Love it! Won't you have to dust/wash everything before Christmas Eve? That's why I wait a day or two early to do the table.

Looks really lovely...what time's dinner? :)

Thank you Nini and Oakley!

Our "dinner" is usually around 2 o'clock in the afternoon and we have leftovers for supper so it isn't that much work----and we go to the movies on Christmas Day afternoon or evening too! (unless we are driving to Alabama that day to see relatives). This Friendly Village is supposedly dishwasher safe, and so are the Lenox and Southern Living (no idea who actually makes those) holiday dishes. It's all the pewter flatware, goblets and wineglasses with the stuff above (and pewter-like armetale chargers not shown), depression glass for breakfast (stainless utensils for that) and then basically everything for the main meal----crystal, silver, china. I keep all of it either in the dining room or in the laundry room turned butler's pantry next to it, so it is all readily accessible. If I had to unpack it or get on a ladder to fetch it from a high cabinet I would probably never use it.

Oak I can set a table about two weeks in advance our house has some kind of filtration system for the HVACs that is awesome. If I see a glass is dusty I'll take everything into the big sink next door and rinse it in hot water but not actually wash it again. We don't have cats, which would be a concern......our dogs are either not smart enough or ambitious enough or both to want to see what is on that table! The napkins will have to be washed and they and the runner will have to be ironed and put back on though. As you see above they are right out of the box, wrinkles and all.

Annie, dinner is after early church, around 7 pm, come on by! When we lived in Florida we always went to a lovely seaside restaurant after Christmas Eve service. Here.........there is no really nice restaurant in the entire town or believe me, that is where we would be :-) Three big meals in rapid succession is exhausting, but I am paring down the sides at the evening meals this year---thanks again for that thread, Oakley, I sort of thought it all out out loud there!

game of thrones table- lol! I love pewter!

your table looks great! (love velvet too, tho I can't really tell it's velvet in the pic! i'm sure it's even prettier in person! can you wash the napkins or are they dc only?)

is that 'the deer' !!?? if so, you've done a great job with him! if not, I think doing at least the antlers at least in a satin or semigloss enamel might be the way to go!!

Yes, that's "the" deer! Turn the lights down low enough and anything looks good, right? I do not know if the napkins are dc only, as I plan to have them washed in cold water and hope the red doesn't run. The velvet on the runner is fabric, but on the napkins it is a narrow gauge velvet ribbon of the same color. I have hopes that it will be colorfast.

I love your table setting! The deep red velvet is a perfect complement. Thank you for sharing.

Setting a nice table and sharing a special meal with family and friends is my favorite part of the holidays. In my perfect world I would ditch all the obligatory racing around and gift buying - except for little ones - and focus on making memories like that happen.

I like how understated it is and yet very elegant. The red in the dishware adds the pefect touch. My husband and boys would love that!

It's perfect. So pretty, elegant, and subtle. This year I am feeling an aversion to glittery, bright Christmas decor, and this really appeals to me. Well done!

Just lovely. Now all you need are chair covers with your house sigil embroidered!

Lol!! No, we need those medieval looking os de mouton chairs!

Thanks, oak, jlc and amck, I have also been over the bling and glitter (at least in my house) for a long while now. Or maybe I was just ready for something new?

Your pewter looks terrific and the cranberry color does add a nice depth to the table and picks up the red in the dishes. Nice setting!

May I make a small suggestion for your consideration? Remove the tall vases and add greenery boughs/leaves to surround the base of the deer and maybe even the candlesticks.

I will def do that, Fun---- in fact i was going to put fresh greenery there a day before Christmas eve so it wouldnt dry out. This is my run-uo-to-Christmas look :-)

it is hot here in Georgia....77 degrees today. All my outside wreaths are brown and unhappy-looking. i have 12 real ones on gates and bridges and things and nine fake ones on the windows so they dont get all pine pitchy. I wished this year i had put all real ones up but am so glad i did not, it would look scary. A few days before i will cut boughs of holly, smilax and pine and soak in ice water overnight. I will take a picture of that table too!

Might I add a suggestion. Test wash one napkin before you wash them all, just in case it does fade and bleed.

Love the greenery idea along the centerline. Might have to rise the deer to have him be seen after the boughs are in place.

Lovely table!

Very pretty. I miss having a dining table to have friends over. Used to have one from the 30's, with an arm chair at the head and six side chairs, that I put in the library for special times. The table knocked down when not in use and was stored in a catch-all room. Eventually I needed that room for something else and had no place for the table/chairs so gave it all away. Now seeing yours I wish I hadn't. Love the dishes.

Your table is amazing and you are incredible!

I start working and stressing Dec 1 working up to hosting Christmas Brunch. Add to that...it's hard to get in the Christmas spirit when the weather in FLA is 80 degrees in November and December. In the month of November we only had one day that dropped below 80.

The runner is gorgeous!

Hope your weather cools off. It's usually too hot here to use real conifer-based greens outside and I have allergies that prevent me from using them inside, so I sympathize with your dilemma.

Thanks, all!

FYI, i found my same deer today in Atlanta at a very pricey Buckhead shop (yes, thats the name of the community----ironic, right?) I bought my little craft experiment for around $17.95 either at Hobby Lobby or a similar store. The upscale boutique was selling them for......wait for it.......$87.50 each. Capitalism at work :-)

kswl, that is one cool table. It's gorgeous and fun at the same time. You have inspired me to set mine ahead of time. I was trying to think of what I could do to decorate the DR and now I see all I need to do is set the table!

Jjam, that is exactly right! I ued to futz around with mini christmas trees on the sideboard and stuff on the table that all had to be removed when we ate. One year i did a display of nutcrackers on the dining table at different heights.....it was an engineering feat and many had to be taken down before a meal....what WAS i thinking, lol??

I do have a lovely centerpiece planned of red roses and white hydrangea for Christmas Day after the game of thrones thing is over.

Wanted to share fun thing i got for the table this yesr, scrabble trays and tons of tiles, so people can make their own words / names etc.. Last year we filled our water goblets with varying heights to make notes and "played" a few simple songs by making the rims of those crystal glasses hum. and our Christmas crackers each contained one zylophone piece so we played music with those, too.

And in our 70 degree temps I actually thought about making the Christmas message on our bulletin board say Winter Is Not Coming as a political message, lol!

Wow! What a great holiday table! It looks like it belongs in a magazine!

Your table looks great! Love the runner and napkins and all the pewter. And of course, it's Buckhead, so that deer is bound to cost more there!

Wonderful! Love it!

If you're worried about dust, throw a sheet over the table when no one is around.