Author and designer Beverly Clark loves to entertain in her castle home, but you don't have to own a mansion to set an elegant table for your dinner party. For Beverly, setting the table is a ritual that sets the mood for the entire evening. It is a chance to bring out all the lovely things that normally are stored in a cabinet or drawer and to create an elegant tableau that your guests will appreciate and remember. After the tablecloth is laid in place, Clark starts designing her table with a large, gold-rimmed charger plate at each seat. The gold complements her color scheme and lends elegance to the table. She then adds a dinner plate, a salad dish and tops the stack with a napkin and party favor. If you don't have enough glasses or silverware to accommodate the number of guests you have invited, Clark suggests mixing different styles. She will use her antiques and give the daintier pieces to the women and the chunkier ones to the men. Since a dinner party is a wonderful opportunity for displaying collected antiques, Clark uses her silver salt spoons and bowls when she entertains. Name cards placed in tiny picture frames add an elegant touch and serve as unique party favors (figure A). She tends to separate couples to encourage conversation between all the guests. Even if you decide to prepare a more casual buffet for your party, you can still add elegance and style by using gold ribbon and greenery to accent your table (figure B). Clark encourages the use of imagination to create an environment that is relaxing and classy and that transports your guests out of the realm of the ordinary and into the extraordinary.
GUESTS :
Beverly Clark
Author and Designer
c/o The Beverly Clark Collection
1120 Mark Ave.
Carpenteria, CA 93013
Phone: 805-566-1425
Toll-free: 800-888-6866
Fax: 805-566-1426
E-mail:info@beverlyclark.com
| 
)
)
)
