Spring Table Arranging
My 7 top tips for Easter entertaining...
Easter is such an exciting time flower-wise, it feels like the first proper time in the year when we can source really beautiful locally grown flowers, so I can't help going slightly over the top with my Easter table. I love mixing potted bulbs and cut flowers together, introducing as much colour and pattern as possible. I also like to keep an undulating line down a long table so varying the heights of flowers and vases as it looks interesting, layered and abundant, but also helps guests see each other across the table and allows for shared plates in the centre…
Set the scene with table linens
I always start with a cloth to set the scene. While it’s not always practical to use linens every day, an occasion like Easter or eating outside for the first time, or a seasonal Sunday lunch definitely calls for table linens. It’s a little like ‘If in doubt wash your hair’ - Anya Hindmarch’s wise words. Well I say, if in doubt, add the tablecloth, you won’t ever regret it! Your guests will feel like it’s a special gathering and the good vibes will flow from there…It also helps set the colour palette and I either choose the linen first and the flowers in a complementary hue or vice versa.
In the pic above, I've used a length of Molly Mahon’s strawberry fabric in linen for the tablecloth and used the pinky tones as a starting point for the flowers.
My favourites from my own collection for Easter tables are the green & white botanical linen, with matching napkins or what I find works best with larger table gatherings is to mix up the stripe with botanical on every second setting… This year, however, I am drawn to a pink & white stripe in the sunshine!
Adding rattan napkin holders and scattering speckled ceramics and quails eggss to striped base linens... 
Rainbow & Pink swirly filigrana bud vases layer beautifully on pink & white table linens Add flowers
For the flowers in the main image above, I've used some of my favourite mad, red and white stripy 'Flaming Club’ tulips, soft pink 'Foxtrot' parrot tulips, snakes head fritillaries and towering white, neapolitanum alliums. I also love to use potted snakes head fritillaries which I've dropped into jam jars and topped with velvety moss that I've picked off a wall in my garden.
If you're picking flowers from your garden, look out for muscari, paperwhites, blossoms, fritillaries, hellebores, pussy willow, and forsythia; all of which are in flower now.
Remember there are no rules, you can mix up cut flowers in bud vases with potted bulbs in Loving Cups (like the muscari in the loving cup in the below pic) or sugar bowls or whatever you have to hand. Get creative!
I also love to mix flowers in bloom with crepe paper flowers (our softest lilac anemones are perfect for some pale pastel relief from a riot of seasonal colour) and my absolute favourite this Easter are the brass bluebells in a terracotta pot! I’ll have them at each end of the table with cut flowers layered in between….
A Loving Cup with potted muscari and some hand blown quail eggs beside sets an Easter table scene beautifully And vases (or get creative with vessels)
A mix of glass stem and bud vases will catch the light beautifully and allow you to dot various flowers down a long table. I like to mix my favourite green and pink rimmed twisted bud vases with very special rainbow and pink swirly filigrana vases to add colour and fun. Our petal vase trio is a great value for money option when you want to mix stems at different heights down the table.
For potted bulbs or larger arrangements, loving cups are always featured. My favourite for this Easter is my new Oak Leaf Loving Cup that I designed with Easter season in mind.
For more informal settings, our stripy ceramic jugs in red and pink are perfect as vases in two different sizes.
I also love to gather spring blossom - in season cherry blossom, magnolia branches or pussy willow and create a large-scale arrangement in a sitting room or hallway. You can get into the Easter spirit and hang Easter eggs or other ornaments and decorate with mini velvet bows…
Layer glassware & plating
This year, I’m so excited to use a mix of our green and our white botanical tumblers… and our fluted wine glasses. I’ll also have some of our fine recycled glass tumblers on standby. If the evening rolls on, I’ll add some pretty starry coupes from The Vintage List…
I love to use long platters for sharing and to mix my own ceramics (sadly sold out now) and hand painted botanical and splatter collections from Penny Morrison, Nina Campbell and Daylesford to name a few…
Sweet peas on the pink & white striped linens with botanical napkin and blue/green salad servers… Add cutlery, napkins & put a bow on it
I’ll use colourful Sabre cutlery and salad servers (in both the green/blue and red/cream colourways) and our rattan napkin rings. For special setting visit our Bow Bar, and use a bow tied to a napkin ring on top of a plate at each setting. It’s so easy and really works to create a new aesthetic for every occasion. This year I want to use our green vintage embroidered bows with rattan holders.
A riot of colourful flowers on the botanical linen base and my favourite brass bluebells in terracotta pot Light the candles!
Candles have a key role, even in the daytime; I love the feel they create. I often mix candle colours but if the flowers and cloth are really bright or patterned, more often than not, I’ll keep it simple and go for cream, (not white) taper candles. Try and vary the heights of the candles; we’ve got some low-lying stoneware holders which are very helpful for getting that up-and-down feel. Tea lights in glass holders are another simple way of adding light lower down and a handy wind protector if you're celebrating outside. And my favourite way to create a very special centre-piece is to create a ‘garden in a glass’ - feed single stems around the edge of a glass cylinder shaped vase then add a column candle. Et voila, proper Spring magic! See how to do this on my YouTube vid here.
Layer some fun Easter decor
I have collected some lovely things over the years but I alsways go back to eggs… and I also have a penchant for a hen as well as bunnies!
I love sprinkling things down the table, in and around the flowers. Easter is the perfect time for this with so many beautiful little chocolate eggs on offer. The dusty pastel mini eggs are still my faves and I sprinkle them down the table as well as filling up little bonbon bowls with them. As much as I love a creme egg, the packaging never quite suits my colour schemes! You can also source blown quails eggs that look divine nestled in and among the flowers and on top of the mossy bulbs.
If you're entertaining with children, add a little playfulness by tying the napkins into bunnies' ears like here in the photo below. Very simply roll the napkin into a sausage and then wrap it around a hard-boiled or blown egg, pinning the ‘ears’ together at the top with a pretty ribbon. The one I’ve used in the pic is an antique green ribbon I found in a French market about twenty years ago. The key is to keep collecting all year round and bringing out bits and bobs to play with each year for these special celebrations…
Have a very happy Spring / Easter celebration!
Love Willow