A Red and Yellow Table Setting – Soft Beautiful and Relaxed
Ah – a beautiful evening, chili in the pot, friends coming for dinner – a perfect time for a red and yellow table setting! At least, I only thought about the red right off the bat – the yellow came a bit later. Read on to find out how it all happened, and how you can set a fun table with what you have on hand too!
How the Red and Yellow Table Setting Came to Be
It’s really kind of funny what sets things off at our house – possibly at yours too!
This whole dinner party came about because I decided a while ago to let Chatgpt create a meal plan for me – ostensibly to get in better shape – and I bought everything on its auto-generated grocery list. Including a pound of ground turkey. My enthusiasm for preparing everything on the list waned after about day three, and that meant that by the time Friday came around, I still had a pound of ground turkey in the refrigerator.
My husband politely, yet pointedly, suggested that I might want to use it up before we had to throw it away, and I promised I would cook it on the weekend. So late on Sunday afternoon, (why rush into anything, right?!) I cooked up the turkey and decided to make some chili. Since I was already in the kitchem, I decided to use up the bag of red potatoes I’d bought as well, and make some potato salad.
After the chili started bubbling in the pot, the house started to smell really good, and my husband thought it would be fun to share all this food with our wonderful neighbors. We set the dinner party for 6:30. So of course, I had to set a table!
Starting with the Tablecloth
Since it was a gorgeous evening, I set the table outside. And since it was chili, I thought a red tablecloth would be good. So that’s where I started.
I love this tablecloth. I’ve had it forever, and used it on so many tables over the years. Like A Father’s Day Tablescape – Pizza Elegance at the Last Minute or 3 Easy Tips for a Cozy Tablescape. I’ve even turned it inside out, like in Pink Roses + A Blue & White Tablescape. You can still find the odd one for sale on Etsy sometimes, although they’re pretty rare now. I’ve linked a similar one in the Boutique Recommendations for you down below.
Anyway, the red tablecloth went on, then I started looking for flowers.
A Centerpiece for a Round Table
There’s almost always something available in the garden that I can use in a centerpiece, and some roses became the yellow in the red and yellow table setting. We have a couple hydrangea bushes, and the blooms are large enough that it only takes a few to create a good big centerpiece. This particular bush has flowers with all different colors at once – everything from deep purple to light green. (I’m always fascinated by all the different shades, so I looked it up. If you’re interested, you can read about the plant chemistry in this article.)
These yellow roses are so beautiful, but they really only bloom for a day or so. I can come out in the morning and the bush is full of buds. When I get home in the evening, most of them are fully open, or even dropping petals! I actually love them that way – they’re so blowsy and relaxed.
I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen this color combination to go with my red tablecloth if I’d been getting flowers from the store. But I love how using what’s available gives me beautiful color and style combinations I never would have thought of otherwise.
With the round table, I like to use a round vase and try to make it particularly nice on all sides, since it’ll be so up close and personal for everyone.
Which Napkins for the Red and Yellow Table Setting?
And that led me to the napkins. I thought since the flower centerpiece was yellow, I could use some yellow napkins. I laid them out, but wasn’t really sold.
Plus, we were serving chili, and pale yellow might not be the best color to have with tomato sauce! I tried the red ones by themselves, but that wasn’t quite right either. So I eventually went with both!
The guests just put their yellow napkins over the backs of their chairs, and we used the red ones! (I know – some people might say that’s a bit much, but we tablescapers understand the desire to have our tables look pretty!)
Plates or No Plates?
I don’t often do this, but I decided against putting the plate stack on the table. I almost always use chargers, and in fact, this is the way most restaurants or super fancy banquet dinners are set. Just the charger on the table, and the plates are brought in to set on top of them by the servers.
But since this was a super casual dinner, we were just going to grab our chili and potato salad from the pots in the kitchen, so it made more sense to keep the plates and bowls in there. I thought the gold chargers looked good by themselves on the table, though. What do you think?
Gold Accents and Clear Glassware
The gold napkin rings and flatware matched the chargers, of course. And was just enough to pull the setting together.
We only needed a fork for the salad, and a spoon for the chili, so that’s all that went onto the table. I love our round patio table, but I admit, there’s less surface area for the tablescape. The guests never seem to be too crowded, but the flatware and glassware are a bit snug. So far, we haven’t had any complaints – or accidents!
The glassware was my standard crystal water glasses, and Riedel wine glasses. They look very fancy, but the water glasses especially, are super sturdy. They go right in the dishwasher and have lasted for years and years!
The Riedels are supposed to be able to go in the dishwasher too, but ours doesn’t have room to hold them well, so we’ve never tried it. Someday, I’d love to have a dishwasher that’s designed for home entertainers!
A Red and Yellow Table Setting for Any Occasion
So that’s our red and yellow table setting – a lovely al fresco tablescape for a last minute dinner party. It would also be perfect for any special occasion, like a birthday, graduation, or Mother’s Day. Even Easter if your area is warm enough for an elegant yet casual outdoor tablescape in the spring.
Have you ever done a red and yellow table? How did you like it? Let me know what you think in the Comments – I love to hear from you!
Barbara’s Boutique Recommendations
Click on the pictures of the pieces I used in this post. If the exact item isn’t available any more, I chose a similar option.
* This post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience. If you click on a link and buy anything from that site during your visit, I get a small commission and there’s no extra charge for you! It really helps toward the cost of publishing Mantel and Table, and I seriously appreciate it. (You can read the whole disclosure policy here.) Thanks so much for shopping with me!
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I love this! Why have I never thought to put red and yellow together? It really works well and looks so rich and elegant.
Thank you so much Pattie! I was asking myself the same question! I’m so glad you like it, and that you stopped by! Hope your summer is fabulous!
Barbara, the red and yellow table setting looks perfect, and especially for outdoor dining – I really miss that in our new home. The flowers are lovely and I think the chargers look just fine with the flatware and the napkins. I hope you all had a wonderful dinner!
Hi Kim! Too bad about not having an outdoor eating area, but I hope you’re settling into your new home otherwise. Moving is such a journey! (Figuratively and literally!) 🤣 We did have a great dinner. Thanks so much for sharing the recap! Take care up there and Happy August!
So pretty Barb and the red and yellow look great together. I would not have thought of that combo but it works. I like the idea of last minute dinner invitations and you are right there are certain friends that will jump right up to the plate…so to speak. 🥰
I have become a worrier of spoiled meat if left too long in the fridge….so I am always having to come up with quick dishes. I don’t know if it is a sign of the times or just that we were not that “caring” in my younger homecooking days?? Actually, I was watching a you tube of a Ukranian couple living in the mountains and some of the things she does makes me cringe…however, I think I might have done the same thing before we became more knowledgeable?? Example: she cut chicken on a board (outside and she let it sit for quite a while uncovered) and then cut vegetables and pork on the same board. They do not have hot water and get their water from a well so one wonders about the food safety issues. (I never see her wash her hands from task to task …and she has little puppies and kitties and handles them frequently during food prep). Don’t know why I am sharing this with you …guess I just felt I had to speak about my younger days as a cook when we didn’t worry about such things. The point is we survived and obviously this Ukranian couple are surviving so???????
Have a great week-end. blessings
Ha – yes, it is a little terrifying, the things we used to do. And I agree, most of us live through them. Although I think we just didn’t hear about every bad thing that DID happen back in the day. Now, if anything happens anywhere, we hear about it, so it seems like more, and we worry more. But whether something bad will happen or not, I’m all for washing our hands often, using a separate cutting board for meat, and keeping things as cool as possible! I know it won’t hurt me, but I’d really rather not find a pet hair in my chicken saltimbocca, for instance – I’m just saying! 🤣 I’m so glad you like the red and yellow together – it was so fun to set! Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comment – this is what we home entertainers think about all the time! 💛
Lucky neighbors to be able to join you at this beautiful table Barbara! Love the tablecloth!
Thanks Jenna! We’re so lucky to have such great neighbors – especially ones who like to eat! 🙂 Hope you’re doing well down there and enjoying your summer!
Beautiful Barb! So elegant, yet casual at the same time! Love that you are serving from the kitchen but included the charger plates. Such a great idea!
Yeah I love chargers – they really up the fanciness quotient! Hope you’re staying cool up there. Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Thursday!