Brimming With Red & Gold! – A Key to the Armoire

Today, I share with all of you my Christmas Eve table (which was also my Cristmas Day table!) It continues the red and gold decor theme that carries throughout the house, and also, the magical exhuberance and richness that I was intent on achieving this Christmas.

I think I have mentioned it before, but I often use objects as centerpieces because flowers are quite expensive in South Florida, and unless you want cheap, supermarket ones, they are not convenient to get nearby. Besides, I think that crafting a centerpiece with found objects lends itself to better underscoring the theme of the tablescape. In this case, I knew I wanted to feature the Austrian spice trees, and mix them with two vintage hand-blown glass tree toppers that I don’t ever use on the tree. Because they have a tree-like shape, they carried the bejeweled tree theme quite well. To accentuate the reds, I used these antique Gorham sterling silver candle shades, which I perched on the taller Gorham Melrose convertible candelabra (I only used the 2-part candlesticks). The glow made for an incredibly cozy dinner! By the way, I was able to source lots of the same, exact antique items on Ebay, so be sure to check the shopping links at the end, in case there is something you like!

For the place settings, I went with my family’s sterling silver Grande Baroque pattern by Wallace Silversmiths, and mixed three patterns of stemware: Antique Libbey/RockSharpe Frontenac water goblets and champagne saucers; cut-to-clear, Czecoslovakian hock wine glasses, and cut-to-clear, Waterford Clarendon white wine glasses. I love mixing colors and glasses, and especially, adding the touch of red.

The china is a combination of my trusty, green Rosenthal chargers, or service plates, and my Christmas china by Lenox in the Holiday Tartan pattern. I also used my antique sterling silver chargers and bread plates. You may not see the chargers much (they’re under the Lenox dinner plate!), but they added more light to the overall setting. I also loved using the knife rests, particularly because I was not using a placemat. I figured that the green charger was large enough to stand in its place. Besides, I also wanted to make the inlay of the 19th century dining room table be part of the overall set-up, so I decided not to cover it with placemats.

Finally, I wanted to touch on the cashmere-wool throws on the chairs. Some of you have commented on Instagram that you like how I have tied them with ribbon. I find that this is a good way of making a table cozier. It feels great against your back, and immediately changes the look of the chairs. It’s also such an easy way to add a decorative element, that I love doing it!

Now, let me share the menu… I only took pictures of the dessert (which was the most involved!), but basically, we had a pear and burrata starter with prosciutto; turkey with an apple and onion sauce, green peas, and mashed potatoes; and finally, the dessert. As you can see in the picures, it was an Entremet with a white chocolate mirror glaze. The entremet had a chestnut mousse with pears, and was served over speculoos sand with a pear caramel sauce. It was something I made up, but it was very, very good!