The flavors from breaking bread with friends and family at the holiday table emanate not just from the food. The setting of the table - the dishes or glassware arranged at each seat, the adornment of flowers, greenery or candles, or the treats left for guests to take home all play into the vibe of the celebratory meal.
Three experts: Jim Gainan, Dale Hopkins and Marie Taylor share ideas and advise on how to make a more festive and welcoming holiday table. Along with the decorations they also provide tips on how to make sure the holiday meal prep is fun and timely.
Jim Gainan of Gainan’s Flowers in Billings has been bringing holiday cheer to homes and tables for years. In 1951, his grandparents Grant and Betty started the business that sold flowers, gourmet products and high-end homeware in downtown. The shop moved to a new mid-town location in 2018 for a more centralized shopping venue for customers.
Dale Hopkins started The Kitchen Shop in Livingston in 2020 during the pandemic. He had worked at the shop previously occupying his current space. After Home on the Range shuttered, Hopkins made the decision to open up his own culinary business. Already, he has doubled the space he originally moved into.
Marie Taylor is the Arts and Events Coordinator as well as the Floral Designer at Roots Garden Center. As a fine artist, Taylor brings her creativity in putting together different materials and elements to create something magical for a holiday table.
Marie Taylor
Roots Garden Center sells prearranged floral combinations but also has a cooler full of flowers and greenery that allows for creative arrangements. The center also has a barn full of potted seasonal plants. Taylor shares how found objects can be combined with what she has at Roots.
“There’s so many branches in your yard or pine cones in your neighborhood or ornaments that
you already have that aren’t on the tree that you can still incorporate into the table which I think also
offer a nice conversation sometimes. Another thing I love to share is we got this incense cedar in the
bar and that’s another element of the whole thing to. It just smells amazing. Smells sounds sights they’re
all so important. They can just bring you into that season.”
Taylors explains why she finds a table decorated with elements from Mother Nature more interesting,
“I love an organic shape on the table I just think it’s just something of interest to me versus a table
that has already had all the structure from the plates and then with driftwood for example you can use
that as your base and then from there you can put extras. You can add plants to it or you can just build
upon that and I really do love lighting that’s appropriate so I think there’s something special about
taking that moment to light the candle and set the table.”
"I think the magic is that you’re bringing in an element of nature. You’re bringing in the extra
element of creativity and we all have it. We are all creative people. We just see things a little bit
differently, our styles are all different but nature brings a lot of that for us. We don’t have to do a lot of
the extra work if we already see a beautiful flower or bloom and I think taking that extra minute or to
pick up the flowers or add the candles or add the smells is adding to that experience which is adding to
your community at the table. You know I really think there’s a beautiful moment when you go to
something and you really feel that extra love. The whole experience back to all of our sight and smell
and sound and taste. It’s the whole thing. That’s the great meal. That’s the great things to look at the
table. That’s the great conversations at the table.”
Dale Hopkins
Dale Hopkins, owner of The Kitchen Shop in Livingston feels the formality of table settings are definitely loosening up, “I think eclectic is still very popular where people can have those family heirlooms that they want to bring out every year but they want to add some new pieces, jazz up the table just a little bit so we try to keep things interesting and offer some options in that regard. Some traditions are getting picked up again, so the English tradition of that Christmas cracker on the table for the holidays, we’re bringing in a lot of those. We have people asking for those last year so that’s another thing just adding some fun and whimsy and things people can do that take them off screens so its whether its plain kazoo that comes as your gift or whatever it is in that Christmas cracker it’s just fun for family and friends.
To continue the fun and whimsy, Hopkins recommends making some plans. “Don’t wait until the last minute. Think about what you want to do. Think about the mood that you want to set and then lay it out. I think it’s a great idea to set your table well in advance. I generally have my serving pieces out with post it notes of what’s going in what and then I also when I’m thinking about my meal and timing. I write everything down starting with the end when I want thing to be delivered and work backwards as far as timing for when do the rolls need to go in and when does the gravy need to be made. It’s in the planning. The stress comes when you wait until the last minute. You think you have everything and 4 more people get added to the list and the person who’s preparing all of the mechanics for the dinner it can get very stressful at the end so just think about it now.
Jim Gainan
Jim Gainan of Gainan’s Flowers sells prearranged flower arrangements, decorated trees and potted seasonal plants ready to take home but for those people who want to do their own decorations, Gainan shares this idea from an Easter bruch he hosted, “so I just found like every bud vase that I could find in the house and probably some from here so forth and ended up with about 40 of them and I put different color rose ineach in vase in a pastel tones. This time of year of course red or white would be appropriate with some berries but each vase had one rose in it but when you put them all together down the center of a table.”
As far as decorating a table, Gainan shares there is change from the past, “I do think that there is still leaning towards coming to some new sort of formality with designing a table and I see on Facebook and those places where you see people with wedding tables and people’s dining room tables and that sort of thing it feels as special but it just doesn’t all have to match. The eclectic use of glassware on the table is big right now and antique glassware. If you have the water and then a white wine and a red wine, each one of those things could be different but it is best if all the same on the table so all the white wine glasses might be some certain type of glass from your collection but you might buy new water glasses this year because there’s a new shape that you like and you want to use them all year that would be one example of using old with new and having the new have a purpose for the whole year.”
Those special glasses or additional silverware or dishes do not have to be purchased all at once. Over time you can add to your collection. Now that your table is set, it is time to focus on the meal. Gainan also stresses being organized and thinking out the process of bringing food to the table. “It’s in the planning. The stress comes when you wait until the last minute. You think you have everything and 4 more people get added to the list and the person who’s preparing all of the mechanics for the dinner it can get very stressful at the end so just think about it now.
This holiday season with some planning and creativity joy and peace should flavor your table.
