Do you tend to go a little formal, breaking out the good china, silver and crystal, etc., or just your everyday tableware? Paper plates and cups? At my house it's very informal. No paper plates or plastic cups; but, depending on how many people we have, the plates and glasses, etc., may or may not match. Flatware almost never matches. There is a centerpiece on the table but no fancy place settings. Food is served buffet style and some people spill into the great room to sit on the couches with their plates in their laps.
We have china that has a Christmas pattern on it, but it is not particularly fancy or elegant. It is everyday tableware. Our table is pretty casual with simple place settings. Our tablecloth this year is a solid red so that it doesn't compete with the china but complements it. Our placemats are solid green. We don't use a centerpiece because our table is very small and it would take up a lot of room. Plus, I've never really cared for centerpieces on tables.
Since it's just my daughter and I , we just do our everyday dishes, but sometimes I put a tiny Christmas tree on the table as a kind of centerpiece.
I do like a pretty table for Christmas, and I usually deck it out with all the Christmas colours. All my posh china, cutlery and glassware come out, and everything has to match. I also really like to sprinkle a few of those sparkly Christmassy "confetti" sorry I don't know the proper name for it. The mood is usually relaxed, though. When it's just me and my husband, we don't do any of that. Instead, we just sit and eat in front of the TV. -and it's usually all the stuff that's bad for you, too LOL
Not having my own family, I don't have big holiday dinners. I do like to make a pretty table though, and I'd wanted to get some gold chargers from the dollar store this year, but I couldn't find any at the locations I visited. This thread reminds me I need to get out and try and get them before all the holiday stuff for this season is taken from the shelves. (I have cheap china with a gold rim.)
