Table Setting Ideas for a Brunch

Brunch is a meal made of options. Between breakfast and lunch foods, hot, cold, sweet and savory options, there are often more serving plates than there are eaters. Whether hosting a holiday brunch or marking a personal celebration--such as a baby shower, birthday or family reunion--the table setting can play as major a role as the food and host's hospitality.

Food as Centerpiece

Because so much food is served at brunch, a simple table setting idea is to feature the food as the centerpiece. A large, round dining table is ideal, but a square or rectangular table works just as well, as long as it's large. Multiple cake plates, with or without glass domes, make a lovely table. Find two or three pedestal plates of differing heights and diameters. Domed plates are good for baked goods or cold sandwiches. Smaller antique glass plates can be raised to different heights, placed over turned saucers, juice glasses or anything of a similar look that is also sturdy. If a particular dish is heavy, place it directly on the table (such as a large bowl of scrambled eggs). When food is the feature, flowers (stems removed) or anything seasonally appropriate (autumn leaves, holly branches, seashells, etc.) can be scattered beneath the elevated plates.

Anytime Themes

Unique brunch table setting ideas are ones that can be adapted for any occasion, at any time of year. A fresh color scheme begins with a blue-and-white checked tablecloth and incorporates blue glasses, chunky pitchers filled with wildflowers, and blue and white dishes. French bistro style can be achieved by changing the colors to red and white, dropping the tablecloth and minimizing the linens to napkins. Make a tropical brunch with a large centerpiece of whole fruit--bananas, pineapples, oranges and mangoes in a tall cylindrical hurricane. Serve mimosas, perfect for brunch, with paper umbrellas, and make a tropical fruit salad as part of the meal. A Japanese-themed brunch is clean and simple. Use a light-colored linen or silk tablecloth topped with a bamboo or chopstick runner. Use simple white plates and serve various teas. Flowers are a strong theme, as they can be adapted to the time of year. Choose one kind of flower and use it from the tabletop (cut stems from flowers and tuck them into lengths of ivy) to the chandelier.

Champagne Brunch

A champagne brunch can be made into a tasting or kept as a more upscale brunch, with courses served on an elegant table. Fine linens set the scene, with napkins folded into art and placed at each place setting. Place settings can be formal or not; a variation on formality is to put distinct but similar plates at each place (i.e., floral patterns), rather than a matched set. If hosting a champagne tasting, make use of a buffet table for the glasses, ice buckets and champagne. Consider making a champagne fountain centerpiece with a stack of progressively smaller stemmed glasses on a plate. Buy some inexpensive champagne flutes and decorate them with ribbon at the stems or glass outliner paint to make little gold bubbles up the glass. You might consider serving appetizer-size brunch foods and allowing guests to mingle, rather than seating them and serving a full-sized brunch.