Athena's Holiday Guide

The sky is the limit on how you can take an idea of a singular color and translate it into design. A round table draped in floor-length silk fabric visually expresses the movement and fluidity of water. The foundation of fabric and silver serveware was kept intentionally white and transparent or silver and reflective to guide the eye to the striking cobalt of the Saratoga bottle and delectable blue desserts, artfully arranged to create contrast, verticality, and visual interest. A self-serve sweets table carves out a fun and festive space for guests to graze and connect. You can also prep it ahead of your gathering to free up the host(ess) on the night. There is so much beauty in the ceremony of crafting beauty for ourselves and others we love to enjoy. Every touchpoint of this table evokes that sentiment.

While these images present a perfectly styled table, when you dissect the process, it really is a very simple formula that anyone can recreate at home. After all, beautiful shouldn’t be complicated. Keep reading to learn a few of my tips and tenets to bring this Saratoga Signature Blue dessert station to life at your next gathering.

CREATE A STYLISH SELF-SERVE DESSERT STATION
Encourage more connection with an abundant self-serve sweets table at your next gathering. Not only does it make for a striking visual statement but it also encourages more connection as guests mingle and nosh while they admire the stylish offering. By letting guests help themselves, you're giving the host (you!) a chance to enjoy the party too. Besides, we all know we eat with our eyes first and this presentation ensures every sweet treat looks as good as it tastes! 

STICK TO A CONTROLLED PALETTE
Setting the scene with a neutral foundation helps to bring much-needed cohesion to your dessert table, acting as a grounding base to layer on color, texture, and pattern as you wish without restrictions. With the Saratoga Signature Blue as my theme, all of the food I prepared for the table is in line with that hue while the foundation was intentionally monolithic. A simple way to add Saratoga blue to your tablescape is to purchase blue taper candles, create a handwritten menu with a custom blue wax seal, and introduce a variety of blue foods to your table (more on that next!). Use that singular concept in color to spark your creative imagination. This iterative process in design is what I love most. Take your time introducing pieces onto the table, build layer by layer until it feels right. My rule of thumb? Keep your staples neutral, then let the food, your linens, or your flowers offer color if you crave vibrancy. 

VARY YOUR SERVEWARE
As a visual person, I love to see the food on the dish: the color, the texture, the beauty. When you arrange food in an artful way, you want it to draw the eye and engage the senses so employ a variety of serveware: low shallow bowls, pedestal bowls, reflective silver trays, tiered stands, and coupes in all different shapes and sizes. With a few beautiful, multi-functional pieces, anyone can pull together a stylish dessert table.

FOOD CAN BE DÉCOR, TOO
Fruits and vegetables from the market simply placed on the table can make an elegant impact. Leaning into the Saratoga cobalt theme, I styled an abundance of blue-adjacent produce from Concord grapes to blueberries but deep berry plums with the leaves still clinging to them, currants on the vine spilling over the lip of a pedestal bowl would also be a beautiful addition. Overall, a bountiful yet casual approach to your dessert table is both elegant and timeless.