Photos: Chris Emeott
A local event planner shares her tips for creating a festive tablescape.
Callie Cecka doesn’t do things halfway. When she was put in charge of her best friend’s baby shower, she invested thousands of dollars on the décor. When she got the idea to repurpose that décor for a luxury picnic business in 2020, she built out a corresponding website and Instagram account. When the COVID-19 fervor behind picnic rentals cooled down, Cecka ramped up to bigger events.
“I only really know how to go all out,” Cecka says. Now, she and her husband, Dan Cecka, run Northern Urbanity Events, a Plymouth-based event styling company. “I would say that we’re most known for our luxurious children’s birthday parties,” she says. But her team also specializes in corporate holiday parties, intimate bridal and baby showers, custom backdrops and styled dinner parties.
And because Cecka doesn’t know how to do things halfway, Northern Urbanity Events has launched a YouTube channel with a series called Inside Northern Urbanity Events that shows viewers how to create their own professional events at home.
The inspiration behind the channel is just that: sharing inspiration. The Ceckas got the idea from watching HGTV. Although the renovations and design projects might be out of the average viewer’s budget, “It’s giving them inspiration on how they can do something like that themselves, at their scale,” Cecka says. The same applies to her channel. “It’s like, ‘What tidbits of that design … could we incorporate at home with things that we already have? How can we do it ourselves?’” she says.
In that spirit, we asked Cecka to share her tips for creating a professional caliber holiday tablescape at home. She uses the home of Tasha and Greg Frey as the backdrop. (Read more about the Frey home and its recent renovations here.)
Finding Inspiration
“Instagram and Pinterest can get super overwhelming and not always very narrowed in on a theme,” Cecka says. Instead, she recommends looking at seasonal catalogs to get a finger on the pulse of what’s fresh. Such catalogs, she says, are “… always very on point with current themes and the vibe or the color of the season.”
Renting Inventory
The broader Metro has plenty of party rental companies, offering accoutrements that range from basic linens to bar cart rentals. Such businesses can also be a good stopgap for supplying place settings for hosts with a larger guest list than their own dinnerware or cutlery can accommodate.
“It really depends on the client’s preference on how much they want to be rentals or how much they want to incorporate their own inventory,” Cecka says. If using heirloom china is part of tradition, perhaps that stays, “But then everything else we can rent—the chargers, the glasses, silverware.”
Locally, Northern Urbanity Events works with Après Event Décor and Tent Rental and Collected & Co., and Cecka says hosts can do so too.
Tablescaping
Cecka favors a full look when it comes to designing a dinner party. “Layers help create that more inviting, luxury feeling,” she says. She recommends adding chargers, placemats and table runners. Incorporate varying heights in the centerpiece with candles and candle holders. Play with texture through items like ornaments and bells.
Customizing Place Cards
“I love the aesthetic of a place card,” Cecka says, but notes that it’s a love/hate relationship. On one hand, she sympathizes with guests who want to pick their own neighbors around the table. On the other hand, “It’s so fun to tie it into the personality of [the event] by using a pine cone or a feather or a bell or something that [guests] can take home,” she says.
Cecka’s family uses customized items, such as ornaments, as place card holders. Not only does the design look beautiful, it creates a memento that carries the memory of the event.
Curating Greenery
Certain greenery has a longer shelf life than others. “If you’re using something like eucalyptus, you really only have a day or two to use it before it dries,” Cecka says. There’s a bit more leeway with Christmas greenery but not much. “Christmas greenery, you could purchase a week plus in advance if you plan to just set it and forget it,” she says.
To eschew the issue altogether, Cecka invested in high-end faux greenery for her spread. “What I like about that is that it costs maybe 25 percent more up front, but now I can use it every year. It’s mess-free, and it looks so real,” she says.
Finish the Sentence
A tablescape isn’t complete without … “A placemat and/or charger,” Callie Cecka says. “I think having just a singular plate or just the silverware set makes it feel so naked and almost potluck, whereas if you have a placemat and a charger, it’s like, ‘OK, this is where I’m supposed to be.’”
A tablescape should avoid … Real candles, depending on the age of the guests. “Steer away from real flames or exposed flames if children are around or if the table is chaotic,” Cecka says. Look toward battery-powered candles with faux flames or unlit taper candles instead.
Northern Urbanity Events
Instagram: @northern_urbanity_events
Pinterest: Northern Urbanity Events
YouTube: Northern Urbanity Events
