How to Host the Holidays, Wherever You Are

Hosting the holidays well comes down to three things, wherever you are: a beautiful table set with intention, mood lighting that makes people want to stay and talk all night, and a few pieces that belong perfectly to the place itself. A big familyd dining room, a tiny city apartment, a lavish country house and a modern home by the sea each ask for something a little different.

The holidays don’t always happen where we expect. Some years they are a long table with every generation around it. Other years they are six friends in a small apartment, or a quiet week somewhere far from the city. Recent years have found my adult children celebrating the holiday with my husband and I around our home, with conversations over dinner, late nights playing games, and cozy mornings drinking coffee. But as they start their own families, that may change.

What stays the same is the joy of being together, wherever we are. Below is little Q&A for how I would make each holiday setting feel special, with the pieces from our curated collections that I would instantly reach for.

Christmas at Home

How do you set a traditional Christmas table?

Start with a calm foundation of white or ivory dinner plates, then let pattern arrive on the salad and dessert plates. Forks go to the left of the plate, knives and spoons to the right, and the dessert spoon sits above the plate. Glasses line up above the knife: water first, then wine.

This is the table I think of as an heirloom table. It is where the porcelain you were given, or the silver you hope to pass down finally comes out of the cabinet. Patterns made for the season, like Royal Copenhagen Star Fluted Christmas or Herend Christmas, sit beautifully beside everyday white, and Christofle Talisman Red Velvet Flatware brings warmth to every place setting.

How do you make a Christmas table feel festive without overdoing it?

Choose one place to be generous and keep everything else quiet. That might be a run of tall candlesticks down the center, a beautiful tureen, or crystal that catches the light. When every surface competes, nothing feels special.

I also keep centerpieces low enough that guests can see each other across the table. Conversation is the real centerpiece of a perfect dinner.

Shop the collection: Christmas at Home

MJ’s picks from Christmas at Home:

In the City

How do you host a holiday dinner in a small apartment?

Invite fewer people and make every detail count. Six guests at a well set table feel more festive than twelve balancing plates on their knees. Serve from a sideboard or console to free up the table, and let candlelight and crystal make the room sparkle and feel larger than it is.

City entertaining rewards pieces that work hard. A set of coupes can hold champagne at seven and a chocolate mousse at ten. A pair of tall candlesticks adds height without taking up width. Mirrored trays and cut crystal double the light from every candle.

Coupe, flute or tulip: which champagne glass is best?

A flute keeps bubbles lively and looks elegant in a crowded room. A coupe is the most glamorous, and perfect for a quick toast. A tulip glass is my everyday choice, because its wider bowl lets the wine open up while the narrow rim holds the bubbles.

For a city celebration, I reach for crystal with a little drama. Baccarat Mille Nuits Flutissime Flutes and Saint-Louis Manhattan Coupes are made for a toast. A black and gold table, such as Royal Copenhagen Black Lace Dinnerware with a Lalique Bacchantes Vase in black, feels right with a skyline outside the window.

If your celebration is Hanukkah, the Georg Jensen Harmony Menorah makes a beautiful centerpiece for a small table. A single beautiful bottle and the right glass can be the whole party.

Shop the collection: In the City

MJ’s picks from In the City:

In the Country

How do you decorate for a cozy country Christmas?

Bring the outdoors in and let natural materials lead. Cut greenery, linen napkins, wood and wool feel right in the country, and so does porcelain painted with animals, birds or botanicals. Keep the palette warm, light every candle you own, and plan for long, cozy evenings by the fire.

A country Christmas moves at a slower pace, so the table can too. I like a long table with mismatched chairs, a generous dish of stuffing or pie, and plates with a little personality. Ginori 1735 Volière, with its painted birds, or Augarten Fir Branches with Golden Pinecone bring the woods to the table. Small, surprising touches like a Nymphenburg Antler Knife Rest at each place are what make guests smile.

What makes a country holiday feel special after dinner?

The hours after dinner are where country holiday memories are made. Have a soft throw over every chair, a game on the table, a bowl of nuts within reach and good books stacked by the fire. These considered comforts are what guests remember.

Shop the collection: In the Country

MJ’s picks from In the Country:

At the Coast

How do you celebrate the holidays at a beach house?

Let the setting set the tone. Trade deep reds and heavy greens for white porcelain and the soft colors of the shore: seafoam, pale pink and sage, with silver and glass to catch the light. Sea creatures and organic shapes feel festive by the water. Keep the mood relaxed, with plenty of room to eat outside.

A coastal holiday is the most freeing of the four. There is no rule that says Christmas has to look like a snow globe. Royal Copenhagen White Fluted Dinnerware looks crisp on a sunny table, and Hering Berlin Palmhouse in sage brings in a delicate touch of green. A Lalique Fish Sculpture (or five) in pink luster or a few R+D.Lab Palline Ornaments in Lyons Blue add some sparkle without clutter.

What should you serve at a holiday dinner by the sea?

Follow the water. A platter of seafood, chilled white wine and something citrus for dessert all suit a warm evening. Choose serving pieces that can move easily from kitchen to terrace, and keep a stack of linen napkins close by.

Shop the collection: At the Coast

MJ’s picks from At the Coast:

Wherever you are this year

The best holiday tables are not the most elaborate or heavily decorated ones. They are the ones that feel like the host thought about each guest. Choose a few pieces you absolutely love, light the candles early, prepare for sparkling conversation, and let the place you are in do the rest.

If you would like help choosing, our team at Kneen & Co is happy to guide you in our Chicago showroom, by email, or by phone, and we ship worldwide.

Read more