How To Set A Beautiful Table Using Only Disposables

Once upon a time before COVID, I had a conversation with a friend about hospitality and how often we over-complicate the process of hosting people in our homes. She said, “If I were to write a book on hospitality, I would dedicate an entire chapter to the importance of paper products!” I laughed, but boy was she right!

If your childhood was anything like mine, having guests for dinner meant an elaborate meal, served on china at a beautifully set table with cloth napkins. It did feel special, but for the the hosting family, (the mom in particular), it was soooo much work! Because, hey man, those precious plates might be beautiful, but they are also fragile and they absolutely must not go in the dishwasher. Ever!

And there is nothing wrong with entertaining this way if it gives you joy to do it, but true hospitality isn’t only this, and I dare say, it isn’t even this.

What Is Hospitality?

Dictionary.com defines hospitality as:

“The friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers; the quality or disposition of recieving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way.”

Don’t you just love this definition? It says nothing about a 5 course meal or fine china. True hospitality is not about perfection. It’s about presence. Welcoming people into our homes with a spirit of warmth, and generosity of heart.

Why Disposables?

If cooking a special meal and setting an elaborate table with your best china is what gives you joy and opens your heart to your guests, then by all means, do it! But if you are like me, limited in time and energy, this feels out of reach, if not impossible!

Using as many disposable items as possible takes the pressure off. Instead of spending my visiting time cleaning up, it all goes in the garbage/recycling bin and I get to spend that time and energy on people instead.

It Can Still Be Pretty (and inexpensive)

I still want my table to look pretty, though!

Well, good news, my friend….

Disposable options have come a long way since our 80’s birthday parties! We’re not stuck with primary colours and paper towel napkins as our only options anymore. Yay! Unfortunately, most of what I found on the internet for pretty disposables was ridiculously expensive!

Thank goodness for the Dollar Store!

4 Easy Steps:

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: start with colour palette (2 colors, 2 neutrals, 1 pattern)

Every design plan needs a starting point and a pretty table setting is no different. Pick one element as your inspiration or jumping off point for every other decision. I like to start with Either a flower arrangement or a pretty napkin. These two elements will have the most color and/or pattern, and will be different depending on the season, so I find it easiest to start there.

For this table setting, I decided to start with the flowers. Since I had to go to Costco anyway, I just got flowers there. Costco has beautiful flower arrangements that have fairly predictable color families each season. I know that in the Fall, the flowers will most likely be in the plum/burgundy/rose family. Flower arrangements always have greenery, and usually white or cream.

So that was my color palette: plum/burgundy, green and white. Easy Peasy.

I bought everything else from the Dollar Store or the Dollar Tree in the same color scheme.

Step 2: Keep it simple & cheap (use what you have)

I already had this wood toolbox, so I just transferred the flowers into mason jars and place them in the box to make a centerpiece. A basket would have worked nicely too, or a collection of plain mason jars or glass vases. The important thing is to make sure that the height of your centerpiece stays relatively low so you and your guests can easily see over it to visit.

I also had a roll of brown paper on hand. Both Dollarama and Dollar Tree always carry plain wrapping paper, so I often buy several rolls when I’m there, and I always buy this plain brown paper because it is just so versatile! You can change the look and intent of a gift so easily with plain paper (more on this in a later post). But using wrapping paper in place of a table cloth is such an inexpensive and beautiful way to add layers of texture and/or pattern to your table. Plus, it’s disposable, so at the end of the night you can just toss it!

Step 3: Layer

Now it’s time to build your layers! This is the easy part, because you only need 3:

• Paper “tablecloth”
• Centerpiece
• Place settings

Protip: If your starting off point is flowers or napkins that have mulitple colours or a busy pattern, opt for a solid or neutral wrapping paper. If your wrapping paper is colourful or has a busy pattern, use neutral flowers and napkins. Only let one element on your table be “loud” and keep everything else quiet/neutral. This helps keep things from getting too “busy.” 😉

If you are using a paper tablecloth, you don’t really need placemats, but since most of my pattern and colour was from the centerpiece and everything else was solid/neutral, I decided to use black construction paper as placemats just to add a little more interest.

Step 4: Final touches

The final step is just to add your finishing touches. This includes napkins, cutlery and name tags (if you’re using name tags).

At this point you can just put your colorful napkins beside the plate, lay the cutlery on top and call it a day, but since I had the time, I decided to get a little fancier and fold the napkins like an envelope and tuck the cutlery inside.

This is super easy to do. In fact, my 6 year old daughter was desperate to “help,” so she did this part:

The last detail I added was our names. I just used a black marker and wrote the names on the paper over each place setting:

And that’s it! No need to sacrifice elegance for convenience!

ps- the only non-disposable part of the table is the cutlery… my family have an aversion to plastic utensils, so apparently this is where we draw the line…

Where I Found It

Dollar Tree: Brown wrapping paper, Black construction paper, Plastic drinking glasses, Plum napkins

Dollarama: Striped paper straws, square paper plates

Costco: Flowers

Home Sense: This is a great place to find beautiful wrapping paper and napkins that don’t cost a lot. Every time I’m there I always look for pretty napkins/wrapping paper that can work for any occassion.

Happy entertaining, friends!