbol for passion and excitement, while in Asian culture, it’s associated with happiness, celebration, and good fortune.
All seems innocent enough, right?
Well, did you know that in the Middle East, red represents caution, and can even symbolise evil?
Chrysanthemums
Thought to represent optimism, happiness, and good health, chrysanthemums sound like a pretty optimistic flower, right?
In Italy and some parts of Asia, however, they can also represent grief or death. In fact, in Italy, giving chrysanthemums could symbolise that you wish the person wasn’t alive!
Yellow flowers
You might know yellow flowers to represent friendship, happiness, and success, but in Russia, yellow flowers are associated with funerals and are a common sympathy flower.
Roses
Red roses, of course, symbolise love.
But did you know that in Hungary, roses have multiple meanings? They are actually really popular funeral flowers too, symbolising someone’s eternal love for a lost friend, relative, or loved one.
Mistake 4: Choosing cheap candles
You might think any stock-standard tea light will get the job done – if it’s made of wax and has a wick, it’ll do!
However keep in mind that poor-quality candles will not burn as long. Cheap tealights, for example, usually won’t last more than four hours, which, if you’re calculating from the start of your event, won’t even get you through the main meal!
Ensure you source long-burning candles to maintain that warm, romantic ambiance throughout your whole event. Aim for minimum 9-hour candles.
Mistake 5: Choosing the wrong table linens
Nothing takes away the shine and glamour of your event styling than table cloths that are awkwardly short or fail to cover your tables properly.
Even a beautifully styled table will look odd if the table linen looks like it shrunk in the last wash!
Ensure your linens have an adequate drop to convey that luxe table setting.
Not sure what length drop your linens should have? Contact Table Art – the ideal drop is dependent on the height of your table, so we’ll help you make sense of the numbers!
Mistake 6: Relying on your venue for table linen hire
As table linen hire experts, take it from us: you can’t rely on your venue’s stock-standard, basic table linen!
Whether your venue will be hosted in a hotel’s function room or a small restaurant, never rely solely on what they can provide you.
We suggest choosing your own table linen to guarantee that it perfectly matches the aesthetic and tone of your event. This is the only way to ensure that the colour, pattern and material all perfectly reflect your event’s overall theme.
Don’t want to settle for your venue’s standard linens? We totally get it!
Let us help – contact our linen hire experts today.
Avoid these common event styling mistakes with the right table linen hire
Choose Table Art for the right table styling!
At Table Art, we’re all about turning your table setting into a bona fide work of art.
Working closely with event stylists all across the country, we’ll help select linens, runners, and napkins that perfectly match your overall vision.
It’s not just table linens either – our team also provide:
Tell us a little about your event and we’;ll do the rest – you can even pop by our showroom in Auburn Village, where we’ll set up some stunning table settings that bring your vision to life.
Want to browse our range of table linen for hire? Explore our catalogues here.
Got questions? Eager to get started? Contact Table Art’s stylists on (03) 9813 2851 or fill in the form and we’ll be in touch!
