How to create an inviting summer table
Lounge readers ideas to create conversation-starting tables for house parties during the scorching summer months. An experiential tablescape engages the guests, sets the tone for the party and makes for a great photo-op. Often, there is an overarching theme—Falconer’s tables take inspiration from the pastoral themes of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dreams or Rajasthani architecture and colours.
“I’m certain that my time in Jaipur has impacted my confidence with colour. A summer tablescape is the perfect setting to experiment with the most adventurous colour palette—be bold!" says Falconer. Another advocate of all things colours is Archana Raniwala.
Founder of Bloom Barn, a Mumbai-based boutique floral company, she says a summer tablescape should be fresh, fragrant and bold. Raniwala recommends mixing and matching decor accents you already have at home in creative ways—like seasonal fruit, vegetables and flowers inspired by your theme and menu—to add more character to the table. At an Italian-themed luncheon table designed by her, Raniwala slit and hollowed bell peppers to hold oregano and chilli flakes.
Limes were emptied to become tealight stands and small pots overflowed with fresh herbs and baby’s breath. There were food trivia cards placed around to spark conversations. “Your decor shouldn’t just be a prop.
It should draw your guests in, inspire conversations, and have that one ‘wow’ element that engages them," says Raniwala. For a birthday lunch she designed for a client, an interplay of dragon fruits, pomegranates, cherries, oranges and a bunch of colourful blooms sprinkled with gypsy flowers became the talking point. “Go as elaborate or as simple as comes naturally to you, without feeling the pressure.
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