A beautiful table is inviting and stunning. By using reds and golds you can bring your Chinese New Year tablescape to life.
I really do like having people over for food and fun. Usually I have more people than my little house can accommodate but when I dwindle the guest list to a manageable size, I like to really do it up with a formal but fun tablescape. This time I was feeling mighty festive and went all out for Chinese New Year.
With a little research I found that some Chinese symbols for good luck and some Chinese New Year traditions. I was able to incorporate them into my tablescape with little effort. Some of my recommendations came from nice shoppers in my local Chinese grocery store called The Great Wall. One nice lady recommended some yummy Chinese candies and made sure I got the right envelopes for the occasion. All the writing was in Mandarin so I had no clue what they were saying. Hopefully it brings peace and blessings to all my guests.
Elements used in my Chinese New Year tablescape
Red and gold colors
Red dinner plates as chargers
Lunar dragon theme plates from Williams Sonoma
Red and Gold Chinese Money envelopes
Candies found from my local Chinese grocery store
I draped my table in a red tablecloth for a bold foundation. I found red and orange roses at the grocery store to make 3 lovely centerpieces to stay within the color scheme. I used geometric gold vases for these flowers. My centerpieces cost around $15 - $20 a piece. It's traditional to have mandarin oranges with their bright green leaves still attached as centerpieces but I couldn't find them at the time. Maybe you will have more luck.
I used my woven placemats as a neutral and my gold flatware to make sure that they brought grandeur to the table. I was even able to find gold chopsticks!
I just loved these lunar plates that I was able to found from Williams-Sonoma. I liked that they weren't matchy, matchy but everyone could have their own unique style. It's a talking point. These lunar plates went with the theme but also brought in complementary colors at the same time.
I used a simple, plain red dinner plate as a charger for the lunar plates. A red linen napkin was put under each charger for each guest. I think the most fun was putting down the money envelopes and scattering the candies over the table. There's no rhyme or reason, I just scattered them around organically.
This is a fun option for Chinese New Year or even if you want to dress up your Chinese take-out. Whatever the occasion make your dinner party festive.
For this party I made the following dishes:
Pork Dumplings but you can try these Spicy Shrimp Dumplings