Wedding Table Décor Ideas: Centrepieces, Runners and Place Settings

Guests spend more time at the reception tables than anywhere else at a wedding, often several hours. So the best wedding table décor ideas are as much about comfort as looks: people need to see each other, reach their glasses, and not set their sleeves alight.

This guide covers long tables versus rounds, how tall centrepieces should be, runners and linen, how to lay a place setting, candles at outdoor tables, coastal touches that don’t look like a seafood restaurant, and what to hire rather than buy.

Long tables or round tables?

Start here, because the table shape decides almost everything else about the décor.

Many weddings mix the two: long tables for the main room with a couple of rounds for families with small children, or a long top table facing a room of rounds. For how many guests each table size seats, and how much linen to order, see our wedding hire checklist. When you’re ready to place people, our step-by-step wedding seating plan guide helps.

How tall should wedding centrepieces be?

Either low enough to see over or tall enough to see under. Anything in between blocks the face of the person opposite, and people end up talking around a vase all evening. Centrepieces are kept modest on dining tables for a reason: they shouldn’t get in the way of seeing each other or of serving the food.

The simplest test is to sit down at a mock-up table. If you can’t see the eyes of the person opposite, the arrangement is too tall. For tall designs, use slim stands so the flowers start above the heads of seated guests and the stems don’t form a wall.

Outdoors, keep it low. Tall arrangements on a windy terrace or under a stretch tent with open sides topple easily, and a low arrangement in a heavy vessel doesn’t. If the caterer is serving sharing platters down the middle of a long table, keep the centre clear and put the flowers in a narrow line of bud vases or small clusters instead.

Runners, tablecloths and linen

Linen does more work than any other part of the table. A neutral base makes everything else easier:

• Tablecloths. White, ivory or natural linen in the background, with your colours in the runner and napkins. A typical dining drop is roughly 15 to 38 cm over the edge; floor-length cloths look more formal and hide trestle legs and anything stored under the table.
• Runners. Linen, cheesecloth or velvet for a winter wedding. A runner of greenery, or loose fynbos and foliage laid down the middle, can replace flowers in vases altogether.
• Napkins. The easiest place for a second colour. Fold them simply, or tie them with a ribbon and a small sprig of something fragrant.
• Chairs. Hired white folding or Tiffany chairs look finished on their own. Chair sashes or a single stem tied to the back of the bride’s and groom’s chairs are enough.

On windy sites, floor-length cloths billow and lift. Use table clips, or choose a shorter drop outdoors.

Your linen colours follow your palette; our guide to wedding colour schemes explains how to keep the big items neutral and put colour where it counts.

How to lay a wedding place setting

The traditional rules are simple and they exist for a practical reason: guests use cutlery from the outside in, course by course.

• Plate in the centre, with the napkin on it or to its left.
• Forks on the left, in order of use from the outside in: starter fork outermost, then the main-course fork.
• Knives on the right, blades facing the plate, starter knife outermost. A soup spoon goes to the right of the knives.
• Dessert fork and spoon above the plate, the fork’s handle to the left and the spoon’s handle to the right, so each points towards the hand that picks it up.
• Side plate at the top left, with a butter knife on it if bread is served.
• Glasses at the top right, just above the knives: water, wine, and a champagne flute if there’s a toast.
• Place card on the napkin or just above the dessert cutlery.

Allow roughly 60 cm of table edge per guest. A dinner plate is 23 to 33 cm across, and the cutlery, glasses and elbows need the rest.

Candles and lighting at outdoor tables

Candlelight makes a reception, but a coastal breeze puts out a naked flame in seconds. Put every candle in glass: tall hurricane glasses, lanterns or deep jars, so the glass shields the flame from the wind.

A few rules:

• Check the venue’s rules. Some venues, marquees and outdoor sites don’t allow open flames at all. LED candles in the same glass look surprisingly convincing.
• Keep flames well away from dried flowers, grasses and linen. Dried arrangements burn easily.
• Light them at dusk, not at lunch. The light is wasted in daylight, and the candles may not last the evening.
• Layer the light. Candles on the table, festoon or fairy lights overhead, and soft light on the bar and dance floor.

Coastal evenings cool quickly once the sun goes down. Our reception running order guide shows where sunset falls in the evening and when to bring the lights up.

Coastal table décor without the clichés

You don’t need starfish, fishing net or rope-wrapped jars to say “beach”. Better ways to bring the coast to the table:

• Use the colours of the place: sand, sea-glass green, soft blue, driftwood grey and natural linen.
• Put fynbos in low vessels. Proteas, leucadendrons and restios are local, they last, and they suit the setting. Buy them from a florist; don’t pick them.
• Choose textured materials: woven placemats, rattan, timber boards, stoneware.
• Leave the shells on the beach.

Wind-proof the details too. Tuck menus under cutlery or plates, weight place cards with a small stone or a card holder, and skip loose petals and confetti on tables in the open.

What to hire and what to buy

For a single day, the big, matching items are usually cheaper and easier to hire: chairs, tables, linen, crockery, cutlery, glassware, vases and candle holders. Buying them means storing them, transporting them and selling them afterwards.

Buy only the small things that are used up or kept:

• Candles
• Place cards and menus
• Napkin ties and ribbon
• Favours, if you’re giving them

A few budget tips that don’t look like budget tips:

• Repeat one centrepiece rather than designing several. Repetition looks deliberate.
• Mix flowers with candles and greenery. Fewer stems, more texture.
• Move the ceremony flowers to the reception. Aisle arrangements and arch pieces can dress the top table and cake table.
• Use bud vases with one or two stems each along long tables.

For a fuller picture of what décor costs, see how much wedding décor costs, and for things you might make yourselves, our guide to DIY wedding décor.

Next steps

Decide on the table shape and count your tables, then choose your linen and centrepiece style, mock up one place setting at home and photograph it. Make a list of every item per table, multiply it by the number of tables, and add a few spares.

Tarika hires chairs, round and trestle tables, linen, crockery, cutlery, glassware and décor, delivered (charged on distance), set up if you want it and collected afterwards; see what you can hire. If you’d rather hand over the whole look, our styling and flowers option covers table settings along with the arch, aisle, signage and flowers; see weddings.