I'm relatively new to tablescaping, and most of them I just do up to "play" with dishes. But even when we eat at the tablescapes, we always eat buffet style and leave most of the food in the kitchen in the pots, dishes, whatever we've cooked them in. Rarely do I set dishes of food around the table.

I've wondered about that too. :)

Great question, I'm new to tablescaping so I can understand why you would ask. I have a very large bar that seats 6-8 on one side so I figured I would set food out on the bar as usual. I use alot of crock pots for potatoes, gravy and stuffing and leave the food in them. We will be looking forward to seeing your tables.

Punk

I've always done buffet style. There are usually too many people crowded around my table to set bowls of food and still have enough arm and placesetting room even before I went tablescape crazy. It seems to work ok for us.

Betty

We always go buffet style as well.
There's just too many aches and pains or handicaps here to pass dishes full of food and serve ourselves while seated.

We use the buffet too, but I always seem to have room for butter, bread and (if need be) small pitchers of sauce or small trays of relishes - - - and, of course, the salt and peppers.

Years ago, before the family grew, we used to place the food on the table. As the family extended, we found it harder to 'pass the food' and also the table became too cluttered. So..now we've worked it out to a 'system'...
For the 'first dish', everyone is served at the table.
Once that's completed, ALL the other dishes, are placed on a seperate 'server' table for everyone to help themselves, and bring their dish to the table.
I've done this for years, and it seems to work out best.
Everyone seems more relaxed and can eat and serve themselves at their own pace.
My SIL does the same with the first dish, and then uses her huge island, where she places the dishes for the
second course.
It's not far from where everyone eats, and this works out well too.

jane

Judging by how some of our tables look, I can totally understand your question. Like everyone else here, it seems, we like to serve buffet-style when we have more than 6 at the table. Although our's is a 9 1/2-ft long table, neither DH or myself like a table cluttered with a lot of decor or serving pieces while we're eating. For smaller dinners of 4-6, we use our mahogany buffet, which is close enough behind DH's chair that he can easily turn and reach it, and our built-in hutch's counter area, if we really need it.
Lynn

That's interesting. I would have thought it would be awkward for everyone to get up from the table with their plate(s) for "buffet style" serving, and I would automatically place the plates in stacks at the buffet table (and there goes any beautiful table-setting. :) I can see the benefits of being able to self-serve at your own pace and the ease of not having to pass all of the dishes. I like the buffet-style serving idea and think I'll try it the next time I have a larger group of people.

I have a really long table, so if it's say, 4-6 people, I have room to put the food on the table. For a larger crowd I do buffet style. To ease the transition from sitting at the table to going up to the buffet, I have everyone sit down and have either some soup or a salad while I put everything on the buffet. By the time they are done, they can all pick up their dinner plates and head on over to fill them up :)

Donna in Fla

Buffet style here too, even though my table is fairly large.

No one has mentioned it yet, but you can also create the centerpiece so that you can move it off the table just before the meal if you are wanting to put the dishes of food on the table. You should to do what works best for you and your guests.

Luvs

I tablescape early but when it get downs to the nitty gritty of Thanksgiving day, we all gather at the table with all the food & turkey at the center. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without looking at all that food & huge turkey & family at one time all together in one place. Then the blessing.........and let's eat!
Bonnie

Many of the tablscapes you see are just for show and people don't really eat at those tables. There are many out in blogland who dress their table solely for the purpose of displaying their stuff. I don't really understand it, but to each his/her own.

We keep our tablsecapes very simple: fresh flowers (low) and candles. The focus is on the china, crystal and silver, plus the various linens. We're real "foodies" and fequently entertain IRL, lol. So some of what I see on the net, while interesting, wouldn't be practical for the way we dine.

My husband loves fine wine, so our wine glasses are always Riedel...no colors allowed, so as to see the wine. We clear the buffet and place some of the food there, once it has been served family style at the table.

Bonnieann, I'd like to try to explain what you are seeing allot of the time on here and on many of the blogs. Part of the fun of "playing with dishes" is to create pretty centerpieces and pulling out candlesticks, covered tureens, multiple sets of glasses, and creating a "work of art" so to speak that enhances the dishes you display. It's a chance to let your creative juices flow, much like an artist when they create an oil painting. Doesn't have to be what you would use for a real life dinner--it can be "just for fun" and to add a touch of "elegance" to your decor. For some, it may sound like a waste of time, but for many, it satisfies that urge to create beauty--and you have to admit, it's better than just sitting and staring at the television, right? ;o) Luvs