Looking for a unique and beautiful blue and white tablescape? Read on to discover how I styled an easy and budget-friendly blue and white tablescape on a glass dining table.
If you’re very familiar with my home, you’d know that I shy away from bright colors. It’s not that I don’t love bright hues, but I prefer using a softer palette to decorate because it makes my home feel calm and peaceful.
It was my best friend’s birthday last month, and I was in charge of hosting an intimate dinner party for her. It’s been a while since we had people over, so I wanted to make sure I did something special.
My best friend is the complete opposite of me! I’m very feminine and love everything girly. She, on the other hand, is cool, edgy, and loves funky things.
While I was brainstorming on the theme, I came across this stunning Wonder Woman jelly cake by one of my favorite bakers. I was immediately inspired because I know my best friend LOVES Wonder Woman.
That was when I knew I hit jackpot. I’m going to host a Wonder Woman-themed birthday dinner!
Despite choosing a fictional character as my inspiration, I wanted the overall theme to still look elevated and chic. That’s how I settled on a beautiful blue and white tablescape with a pop of red and yellow to highlight the main feature – the stunning and super-creative Wonder Woman jelly cake.
In this post, I will share a step-by-step guide to style a beautiful yet budget-friendly blue and white tablescape on a glass dining table.
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A step-by-step guide to style a beautiful blue and white tablescape
This blue and white tablescape is focused around a Wonder Woman theme, but this step-by-step guide can be used for any style or theme.
Start with your centerpiece
With every tablescape, I like to think about my centerpiece first. A standard dining table is usually big, so using a centerpiece helps to draw attention and make a statement.
There are many different types of centerpieces from floral arrangements and candles to fruits and even books!
For my blue and white tablescape, I focused on a combination of three things to put together a centerpiece: cake, flowers, and candles.
Cake
So, I knew immediately that the Wonder Woman cake will take center stage. However, I didn’t have time to purchase a cake stand in time for this dinner party (which I regretted because the floral arrangement blocked the cake!)
If you want to incorporate a cake into your centerpiece, always make sure to add height to it by using a pedestal cake stand. Got a tight budget? Swap a cake for other pretty desserts like cupcakes, brownies, cookies, or parfaits!
Flowers
Designer floral arrangements are usually very expensive, but there is a way to get them at a more affordable price. You can either get fresh blooms from your nearest grocery store or a florist wholesale distributor.
Since the cake had a red element to it, I bought a dozen yellow roses and a stalk of blue hydrangeas from a wholesale store. Although I had to arrange them myself, the flowers were so much cheaper and I was spoilt for choice!
Want to make the most of your budget? Here are some great options to choose from:
- Local flowers that are in season
- Naturally lush flowers like hydrangeas (I only used one stem for a small vase and it looked great!)
- Foliage like silver dollar eucalyptus
Candles and candle holders
Candles are a must-have in all of my tablescapes. They smell great and provide ambient lighting when lit.
For this particular tablescape, I used nude tapered candles and gold candle holders to balance the various colors.
Budget-friendly candle options include laying tealight candles down the center of the table or grouping varying heights of pillar candles to create a statement.
Choose complementary table linens
On regular days, I don’t use a table cloth for my glass dining table. My husband and I are messy eaters, and we love that a glass dining table is so easy to clean.
Nevertheless, I like to dress our glass dining table with pretty table linens during special occasions. Table cloth, placemats, coasters, and napkins bring warmth and texture to a glass dining table.
Table cloth
Here’s my #1 secret: I never buy expensive tablecloths. I use random or excess fabric as a table cloth! It’s so much cheaper, and there are about a million different choices!
The best part? You don’t have to worry about staining expensive linen or cotton tablecloths! After a dinner party is over, I usually soak the fabric overnight then wash and dry it the next day. This practice works like a charm!
Don’t have fabric at home? Use an old bedsheet or duvet cover instead!
I have a habit of buying fabric whenever I see something I like. So, when I found this beautiful cream and blue striped fabric sitting in my wardrobe, I knew it was the perfect foundation for my Wonder Woman-themed blue and white tablescape.
Placemats and coasters
Placemats and coasters play a functional and decorative role in a tablescape. They protect the table from scratches, heat, and watermarks.
My dinner parties are hardly formal, so I haven’t invested in high-quality damask, lace, or linen placemats. My all-time favorite placemats are my woven ones, which I’ve used repeatedly since I bought them. Its natural color and texture make it a great neutral to work with.
Technically, I didn’t have to use coasters because I used long-stemmed champagne glasses. Since I wanted to add another layer of texture and a different shade of blue to tie everything in together, I decided to use my faux leather blue-grey coasters.
If you have a rustic wooden table, I highly recommend ditching the table cloth altogether and spending your money on placemats instead. Let your beautiful wood grain shine through!
Napkins
Most tablescapes wouldn’t be complete without napkins. They’re practical and enhance any table setting design.
Well, I may have committed a tablescape faux pax here because I completely forgot about the napkins! To be fair, I don’t own any napkins that will work well with this blue and white tablescape. I did, thankfully, prepare some plain paper napkins for the table.
Paper napkins may be practical but they, unfortunately, look cheap. When in doubt, invest in plain white or cream linen napkins. They look elegant and go with every type of tablescape.
Mix and match tableware
I’m a big fan of mixing and matching tableware. I know our grandmothers and mothers will probably cringe at the thought of mismatched china, but I find that using the same set for everything can look a little dull (especially if you have a fun dinner theme like mine!).
Since I used red, blue, and yellow for the centerpieces and table cloth, I kept everything else fairly neutral. You can never go wrong with white plates, which was what I used for this tablescape.
One of my favorite ways to add detail to a tablescape is by using fancy cutlery. I normally alternate between chrome and brass cutlery, but since this was a blue and white tablescape, I brought out my porcelain-inspired cutlery. It felt right since we had Asian cuisine for dinner that night!
Use food as decor
Ever heard of this saying: “You eat with your eyes first”? If your food looks unappetizing, a beautiful tablescape can’t save your dinner party!
Food presentation is equally as important as the centerpieces, table linens, and tableware. Here are 35 impressive and affordable recipes for your next dinner party.
My best friend loves Asian food, so we settled on sushi and a seafood feast. The crabs and sushi had a lovely burnt orange (almost red) hue to them, which was the perfect addition to the Wonder Woman-themed blue and white tablescape.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this unique and beautiful blue and white tablescape. Let me know if you used any of my budget-friendly tips to set up your own blue and white tablescape!