One of the things I like best about the arrival of the colder months is the chance to cosy up indoors and enjoy long dinner parties with lots of candles, red wine and yummy food. It’s so lovely to gather friends and it is easy to make it feel special by making a bit more than the usual effort on styling the dinner. I have the perfect recipe for you to use for dinner parties, which will give you the extra time you need to prepare a beautiful autumnal table.
I’m a big fan of Robert Welch knives (remember this post?) so I was thrilled to be sent a beautiful new set of Malvern Bright cutlery that adds a touch of style to my table. I would always recommend investing in a set of good quality cutlery as not only does it look great but eating from it is so much more pleasurable. This limited edition 30 piece set is great value and you save £39 compared to individual retail pricing and it is completely dishwasher safe (a must for me).
To style my table, once I had decided on my cutlery, linens and glasses, I spent a few moments printing out the menu for the dinner but you could just add a simple name card. The pink of the glasses and the pink salt adds a bit of warmth to the table (you know how I don’t like dark colours so this is my nod to autumnal colours).
A very quick, easy and cheap way to add a bit of decoration to the table is to use a few stems of Eucalyptus, with the added bonus that it smells amazing, and a few gourds nestled amongst the foliage to add an autumnal feel.
I remembered that last week I found Jeska’s tutorial to gilt seashells and although I didn’t have time to do that I thought the shells would make lovely little pinch pots for salt and pepper.
I really like the simple and classic design of this cutlery range and it feels really good to hold, too. As an added bonus you get six free steak knives with this set.
So there’s my easy to style Autumn table and as promised, you must try out this recipe by Nigella Lawson for Asian flavoured short ribs: it tastes so good, can be prepared up to three days ahead of time and it is impossible to get wrong. Do it – your friends will love it! I’m looking forward to thinking of Christmas table ideas now using my new gorgeous cutlery.
Katy x
*This post was written in collaboration with Robert Welch.
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It’s so pretty! I’m obsessed with cutlery and love these! Table looks lovely X
What beautiful styling! So soft and inviting x
Beautiful… What lucky friends you have! I love the gentle, autumnal colours…
I love eucalyptus, I had a tree at my previous home. So good for this type of thing
What a beautiful table setting Katie. I love the touches of pinks you’ve added. The cutlery set looks amazing too. x
Looks really lovely Katy. x
Oh I love the little pumpkins along the table, it looks really nice and I would love to turn up to a dinner party to that.
I love the simplicity of your table decor Katy – very beautiful!
I absolutely love the pink salt in shells, an inspired idea I may need to steal, lovely arrangement.
Such beautiful cutlery, table styling and menu – your friends are very lucky! I might just have to steal the eucalyptus/pumpkin idea for my next party (will tell everyone it’s from you of course!) 🙂 x