Independence Day Celebration Decor

Color Theme:

Sort out what you have that is red, white and blue and create from there.

Incorporate Food into your Centerpiece:

• Let them eat….PIE

A selection of Pies makes for a great centerpiece. We often did this at Myers Park Country Club.  A selection of a Blueberry, Blackberry and Cherry Pies on milk glass and clear glass stands is just perfect on a sideboard.

Leave one empty white bowl for the ice cream to be placed in when dessert is served.  Always place a towel in the bottom of the bowl so that the container does not slip.

• Let them eat….Cake and Berries

Incorporate bowls of blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, each sugared slighting and all presented in beautiful containers, makes for a great centerpiece.  Place these around a central bowl of CUBED Angel food Cake Square and Pound Cake Square.  Yummy.  These containers can be retro (splatter ware) contemporary (clear Lucite or Glass), or Americana (white or blue Ironstone).

• For the Inside Table:  Independence Caprese Salad

We think the Italians could not mind us embellishing this wonderful standard of sometimes dining.  One long white, silver or glass platter (or two long ones with a round one in the center) can display your layered Roma tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil salad accented with ringed sweet Vidalia Onions around the edges.  The center of this salad can feature a white, red or purple cabbage filled with sweet balsamic vinaigrette. This is the perfect item to place down the center of a buffet that everyone can reach!

Linens:

• Alternative

Linens always set the theme.  If you are heavy on red, white and blue objects on your table, think about a natural base for your table like treated burlap.  (Untreated is very flammable and you should not use).

• Traditional

Use of a floral Ralph Lauren Blue or Tommy Hilfiger Blue and White Floral or Stripe sheet can set the stage for an Americana Table.  Strips are always fun and signify the flag.  If using a stripe, refrain from using other patterns and stick to solids.

• Napkins

Fabric napkins make such a difference.  Pull out those great linen ones in the sideboard and wrap them in red and white died raffia, or a strip of star accented ribbon.

Flowers:

A signature Southern Arrangement

• My friend Ida had this arrangement named after her by a local flower market. I love it on the 4^th: “Three giant heads of blue hydrangeas with two dozen white heirloom roses woven between the hydrangeas to make a flower ball with the stems wrapped in a thick layer of fresh mint. In a silver vase because that touch always adds a little something unexpected to an outdoor gathering”.

• Simple Flowers

Use sturdy flowers that will last in the potential heat of your event.  I like white stock, red garnets and blue delphinium. Using an abundance of live plants, like red and white geraniums, mixed with green Boston ferns and a blue cloth, can offer you a good look.   We did this often at Charleston Place during the Summer.

• Utilitarian and Flashy!

A Lucite ice bucket filled with red, white and clear bottles of bottled water, (such as Tynant) is perfectly surrounded by blinking ice cubes in red, white and blue.  The cubes can be found easily on the internet and become a gift for all guests at the end of the party.  (enough of these would show up on camera if you like this idea).

Utilizing clear vases you have collected over the years, lined cleverly with your food items of the day, makes for a great centerpiece, using all white flowers out of the top.  For this, you have to have a liner that is the same shape as the container but smaller, so as to fit the fruit or vegetable in between.  Items that are perfect for this include silver queen corn, asparagus, grape or cherry tomatoes, and even red potatoes!    Inexpensive Shasta daisies or Button Chrysanthemums are perfect for this.  Big look for a little money!

Place Settings:

• Apples make great place card holders and menu item holders.  Especially when you have a buffet, it is so nice to have items labeled as if you are like me, your guests might be sure what you are serving!

• Place mats for bamboo trays or the table can be made from standard 8.5” x 14” card stock, using some of our Independence Day available mottos, symbols and old flags.

• For a different take and to educate your guests on your own city, you may wish to present on your mats as well as on your invitation historical facts about the founding of your own town or city on a stage with lights from Portland led stage screen rental.  This resonates that great Americana Postcard feeling “Greetings From” which gives that great Route 66 feel!

Larger Centerpieces:

• Hydrangeas

Almost everywhere in the country, you can find Hydrangeas.  Find the largest contain imaginable and fill it with long stems on Blue and White Hydrangeas. If have the Oak Leaf white ones available, use them as well, for they are a great source of diversity in color and texture.

• Sugar Cane

If you are serving drinks and having children at the party, what fun it is to have them cut the sugar cane back and chew on it.  Also, you can use the tops of the can for a large arrangement. The top growth is sturdy and makes for a great presentation.  Feeling fancy?  Cut the cane into 5-inch pieces and split into slivers to present as stirrers in your cocktail of choice for the afternoon!

• Kites

If you want to be brave and have kite making or flying as part of the party, it can be fun.  However, if you want to just purchase some theme colored kites, do so and suspend them at different levels, with festive “tales” hanging at different angles.

• Sails

If you have a sailing friend and are having a nautical theme, have a sail hung above your buffet table – from tree to tree. It may provide shade that you need as well as offer a great décor element that offers a central area to your event.

• The Radio Flyer No. 18 Classic Red Wagon

Nothing says 4^th of July like this wagon on a dining room table or buffet table filled with fresh melons, tins or theme flowers or pots of geraniums.  At 60.00, it can also become the prize for a race later in the afternoon. Who doesn’t want one of these?  At Charleston Place, we often used small sail boats, carts, and wagons filled with one type of produce for a buffet.

• Sparklers and Fans

If you can offer sparklers, how nice to wrap the ends with ribbon and have tins filled with them for the taking for later in the evening activities.  Custom Fans on flat sticks are always good in the heat. It may be that you have the face of the Founding Fathers on the front of them!  Ben, George, James, Thomas…who do you want to be?