3 Top Tips for Entertaining at Home this Festive Season

Make entertaining at home this festive season easy and fun with some of our ideas for decorating your home, dressing your dinner table and ideas for canapés and drinks.

Top 3 Tips on Drinks and Canapés

1. For the drivers – scoop out a passion fruit and mix with elderflower cordial (we love Richmount) and sparkling water and top off with ice, fresh mint and lime
2. Soup served in a demi tasse coffee cup finished with either crème fraîche or toasted barley – a perfect canapé starter
3. Wicklow Way Wines has a delicious Strawberry Wine which is delicious as an aperitif served on ice or as a dessert wine. Local, organic and a great talking piece!

Table Dressing

• Napkins wrapped with simple red velvet ribbon and little bells are very cute and cost effective.
• Christmas confetti is a simple addition to any table and much loved by children and grandchildren alike.
• Make your own Christmas crackers and fill with your own edible delights or gifts. Two options here: start holding onto those finished toilet paper rolls or kitchen rolls or you can buy a cheap cracker, fill with little gifts and then finish in your own style.
• If you are making your own Christmas crackers they can also double up as a name place setting.
• Keep your floral displays low so they can remain on the table till at least main course is served.
• Night lights in cute holders and lots of them can be very effective for a large number around the table. Not having to move the candelabra to chat to the person across the table

The Christmas Tree and Floral Decorations

• Using the lower branches that you trim from your Christmas tree, spray them with gold paint if you want the warm Christmas look or silver paint if you want that ice palace look! They are great to use in Christmas wreaths and table arrangements also.
• When making your Christmas wreath don’t forget you can add food to it – cloves popped into Satsuma/mandarin oranges and chilies are available in plant form from florists / garden centres and hardware stores.
• A Christmas wreath can double up on the door as well as a centre-piece for the table.