Slava is the day where we want to welcome our friends and family in the best way possible. The day where we celebrate that we´re with our beloved, a day full of the purest wishes and emotions. On that day we do our best to welcome everyone into a tidy home, with open hearts and a joyful smile. And a nicely, formally decorated table is the heart of the whole gathering. On it we put the “slavski kolac” and a candle that burns for our families patron saint. Delicious food made with care and love, is even tastier if served on a well made up table.

STEP 1 to making a festive table is choosing your main color. Your choice should depend on what you want to accent. The rule of thumb is : less is more.

If you have colorful dishes, your tablecloth should be a solid color, but if your dishes are white it would be nice if you made the table more fun with a colorful tablecloth. When choosing the tablecloth make sure it falls over the edge of the table about 20-30 cm, enough to cover the table but so it doesn´t bother people trying to sit.

Alnada white festive tablecloth with decor

STEP 2 is achieving a harmonic look with your table. You can do that by making sure that the table cloth and the serving dishes fit and look good together.

A suggestion would be placing a runner across the table with the same color as the plates. That will accentuate your dishes and serve as a good base for the central ornament on the table. That could be a flower arrangement, a fruit bowl or a candle holder. Another method would be placing serviettes on the plates that have the same color as the runner. You will make a very good impression if you use napkins holder rings that contrast the color of the napkins. If you´re not too fond of contrast you can use neutral napkin rings and have your napkins be the same color as the tablecloth.

STEP 3 is placing your utensils and cups correctly.

First place as many plates as you plan on serving courses. First the big shallow plate for the main course, then on top of it a smaller shallow plate for the salad and appetizer and on top of it all a bowl for soup. Make sure to leave about 1-2 cm between the edge of the table and your plates. Also make sure you leave enough room between two different sets of plates. If you plan on seating people in 2 rows make sure you place the plates symmetrically.

You should place the spoon and knife of the left side of the plate, and the fork on the right. Don´t forget to make sure that the sharp side of the knife is facing the plate. The small spoon and fork for dessert are placed above the plate. With the handle of the spoon on the right side and the handle of the fork on the left side. Your glasses should be on the right side of the plates in this order : closest to the plate should be the water cup, then the glass for white wine and lastly the glass for the red wine. Place the napkins on the plate or on the left side of the plates.

Pro Tip: if you´re ever invited as a guest at formally decorated table, where there are many different types of flatware and you get overwhelmed, always use the ones furthest from the plate first.

SREĆNA SLAVA AND ENJOY YOUR MEAL