Asian touch spices up stylish table settings
By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer
Elegance, simplicity, a lot of white and a little Asian flair — that's the look visual stylist Jeannine Espinda was going for when she created table settings for the Neiman Marcus bridal event.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Fashioning table settings requires tracking trends in both home and fashion for looks that reflect the times in color, style and shape. This translates into tips for your own dressed-up occasions.
Bernardaud Louvre china and William Yeoward Pearl goblets grace this bridal table, while a chair is imbedded with rice and roses.
This season, Espinda chose white as the color and square as the shape, a nod to the Asian influence so popular on the runways and in homes across the nation. A square china pattern, she said, gives a contemporary look.
On tables set up in the home department at Neiman Marcus, rectangular vases and miniature silver plate "shopping bags" or Chinese takeout boxes, suggested for party or bridal favors, contribute to the geometric theme.
Using different all-white patterns gives a contemporary twist, Espinda said.
Rice paper is a simple, inexpensive accent for an Asian-inspired table.
Espinda used paper as a table runner, in addition to folding it over the backs of chairs. She cut a hole in the back of the paper, threaded a piece of black grosgrain ribbon through and tied a small nosegay vase (a test tube would do) containing white calla lilies and freesia. "It's our take on the idea of 'tying the knot' for a wedding," she said.
Allowing the table to reflect the bri-dal bouquet with multiple small floral arrangements looks fresh and new. For a romantic, English gardenistyle bridal or afternoon tea table, Espinda echoed a bride's bouquet with little nosegays on the backs of chairs, as well as placing a small vase of roses and hyacinths at each place setting as a party favor.
Each season, the Neiman Marcus visual team works around a special theme. Right now it's all about paper.
A meander through the Ala Moana store offers some original, inexpensive ideas for using paper as a decorative element. Even the most ordinary paper, such as a roll of cash-register tape or a ream of computer paper, can become sculpture in the hands of a visual merchandiser like Espinda.
