Springtime Entertaining with Sterling Social
Spring is here and with warmer months ahead we know we’ll be in full entertaining mode soon! We’ve all spent a lot of time at home over the past year and the thought of hosting a get together of any size feels a little overwhelming. So we (once again) partnered with our dear friends Angela Margolis and Erin Sprinkel, from Sterling Social, to help us create a stunning springtime tablescape that you can easily recreate at home.
Angela and Erin are here to help to break down the look and give you a step-by-step guide on how to host a beautiful (and stress free!) springtime gathering.
Credit: Molly Rose
CC: First things first… can you tell us a bit about how you get started when you know you’ll be hosting? It can feel like a daunting task to host a gathering, so where is the best place to start?
SS: First, Create a guest list. Who are you planning to invite? Whether you’re hosting couples or “just the girls”, once you finalize the guest list it will help determine the overall style of the setting you want to create.
Next, Determine the ideal setting. Your guest list will help dictate the style of event you want to create. A formal sit-down dinner may be best suited for your dining room, whereas a casual lunch may be nice outdoors. If it’s guests you entertain regularly, switch up the location of your home that you plan to host them in order to create an element of surprise!
Then, Establish the event style. This is the fun part! Entertaining at home gives you so much flexibility when it comes to creating a unique environment. With the warmer months in full swing, eating outdoors is most common – especially by the coast! For this event, we chose to create a sit-down brunch to give us more time to connect with friends. Setting the table with beautiful florals and tabletop pieces sets the tone for the afternoon and creates a setting that guests will want to stay and enjoy for an extended period of time.
CC: Once you have the basics down (who, what, and where), how do you get inspiration for the space and décor?
SS: The beauty of the internet and social media is that there is always new sources for inspirational imagery. For our event settings, we pull a lot of inspiration from fashion, travel, and interiors, which is why we love collaborating with Cailini Coastal so much! Our approach, even with larger scale events, is to have a residential feel that we hope to translate for guests. For example, to create an overall feeling for the setting we will pull inspiration from beautiful hotel lobbies or outdoor lounges from around the world. For color palette inspiration we’ll often pull imagery from fashion, as it opens up a wide variety of hues and textures that can be incorporated. Our advice is to follow brands and designers you love – including event designers – as new content is always being posted, so you can recreate a look of your own!
Credit: Molly Rose
CC: It’s unrealistic to think you’ll buy new entertaining pieces every time you host, so how do you build up a variety of pieces for entertaining that will last you for years and serve multiple purposes?
SS: Invest in key pieces that won’t go out of style and don’t feel like everything has to match perfectly. Your event will be most memorable if it’s a reflection of your personal taste and has signature touches carried throughout. This will allow you to build a curated collection of pieces overtime vs. needing to buy a full set of china, glassware or napkins at once – especially if they are “fun” accent pieces that you only plan to use every so often. Also, just like clothing, tabletop pieces can be dressed up or down! Our favorite Island Wrapped Tumblers can be paired with a crystal champagne coupe to create more formal tablescape, various Charcuterie Board styles can be used to serve appetizers or a family-style meal, and different patterned napkins can add a personalized pattern or color pop to each place setting with a more neutral foundation palette.
As a treat to yourself, plan on adding one new item to add to your collection whenever you host. For this event, the Chinoiserie Champagne bucket was the perfect addition to show off our favorite new bottle of rose!





SHOP THE LOOK

JASMINE TABLECLOTH
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Credit: Cailíní Coastal
ROUND CHARCUTERIE BOARD
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Credit: Cailíní Coastal
CHINOISERIE CHAMPAGNE BUCKET
Credit: Cailíní Coastal
WATERMILL RATTAN NAPKIN RING
Credit: Cailíní Coastal
ISLAND WRAPPED WHITE PITCHER
Credit: Cailíní Coastal
For more information on Sterling Social Events + Experiences visit their website www.sterlingsocial.com and follow @sterling_social on Instagram.
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