Best Way to Create an Al Fresco Table Runner for Lunch Party

Eating out of doors in summer is one of the true pleasures of life. Decorate the table simply but elegantly.

This summer lunch party setting follows the best French tradition of family and friends eat­ing together under the shade of a tree on long trestle tables, covered with a crisp white cloth. Decorating the table along the centre is the perfect solution for a long narrow table. This kind of arrangement is very versatile – you can go for either informality or elegance, depending on how the rest of the table is dressed. The flowers – two kinds of rose and lady’s mantle – are simple and country-style in mood, ideally suited to a relaxed family gathering. They are elegant enough, however, to grace a simple summer wedding breakfast as well, in which case make a buttonhole for each of the guests from a rose and a couple of sprigs of lady’s mantle, and put it on each plate.

Creating the Al Fresco Table Runner

You will need a sufficient number of plastic oasis trays to run the length of the table together with enough wet oasis to provide a base in each tray for the flowers. Simple foliage and flowers are used for the arrangement.

Though this table centre looks elaborate, it is actually fairly quick and easy to decorate once you have the ingredients prepared. Cut a block of oasis into slices l in (2.5cm) deep and soak them for half an hour. Fill the trays with the strips of oasis. Collect the foliage and flowers together and group them on a large work surface.

1. Place each block of wet oasis, cut in half, in its tray and insert foliage around the rim to disguise the tray.

2. Use a few different leaves to add variety, and insert two or three into the top of the oasis to hide it.

3. Fill the spaces with sprigs of lady’s mantle to fill the display and make a base for the roses.

4. Add the main flowers (in this case two different kinds of white rose), and scatter them in random fashion.

Alternative Lunch Party Setting

Bright and cheerful, this table setting is simplicity itself. Each place setting has its own arrangement of flowers in a tumbler, colour – coordinated with the china and table linen.

If you no not want to make an elaborate table setting, or there sim­ply is not enough room, a repeating display of individual small arrange­ments, either one to each place setting or perhaps in a row of three or four down the table centre, is a very easy way to decorate the table.

The main principle is to match the colour and form of the containers for the flowers, and the flowers them­selves, to the colour scheme and style, of your china and table linen. The funky lime and green and orange scheme in this display was dictated by the colours of the cloth, chairs and containers. If you want to create a sim­ilarly modern-looking display but lack appropriate containers, you could paint recycled tins in bright primary colours — electric blue, pillar-box red or sun­flower yellow. Fill each container with flowers in a different colour – such as red gazanias in the yellow tin, blue cornflowers in the red tin and yellow daisies in the blue tin.