It’s Holiday Party Season!!!!
everything about my Toile & Tartan holiday dinner party + general tips for hosting a dinner party AND more holiday party themes for inspo
The holiday season is my favorite time of year to host. I love bringing people together and getting everyone in the holiday spirit!!! Plus, it gives me an excuse to be extra with my Christmas decorations.
Tips for hosting a dinner party
Choose a timeless theme.
For this year’s holiday party, I hosted a Toile and Tartan dinner party.
Here’s the link for the invite template I created on Canva.
I chose this theme based on patterns, colors, and decor that matched my home and could be reused for future occasions. My obsession with Toile de Jouy made it an easy focus for the theme, and I kept it festive by incorporating tartan—a timeless holiday pattern. This way, I was able use decor I already had while purchasing new pieces I’ll be able to use again in the future.
A tablescape to match the mood.
For the tablescape, I wanted to highlight the toile pattern and make use of my vintage plate collection. I chose a Toile de Jouy tablecloth as the base, paired with simple silver chargers to create a subtle barrier between the patterned tablecloth and the patterned plates. To tie the look together and add a festive touch, I incorporated tartan napkins. Folded like Christmas trees, of course. Here is a video explaining how I made the napkin trees.
A little tip for tablecloths: I spent an inappropriate amount of time scouring the Internet for a toile de jouy tablecloth that was both large enough for my long table(s) and reasonably priced, to no success. I ended up ordering patterned fabric by the meter from a local fabric store—it turned out perfect and was wayyyy cheaper.
I used navy, burgundy, and dark green colored vintage plates to match my holiday color scheme.
For my Amsterdam readers, I source most of my vintage plates (and other tableware) from the Monday Noordermarkt. Obviously, the inventory is unpredictable. If you’re in urgent need, the store Tableware in the Jordaan will have anything you could possibly want, but you will pay the price!! I see the owner shopping at Noordermarkt (where the pieces go for €1-10) then selling them in his shop for double the price.
I needed a few more plates to complete the table setting, so I used it as the excuse to finally get my paws on these plates from Zara Home that I’ve been wanting for years.
I originally ordered these Spode salad plates as well, but I decided not to use them on the table since they covered up too much of the dinner plates. I just wanted to share because they’re so cute!!!
As for the candles… I wanted a LOT of them, but I didn’t want to break the bank. To add variety and height to the table:
Taper candles with holders of various heights. I tied bows using the ribbon from my tree on the candlestick holders to incorporate my holiday color scheme.
Pillar candles of various heights and shapes. I placed them on different dishes and candle holders to create even more height variation.
Tea lights in every tea light holder I owned. Tea lights are an inexpensive way to light the table. I also used all extra water glasses as tea light holders—just filled them with water and let the tea lights float on top.
Make the drinks easy.
Cocktails can be fun and pretty in theory, but they can be tricky to serve to a large group. If you’re planning to serve cocktails, choose a recipe that can be batched and prepared ahead of time. Alternatively, set up a self-serve bar and let your guests mix their own drinks—it adds a fun, interactive element to the party.
Repeat after me: When batch preparing drinks, NEVER add ice. It will melt, dilute the flavor and ruin the precious cocktails.
Ornament drinks!
