The Christmas table: what to buy once and use every year
Christmas tableware has a peculiar economics problem: it gets bought in a rush in December, used on one or two days, and then occupies a cupboard for eleven and a half months. The way out is not buying less — it is buying the pieces that come out again in March.
Buy plain, decorate around it
The single most useful rule. A plain white or stoneware dinner service works every day of the year and takes any decoration you put on it. A heavily printed festive service works for two days. If you want the Christmas look, put it in the things that are cheap to replace and easy to store flat: napkins, a runner, crackers, a centrepiece. See dinnerware sets and dinnerware.
Count the seats honestly, then add two
Christmas is the one meal where the number changes late. Buying an eight-place service for six is not extravagance, it is planning — and open-stock ranges, where you can buy single pieces, are worth more than a boxed set that cannot be topped up when something breaks.
Serveware is where the real gap is
Most households have enough plates and nowhere near enough serving dishes. A Christmas table needs, at minimum, a large platter for the meat, two or three vegetable bowls that can go from oven to table, a gravy boat and something for sauces. This is also the equipment that gets used at every birthday, every Sunday and every time anyone visits. If the budget only stretches to one category, make it this one. See serveware and dinnerware and serveware.
Glassware: two shapes, not five
A universal wine glass and a tumbler will carry the whole meal. Specialist shapes look wonderful and mean you are hand-washing until midnight. If you buy one upgrade, make it stemware you are not afraid to put in a dishwasher — the fear is what stops nice glasses being used. See wine and champagne glasses and tumblers and water glasses.
Linens do the heavy lifting
A tablecloth or runner and cloth napkins change a table more than any amount of dinnerware. Cotton or linen, machine washable at 40°C or above, in a colour you would use in June — deep green, rust, cream, charcoal — reads as festive in December and as normal the rest of the year. Buy two napkins per person if you are serving several courses. See kitchen and table linens.
Candles: height and scent
Two rules. Keep the flame either below eye level or well above it, so nobody spends lunch looking round a candle. And use unscented candles on a table where food is being served — scent competes with the meal, and the two together is worse than either. Keep the scented ones for the room before people sit down. See candles and holders.
The order to buy in
- Serving dishes and a large platter — the actual bottleneck.
- Enough plain plates for the real number of seats.
- Cloth napkins and a runner.
- Unscented candles and holders at two heights.
- Only then, anything decorative and specifically festive.
What to skip
Novelty single-use crockery, anything with a print that dates, and full sets of specialist glasses. Also: a tablecloth that needs ironing, unless you enjoy ironing on Christmas Eve.
Related: how to lay a table without a full dinner service and Christmas decorations that last.
